| Tuesday, February 06, 2007 |
| Media worries Media worries US parents more than sex, alcohol |
Parents in the United States are more worried about the amount of time their children spend watching television or meeting friends on internet social networks than about sex or alcohol abuse, a new study has revealed.
The study was released on February 5, 2007, by Insight Research Group and commissioned by Common Sense Media, a San Francisco-based group that studies the impact of media on children.
Over 55% of 1,138 parents in the United States surveyed were either very concerned or strongly concerned about children, from age five to sixteen, spending too much of their time with different media outlets. By comparison, about 45% of parents said they were as concerned about their kids engaging in sex or using alcohol.
"Intuitively, parents have a sense that too much media isn't a good thing, but they can't quite put their finger on why," James Steyer, founder and chief executive of Common Sense Media, said.
Parents also saw themselves as bearing the biggest responsibility for the way media affect their kids, well ahead of the companies that create TV shows or internet content, who ranked third on the list.
Television viewing topped the list of media categories that worried parents, following by internet use and playing video games.
Listening to the radio and reading magazines were deemed as the safest types of media, according to the poll.
Concerns over their children struggling in school or developing a weight problem also ranked higher, at 55% and 46% of respondents, than sexual activity or alcohol use.
Media is a full-time job for the average child, consuming 44.5 hours a week of their time, attention and imagination. And, teens now spend 72 hours a week immersed in the media universe.
And, it is getting more complex. In an increasingly portable and convergent world, this is how kids communicate, learn, relax and express themselves.
As media devices become more portable and powerful, kids become increasingly and intimately wired into the media world. Cell phones, Sidekicks, Blackberries, and Treos all offer immediate access to the internet - instantly connecting kids to each other.
Because kids access media intimately, directly, and often without adult supervision, the images and messages they receive, 24/7, profoundly shape their physical, mental and social development in ways that can be healthy or unhealthy.
Advertisements for junk food, clothing, alcohol and cigarettes saturate the media. Violent and aggressive behavior shows up everywhere, from cop shows to T-rated video games. And, whether it is a sexy music video, a rapper hawking champagne or a TV star's scrawny physique, media is a ‘super-peer,' influencing kids and teaching them that what they see on the screen is ‘real' or ‘normal' or ‘okay.'
Common Sense Media and the Aspen Institute are hosting a conference in New York this week where chief executives from some of the largest media companies - Time Warner Inc., CBS Corp., Warner Music Group Corp., and Comcast Corp. - will discuss the media's influence on children.Labels: media |
| posted by a correspondent @ 7:04 PM |
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