Friday, January 27, 2012

Presence of Media in America


In order to show the overwhelming presence of media in children’s lives, I have posted some statistics from research done. One study done in 2003 from the Kaiser Family Foundation documented it’s results from a nationally representative random digit dial survey of more than 1,000 parents of children ages six months through six years. According to the results from the study:


·         Children six and under spend an average about 2 hours a day with screen media


·         Two-thirds of zero to six year olds live in a home where the TV is on at least half the time or more, even if no one is watching, and one third live in home where the television is left on “always” or “most” of the time.


·         In a typical day, sixty-eight percent of all children under two use screen media (59% watch TV, 42% watch a video or DVD, 5% use a computer and 3% play video games) and these young children will spend an average of two hours in front of the screen


·         43% of all children under the age of two watch TV every day and one-quarter have a TV in their bedroom. Seventy-four percent of all infants and toddlers have watched TV before age two.



The Kaiser Family Foundation also publicized a more recent report in 2010 about children’s and youth media stating that, “the amount of time spent with media increased by an hour and seventeen minutes a day over the past five years, from six hours and 21 minutes in 2004 to seven hours and thirty eight minutes today.” The report also documented these findings:


·         Two-thirds of young people say the TV is usually on during meals, and just under half say the TV is left on “most of the time” in their home even if no one is watching.


·         Children spend one hour and thirty minutes watching more TV in homes where it is left on most of the time, and an hour more among those with a TV in their room.


·         The amount of time spent watching regularly scheduled TV went down by 25 minutes a day from 2004 to 2009. But, the different ways to watch television which include: the internet, cellphones, and iPods actually led to an increase in total TV consumption from three hours and fifty one minutes a day to four hours and twenty nine minutes a day. 59% of children’s TV viewing comes from live TV on a TV set, and 41% is DVDs, online, or mobile.

Dr. Drew Altman, Ph.D., President and CEO of the Kaiser Family Foundation made an interesting comment on the media consumption. He stated, “The amount of time young people spend with media has grown to where it’s even more than a full-time work week. When children are spending this much time doing anything, we need to understand how it’s affecting them- for good and bad.”



19 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Things are certainly different today than they were when had I children at home. Technology has come a long way, and I'm grateful in the advances of the media (computers, cell phones etc.) However I don't agree with the "lumping" of it into one category. I don't think being on the computer or looking at my cell phone screen is the same as watching TV (unless I'm actually watching programs), and is counted (the hours)as such. Interesting info Lauren.

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    2. The reason why it is "lumped" that way is because people do use their cell phones and computers to watch TV. However, I do agree with you that not all cell phone or computer use is TV watching. Both have great purposes, but they also can be distractions from the real world.

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  2. you should write how this research has influenced you Lauren. TV has changed so much since my kids were growing up and it doesn't resemble my childhood watching at all. I would treat it differently if I were raising my kids today. At least I hope I would.

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    1. I'm actually not surprised that the hours have gone up by watching media. I have a couple of friends who let their child under the age of two watch/play on the iphone while on an outing. That was something that really bothered me. No child should be on the iphone at all. However I feel it is appropriate after the age of two to play educational games on the web.

      As far as children actually watching tv I'm not sure what the study consists of. I don't count Aunika as watching tv when we are. Even though she looks at the screen from time to time. I just call that being fascinated with the lights flashing. Besides I read somewhere that before the age of three there is no scientific proof that any tv watching, including educational programs, benefit the child at all. So if that is the case, why do we bother having our children watch any tv. Is it because we want them to learn something? Is it an easy babysitter/distraction? Do we need something to fill their day with? Who knows... I probably will have my child watch a bit of tv when she is a bit older and it will be educational. However it intrigues me that she may or may not get something from it.

      I will not have my girl play on the computer or iphone before the age of two. I'm also going to try and limit my girl to one or two episodes a day. Totaling no more than 40 min.-60min. a day of tv watching. I probably wont start until 6 months of age. Who knows. And I'll have to admit, it will be somewhat of a babysitter so I can get things done. That is why it must be educational:)

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    2. Lynette, how would you treat it differently if you were raising your kids today?

      Brittnee I really enjoyed reading your comments. I would have had the same reaction as you if I had a friend who had their child under the age of two playing on an iPhone. I also agree with you about finding educational shows for our kids to watch. I think it can be difficult some times to get stuff done when your child or baby is awake and in need of attention. I have really had to be creative. When I am in the kitchen with Taylor and am making dinner or doing dishes I will stick her in the bumbo seat and have her play with kitchen bowls or cups. Or I have her strapped into the baby bjorn while I am trying to do other household tasks.

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  3. Is too much TV harmful as a child or at any age? From what you have found in your research there does not seem to be a conclusive answer. We need water to live, but if you were to drink too much it will kill you. My way of thinking is ... what do you find as the right amount of TV when you look at successful people, well rounded people, emotionaly stable people, people that are up-beat with a good attitude, and people that are focused in life. I have had over 50 years of watching for people that have these charictoristics. What I have found is that these people have great stories of life. Adventures they had as children going to hikes, visiting grandmas and listening to stories, being on a farm and milking a cow. They did it themselves and did not watch someelse do it on TV. Who has the greater experience for goodness sakes. Sure watching a moon adventure on TV is great but those on the moon did not get there by hours and hours of TV.

