ABSTRACT Chairani, Nanda. 2017. (Social Emotional Development in Early Childhood by Watching Soap Operain Rantau District of Aceh Tamiang Regency). Thesis, Early Childhood Education Program, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, Syiah Kuala University. Counselor: (1) Dr. Bahrun, M.Pd (2) Siti Naila Fauzia, S.Pd, M.Pd Keywords: Social emotional development, early childhood, watching soap opera. Children social emotional development is influenced by several aspects, television is one of them. Television is a mass media which provides information and entertainment for the audience. The form of entertainment is likeserial drama called "soap opera". Soap opera is a serial drama on television that popular in the community, including children. This research aims to find out how social emotional development of children who often watch soap opera in District Rantau Aceh Tamiang Regency. The research method used is the qualitative method. Data collected through interviews, observation, and documentation. Subjects in this study were mothers, fathers, and neighbors of object and object under study were three early childhood children with age range 5-6 years. The results showed that the social emotional development of children who were watching soap opera tend not well developed. Children were more likely to watch television than doing activities outside the home, talking dishonest or lying, mocking, speaking rude, knowing about the opposite sex, likes hitting and throwing things. Watching soap opera also made children lazy to try and give up quickly, but despite many negative things, watching soap opera still had positive significance for children, such as can add vocabulary, increase knowledge about the outside world, and follow other positive aspects. ABSTRAK Chairani, Nanda. 2017. (Perkembangan Sosial Emosional Anak Usia Dini Yang Menonton Sinetron Di Kecamatan Rantau Kabupaten Aceh Tamiang). Skripsi, Program Studi Pendidikan Anak Usia Dini, Fakultas Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan, Universitas Syiah Kuala. Pembimbing: (1) Dr. Bahrun, M.Pd (2) Siti Naila Fauzia, S.Pd, M.Pd Kata kunci : Perkembangan sosial emosional, anak usia dini, menonton sinetron. Perkembangan sosial emosional anak dipengaruhi oleh beberapa hal, salah satunya televisi. Televisi merupakan media massa yang memberikan informasi sekaligus hiburan bagi penontonnya. Bentuk hiburan tersebut seperti cerita drama berseri yang sering disebut dengan “sinetron”. Sinetron merupakan salah satu bentuk tayangan televisi yang banyak digemari oleh masyarakat termasuk anak-anak. Penelitan ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana perkembangan sosial emosional anak yang sering menonton sinetron di Kecamatan Rantau Kabupaten Aceh Tamiang. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah metode kualitatif. Data diperoleh melalui wawancara, observasi dan dokumentasi. Subjek dalam penelitian ini adalah ibu, ayah, dan tetangga dari objek yang diteliti yaitu 3 orang anak usia dini dengan rentang usia 5-6 tahun. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa perkembangan sosial emosional anak yang menonton sinetron cenderung berkembang kurang baik. Anak lebih banyak melakukan aktivitas menonton televisi dibandingkan melakukan aktivitas di luar rumah, berbicara tidak jujur atau berbohong, mengejek, berkata kurang sopan, mengetahui tentang hubungan lawan jenis, suka memukul dan melempar barang. Menonton sinetron juga membuat anak malas berusaha dan cepat menyerah, namun walaupun banyak menimbulkan hal negatif, menonton sinetron masih memiliki nilai positif bagi anak seperti dapat menambah perbendaharaan kata, menambah pengetahuan tentang dunia luar, dan meniru hal-hal positif lainnya.