STEVE INSKEEP, host:
Good morning. I'm Steve Inskeep.
Researchers have finally hit on the essential truth, previously known to horror film makers: clowns are not necessarily funny. Britain's University of Sheffield wanted to find a way to improve the children's wards of hospitals. They conducted a survey of 250 kids and every single young patient disapproved of using clowns to cheer them up. The big painted smile didn't persuade them, and even some of the older kids found them scary.
It's MORNING EDITION.