September 9th, 2022

Children & Mass Media

Facts about children’s media

  • Children 0-8 still predominantly watch TV (not tablet, etc)
  • Lower income children have higher screen time
  • 9 million children lacked internet access in 2020
  • Kids are getting smartphones younger and younger
  • Children are increasingly watching individually (on their phones) rather than on bigger screens (with family/friends)
  • Kids sign up for social media ~12.6 years old
    • I wonder whether most people lie on these surveys and that’s why the age is almost 13, the legal age
  • Media multi-tasking is the new normal

Is children’s media bad?

  • The best children’s media is engaging/funny/compelling for both children and their parents
    • Little jokes that make sense to the parents but fly over the children’s heads
  • Lots of critics have talked about how media makes children couch potatoes who can’t focus on anything
  • Professor believes that media can be a positive, pro-social factor for children