“From the beginnings of life, children in the 21st century typically develop in front of a screen” -Wartella and Rob
“The average TV commercial of sixty seconds has one hundred and twenty half-second clips in it, or one-third of a second. We bombard people with sensation. That substitutes for thinking.”― Ray Bradbury
Media studies have always been divided mostly in two areas: research on developmental processes and policy and practice. It is quite interesting to notice how most of the policy and practice issues have remained more or less the same throughout the years: how much content should children be watching? what kind of content should this be? What and how should these two be regulated?
It has been clear for quite a while that government regulations are not as effective as one would wish in protecting children from inappropriate content. That a law exists is no guarantee of people actually following it. Broadcasters know this very well. The fact that a movie is rated R will not detract a child or teenager from watching it. In fact it might even make this content more appealing, especially to teenagers. There is clearly a bit more effective protection of children when broadcasters face more regulations or requirements unto what kind of content they can broadcast. Educating the viewers is another option that exists outside of government regulation, but this too, has proved mostly ineffective because we tend to be behind the trends. This trends are changing so much that by the time we catch up, youth has already moved to a new one.
There are many complex reasons for this failure. One of them is clearly our tendency as a society to underestimate the media; to trivialize it. To think that it is not a serious enough to modify our own use. More and more every day people turn to media whenever they have any spare time. With internet, smart phones, tablets, this actual consumption of media has increased exponentially. Every second of our spare time is utilized by consuming some type of media content: whether it is a youtube video, an e-mail newsletter, an online newspaper, facebook or anything else. We all joke about people and their smartphones. We create online memes criticizing this behaviour which we laugh at and share on our social media and watch on any of this devices. We are mostly living with our eyes connected to a screen and we still tend to trivialize the importance of media. Just like addicts undermining their addiction. We tell ourselves that everyone does it. We have made this extreme behavior absolutely normal. Every now and then there is some debate about sex or violence in the media. A periodic public outrage that dissipates as fast as it started. We still don’t modify our own use.
As I write I think about my own habits, and the habits of others that I observe daily. If I happen to leave my phone at home on a given day I will clearly suffer from withdrawal. I will probably mention it in conversation more than once during that day. How much I need my phone. How indispensable it is to keep in touch with people and find out important things. I truly believe this lie. I can’t wait to get home and be connected again.
What I forget is how big a lie this is. How I really do not need my phone or to check my so-called newsfeed on Facebook every 25 minutes. But it’s not harmful either I tell myself and keep on with a behavior that seems so normal but that is far from the truth.
Yes, we kind of know it’s bad but at the same time we can’t really live without it. So we trivialize its effects. Or better yet, we think we are immune to it. That it doesn’t affect us in the same way that it affects others.
Media research and media discussions seem to be separate from the issues that they actually affect. When discussing Educational policies or changes very few speak about the media or media education in schools. Nonetheless media is still very much a part of every child’s ecosystem.
Time spent with media is only part of the issue. Content remains at the core of the issue. Cultural messages on children’s screens and learned in a familiar context can seem harmless. But content drives interests and also drives the kind of learning that takes place in youth. The type of content seen has effects on the child, their behavior and their emotional well-being. Violent content creates increased aggression and increased fear. Typical media content can increase stereotypical beliefs and behaviors, obesity and materialism.
On the other hand exposure to better quality of content can have positive effects. Prosocial content increases sharing and helping. Educational content can have long term positive cognitive effects. But media changes faster than humans and many studies have yet to be done on all the recent changes. We do know that even the very nature of relationships is changing due to media, but as adults who were not born in the 21st century it is really hard to foresee how deep or how radical these changes are.
Regulation helps, addressing special requirements for broadcasters also helps; but in the end, it comes down to the individual and their close circles of family and friends. Media literacy has become as important as emotional literacy or stand alone language literacy. It is my opinion that media literacy needs to be addressed directly at home and in schools and universities and both adults and children need to learn about this. But most of all, us, the people who work or will work in the production of children’s media; we need to understand that we are the ones who are responsible for this great media machinery that has a very profound effect on the world we live in. If we wake up each morning and look around at the worldly state of affairs and think things are going just swell we are probably delusional. We need to be aware that we work inside the most powerful tool there is to either perpetuate our actual dramatic worldly situation or to change it. We need to carefully consider the content we put out there. Research needs to catch up with experience for us to be able to truly understand the long term effects of constant media in our lives. Especially for everyone born in the 21st century. The oldest of whom are merely 16 years old to the day.
While this happens, I will continue to refer to fiction authors who brilliantly foresaw these effects on society but whose ideas have remained outside the borders of our “reality” and I will continue to dream of a better future. I am happy to learn about the status quo in the business but only because I want to do it differently. Content should be more important than profit. Or there should be a way for quality content to be profitable. Or maybe, the whole business model in media needs to change dramatically now that media itself has changed so much and is the one raising our kids. Did you think the quotes at the beginning of this essay were just part of a particular dystopian taste of mine? Or maybe, just maybe, they are the only references out there that describe the very strange reality we are living in and that we refuse to truly see.
“One believes things because one has been conditioned to believe them.― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
The following is a list of links to find resources that will help you work with your child to learn about Media Literacy:
Turning On The Lights 