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Mass Media: The New Parent?


Mass Media: The New Parent?
In this century, the mass media have become the rival to parents, schools, and religion as the most influential institution in children’s lives. ~ Media and Values Magazine
For decades, social psychologists have warned parents of the dangers of allowing television to become their child’s babysitter. They caution that the long-term negative impact of television viewing on young children could result in lower academic abilities, attention disorders and language problems with both reading comprehension and oral expression. 
Dr. Ellen Abell, a family and child development specialist, explains that “research suggests a strong link between many of the growing problems [with youths] and excessive use of television.” She further states “that long periods of television viewing hamper the pre-frontal cortex – the area of the brain responsible for planning, organizing and sequencing behavior for self-control, moral judgment and attention.”
Research has also indicated that television viewing has supplanted valuable family time and exposed children to increased depictions of violence, sex and profanity. For this reason, Dr. Abell and many social psychologists stress the importance of engaging children in reading and other family activities to offset the negative impact of television. 
A new Kaiser Family Foundation study, Generation M2: Media in the Lives of 8- to 18-Year-Oldsreveals that improved technology has magnified the problem for parents. According to the study, children and teens ages 8-18 spend more than 53 hours a week using entertainment media. The hours identified include time spent watching television, listening to music, looking at online social networking sites (MySpace, Facebook and Twitter), sending text messages and online and video gaming. 
The study notes that the actual amount of entertainment media use could be as much as 75 hours per week, because children and teens often use multiple types of media simultaneously. According to the Parents Television Council, the study’s finding indicates that children and teens spend “almost double” the time utilizing entertainment media as they spend in school.
The rise in technology is blamed for “facilitating increased consumption” of entertainment media in children and teens. Television watching was once only viewed in family living rooms during specified times, now television is viewed in children’s bedrooms, on laptops, cell phones and iPods. In fact, “20% of media consumption occurs on mobile devices—cell phones, iPods or handheld video game players.”
As a result of new technology, children have a plethora of ways to access entertainment media. While increased technology may have had many positive benefits in the professional world, for parents, it has become more difficult to monitor what their children are viewing and limit their child’s exposure to inappropriate material. Increased time spent in front of electronic media means more exposure to sex, violence, profanity, pornography and even exposure to child predators.
Further, the time children and teens spend accessing entertainment media results in parents spending less time with their children. Thus, parents do not share their experiences, beliefs and values, which provide their children with a moral foundation, and often, parents do not discuss the messages their children are receiving from these diverse media sources. 
The Kaiser study reaffirms Dr. Abell’s belief that parents should establish and enforce household rules on media use, including limiting the amount of time using entertainment media and restricting inappropriate media products. Studies confirm that children in homes with limited media opportunities spend more time in positive family interaction.
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