Media Literacy: What Parents and Professionals Need to Know

Submitted by: David C. Diehl, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Program Planning and Evaluation

Villani, V.S., Olson, C.K., and Jellinek, M. S. “Media Literacy for Clinicians and Parents.” Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 14 (3), (July, 2005).

Introduction

Today’s children and adolescents are immersed in media-rich environments that exert a strong influence on their development. While research into the consequences of media exposure is complex, the research community has reached a general consensus that high levels of media exposure and exposure to negative content are related to negative outcomes for children and youth. These outcomes include effects in the areas of academic performance, aggression, early sexual behavior, nutrition, and body image.

One strategy that has emerged from the research concerning media impacts is the idea of “media literacy,” which emphasizes the need for young people to become informed and educated consumers of media content. This article describes the importance of media literacy and highlights the ways in which parents and professionals can foster higher levels of media literacy in young people.

Methodology

This article is a review of the scientific literature from a medical perspective that provides an understanding of the:

  1. importance of children’s stages of development for understanding media issues
  2. parental strategies, including enhancing media literacy, that can be used to manage the media issues that most families face

Main Ideas

The Importance of Developmental Stages

To understand the effects of media on children and youth, you must first understand the characteristics of children at different developmental stages. Depending on the stage of development, the media experience is quite different— and the issues, challenges, and solutions for parents are different as well.

For example, for very young children (0- 2), traditional media such as television and computers are essentially passive and non-responsive, violating one of the fundamentals of early child development—that young children need active, warm, and responsive interaction with adults. The American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended that children under the age of 2 should have no “screen time” at all (this means no television, no videos, and no computer games).

During the preschool years (3-5), positive educational media (e.g., Sesame Street, Blue Clues, etc.) combine educational content with developmentally appropriate challenges for children. However, much of commercial television aimed at young children is not geared toward education or providing developmentally appropriate experiences. Most of these programs also come with the added hazard of exposure to commercials, which convey numerous messages (eat this, buy this, etc.) to young children.

Children 8-13 years of age use electronic media, especially television, more than any other age range. As children experience greater autonomy as well as peer experiences, parents gradually lose control over many of the media influences in the lives of children. However, older children are also increasingly able to understand abstract concepts and have the capacity to critically assess their own behaviors and the influence of media in their lives.

Parental Strategies

The American Academy of Pediatrics has been especially active in addressing concerns related to children’s media usage and has issued recommendations, including the following:

  1. Limit children’s total media time (with entertainment media) to no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality programming per day
  2. Remove television sets from children’s bedrooms (create an “electronic media-free” environment in children’s rooms
  3. Discourage television viewing for children younger than 2 years and encourage more interactive activities that promote proper brain development, such as talking, playing, singing, and reading together
  4. Monitor the shows children and adolescents are viewing. Most programs should be informational, educational, and nonviolent
  5. View television programs with children and discuss the content. Use controversial programming as a stepping off point to initiate discussions about family values, violence, sex and sexuality, and drugs
  6. Encourage alternative entertainment for children, including reading, athletics, hobbies, and creative play

Building on these recommendations, several organizations are providing resources on how to build the media literacy of young people. These approaches emphasize the dialogue that takes place between adults and children that is designed to foster critical thinking skills in the developing media user. Joint parent-child media experiences provide teachable moments in which parents and children can discuss the media message and how the child can actively interpret and understand the information.

The American Academy of Pediatrics approaches media literacy with questions designed to “deconstruct” the media. Examples of questions include: Who made this message and what do you think it its purpose? What techniques are used to get your attention? What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented? How do you judge the accuracy and realism of this message? How might different viewers respond to this message? Such questions are designed to change viewers from passive recipients to active critics of media approaches and content.

Implications for Extension Programs

Media messages affect almost all parts of family and community life. Virtually every educational message we convey through Cooperative Extension must compete with alternative messages in the popular media. In providing nutrition education, one must consider the nutrition messages delivered through children’s advertising. In providing financial education, one must consider the forces of advertising that constantly encourage more consumption and spending.

Not only are media images pervasive, but children and teens are increasingly using multiple media simultaneously (multi-tasking). This raises issues about the quality of family life, social interactions, and the physical and emotional consequences of media immersion.

Extension faculty should consider how media messages affect each of their areas of interest. If we are to accurately determine what impact our programs are having, we must take powerful social forces such as the media into consideration. Extension faculty may also consider taking a message of “media literacy” to many of their audiences.

The Personal and Family Well-Being Focus Team is developing a curriculum to address issues related to teens and the media as well as a presentation on media issues for younger children.

Other Resources

American Academy of Pediatrics Media Matters (National Media Education Campaign).

Center on Media and Child Health.

Commonsense Media. Keeping Kids Healthy in a 24/7 Media World. Retrieved December 7, 2007 from