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    1. Dale,
      I completely agree with you about well rounded successful people. The people that I have looked up to and have been influential to my life were not glued to the tube. The memories they have shared were not about a TV show that they watched.

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  4. I'm against children being inundated with any type of media whether it's TV, computer, iphone, ipad etc. as it prevents the child from interacting with real people, face to face, learning social skills, becoming confident in those social skills and it decreases the amount of time a child can be physically active.
    Studies have shown that families who eat meals together throughout the week, have less chance of their children engaging drugs, alcohol and they do better in school so I'm not sure why parents have the TV on during meals.
    I also don't understand why parents would have a TV (computer, iphone etc) in their children's bedroom when we are aware what unsuperivsed media watching can lead to.
    I guess one of my pet peeves is when I'm with family members and some of us are on the iphones texting, looking at emails, playing games, or watching TV instead of interacting with each other, face to face. We aren't very good examples ourselves. And the children, where are they? I hope they are playing imaginary games with each other about their cars, trucks, or dolls, or building things with logos, or reading to each other.

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  5. Teresa,
    I read the same information about families who eat meals together and I am going to try to do that in my own family. Do you think families have the television on during meals because then they can be entertained and it's easier than trying to have conversations?

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    1. I think they probably already have the TV on and when dinner is ready, they just leave it on and then it becomes a habit. They get used to it. Some people like background noise. I hope it's not because they find it easier to watch TV rather than talk with their own kids.

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  6. I think the point made in the research regarding diverse methods of viewing media is key. It's not just television nowadays, and probably not even primarily television, given the advent of so many portable devices that do far more than a television can. One might view little tv, yet spend hours surfing media via cell phone, computer, ipad, etc. I would even lump ipods and excessive music listening into the same category, as I feel the end result is the same as with other media. The net consequence, in my opinion, is that we are side tracked and distracted away from relationships and other constructive forms of growth and development. If we as adults require these things to stay entertained, is it any wonder today's youth have developed such short attention spans and are so highly distractable? I can't even sit through a church meeting without seeing somebody's kid watching something or playing games on an ipad or phone. If kids can't learn to do something as simple as sit through a church meeting without media to stay entertained, we should not act shocked and chagrined years down the road when they struggle to focus in school and other endeavors that lack the means to stimulate their long since numbed senses. I'm just as guilty as anybody else. This media stuff is neat and fun, but I wonder what the long term repercussions will be of allowing the various modes of media dominate our lives?

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  7. I really liked everything that you said. I think there is a relationship between heavy TV watching and a shortened attention span. I also think we live in an era where children think they should be entertained all of the time. I believe Glen Beck ( at that presentation he did at UVU) said something about kids these days think they are entitled to everything without having to work for it. Parents are contributing to this thinking by giving their kids instant gratification and some of this gratification includes all of the avenues of media for them to use.

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  8. I liked Chris's comments. Parents are crippling their children by letting them use other forms of media besides tv whenever they want. Sarah and I were out to dinner on Friday and I noticed a family where two of the three kids were playing on ipads while the parents socialized. Another time we went out, we saw a family of at least 6 where each child was playing on their own smart phone. No one in that family said a single word to eachother the whole time we were waiting to be seated. It was sad.

    Lauren's comment about Glen Beck was interesting. While I like Glen, this is the same guy who charges people $10/month to watch him pontificate for 2 hours a day on his own internet tv station.

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    1. Travis,
      That is sad that the kids were playing on their smart phones and that no one was talking. Have people forgotten how to communicate?

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  9. While I agree with the concerns everyone has mentioned here (as well as the research Lauren mentioned), I also think times are changing and we tend to way overgeneralize with the "entitled kid" thing... there is so much that goes into that, not just use of screen media... and so much depends on the type of media. Watching stupid TV shows and/or playing video games all day is one thing, but there is also so much of value and educational that adults and kids alike can watch/participate in online and with different forms of media... and I have no problem with my kids or me consuming such material.

    And I don't know about everyones' childhood experience, but when I was a kid, we watched tons of TV/movies/video games (probably 4+ hours a day) and very little/almost none of it was of the engaging/educational variety... and I think my siblings and I turned out just fine... in contrast, I would say 75+% of the media my young kids watch/engage with is very educational...

    So again, I think it depends largely on the type of media, as well as other factors in the home...

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  10. Jon,
    in general I don't think watching TV, playing video games, or being on the computer is bad... I actually really like watching TV and watching movies. What I am trying to bring up is... how much TV or other media is too much? It makes me laugh, all of the TV and movies you guys watched growing up, because I have not heard of a lot of the movies or shows you guys watched as kids.

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  11. Right... and that is the tough question and one I don't think there is a clear answer too... too much for one may be fine for another, etc... and because it depends on the type of media and other factors in the home, simply counting number of scree hours doesn't really mean much in my opinion...

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