Programme Offer of Selected Children’s Television Channels in Slovakia

Abstract

Stories have been a part of civilisation since time immemorial, with fairy tales having a very specific position among them. Fairy stories have accompanied us, as individual personalities, since early childhood. They are a guide for us, a manual that introduces us to the world in its multiple forms. They help us create a moral code for the rest of our lives. The period of pre-school age is also referred to as the ‘age of folk tales’, because folk stories (both classic and modern) provide a universal appeal for youngsters. The development of cognitive processes and ways of thinking takes place very intensively during childhood, while fundamental shifts with regard to the reception of the story occur in children of pre-school and early school age. Media currently produce a large amount of content intended for children and classic fairy tales, although these stories form only a part of the space dedicated to children in this regard. Very popular are especially cartoon stories (whether in television or film) that are very well-liked especially by pre-school children.  Contemporary young ones are in intense contact with traditional stories – they ‘consume’ them much more often, while the range of plots, characters and themes they have at their disposal is really wide and diverse. In our study, we seek to focus in more detail on the programme selection of various children’s television channels in Slovakia.