Via Reuters:
Too much TV may impair kids’ reading skills
Wed 29 October, 2003 09:47By Brooks Boliek
WASHINGTON (Hollywood Reporter) – The amount of time children spend in front of a video screen, whether it’s in a TV set or a computer, is roughly equal to the time they spend outdoors, according to a U.S. study.
Children ages 6 and younger spend an average of two hours a day using screen media — about the same amount of time they spend playing outside and much more than they spend reading or being read to, the Kaiser Family Foundation study found.
According to Kaiser’s research, children ages 6 and younger spend one hour and 58 minutes a day watching TV, playing video games or spending time on the home computer, while they spend two hours and one minute playing outside. By contrast, the kids spend less than 40 minutes reading or being read to.
“It’s not just teenagers who are wired up and tuned in; it’s babies in diapers as well,” said Vicky Rideout, lead author of the study, released on Tuesday, and the Kaiser Family Foundation’s vp and director for the study of entertainment media and health. “So much new media is being targeted at infants and toddlers, it’s critical that we learn more about the impact it’s having on child development.”
New interactive digital media have become an integral part of children’s lives, the study said, as nearly half of children ages 6 and younger have used a computer and nearly a third have played video games.
Even the youngest kids are widely exposed to electronic media, the study said, as 43% of those younger than 2 watch TV every day and 2% have a TV in their bedroom. On any given day, two-thirds of children younger than 2 will use a screen media for an average of slightly more than two hours.
The study, “Zero to Six: Electronic Media in the Lives of Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers,” was conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Children’s Digital Media Centers. It is the first publicly released national study of media use among the very youngest children, ages 6 months to 6 years.
“These are astonishing data,” said study co-author Ellen Wartella, dean of the College of Communication at the University of Texas at Austin. “Today’s preschoolers are starting to use media much younger than we thought. Where previous generations were introduced to media through print, this generation’s pathway is electronic.”
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
