kaiser family foundation: the media family

The authors wish to thank Ellen Wartella, Elizabeth Vandewater and Mollyann Brodie for their advice and guidance on this project.

Design and layout by: Leahandah Soundy, Kaiser Family FoundationAdditional graphics by: Theresa Boston, Kaiser Family FoundationEditorial assistance: Theresa Boston, Charles Burack, and Kanani Kauka

Copyright © 2006 Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, California. All rights reserved.

The Media Family:ElEc tronic MEdia in thE livEs of infants, toddlErs, PrEschoolErs and thEir ParEnts

Writ tEn by:

vic toria ridEout

ElizabEth haMEl

kaisEr faMily foundation

May 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 4

METHODOLOGY 6

AMOUNTANDFREQUENCYOFCHILDREN’SMEDIAUSE 7

PARENTS’MEDIAUSE 11

PARENTS’ATTITUDESABOUTCHILDREN’SMEDIAUSE 14

MEDIAINTHEHOME 17

MEDIAINTHEBEDROOM 18

MEDIARULES 20

TV’SEFFECTONCHILDREN 21

TYPESOFTVSHOWSWATCHED 23

TVANDFOOD 24

COMPUTERUSEANDACCESS 25

CHILDRENUNDERAGETWO 26

GENDERDIFFERENCESINMEDIAUSEANDENVIRONMENT 27

DEMOGRAPHICDIFFERENCESINMEDIAUSEANDENVIRONMENT 28

CHANGESOVERTIME 30

SUMMARYANDCONCLUSIONS 32

APPENDICES:

APPENDIXA:SURVEYTOPLINES 35

APPENDIXB:FOCUSGROUPDISCUSSIONGUIDE 57

APPENDIXC:TABLESONDEMOGRAPHICDIFFERENCESIN MEDIAUSEANDENVIRONMENT 61

� T h e M e d i a F a M i ly: E l E c t r o n i c M E d i a i n t h E l i v E s o f i n f a n t s , to d d l E r s , P r E s c h o o l E r s a n d t h E i r Pa r E n t s

INTRODUCTION

Today’s parents live in a world where media are an ever-changingbutincreasinglyimportantpartoftheirfamily’slives,including even their very youngest children. Baby videosdesigned for one-month-olds, computer games for 9-month-olds,andTVshows forone-year-oldsarebecomingcommon-place. An increasing number of TV shows, videos, websites,software programs, video games, and interactive TV toys aredesignedspecificallyforbabies,toddlers,andpreschoolers.

Onethingthathasn’tchangedisthatparentshaveatoughjob—infact,maybetougher,oftenwithbothhusbandandwifeworkingandjugglingcomplexschedules,andwithagrowingnumber of single parents. In this environment, parents oftenturntomediaasanimportanttooltohelpthemmanagetheirhouseholdandkeeptheirkidsentertained.

And for many parents, media are much more thanentertainment: from teaching children letters and numbers,tointroducingthemtoforeignlanguagesorhowtoworkwithcomputers,manyparentsfindtheeducationalvalueofmediaincrediblyhelpful.

“My daughter is learning a lot from the different shows she watches. She’s so into it.

I think it’s important.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Irvine, California]

Atthesametime,thereisgrowingcontroversyaboutmediauseamongveryyoungchildren,withpediatriciansrecommend-ingnoscreenmedia forbabiesundertwo,and limitedscreentimeafterthat.Mostchilddevelopmentexpertsbelievethatthestimulichildrenreceiveandtheactivitiestheyengageinduringthe first few years of life are critical not only for their physicalwell-being but also for their social, emotional, and cognitivedevelopment.

But scientific research about the impact of media use onbabies and toddlers has not kept pace with the marketplace.As a result, very little is known for sure about what is goodandbadwhenitcomestomediaexposureinearlychildhood.

Onthepositivesideoftheledger,researchdoesindicatethatwell-designed educational programs, such as Sesame Street,can help 4- and 5-year-olds read and count and that childrenthatagealsobenefitfrompro-socialmessagesonTVthatteachthemaboutkindnessandsharing.Ontheotherhand,studieshavealsofoundthatexposuretotelevisionviolencecanincreasetheriskofchildrenbehavingaggressivelyandthatmediauseinearlychildhoodmayberelatedtoattentionalproblemslaterinlife.Andwhiletheproducersofearlychildhoodmediabelievetheirproductscanhelpchildrenlearnevenattheearliestages,other experts worry that time spent with media may detractfromtimechildrenspendinteractingwiththeirparents,engag-inginphysicalactivity,usingtheirimaginations,orexploringtheworldaroundthem.

One thing this study makes clear is that for many families,mediausehasbecomepartof the fabricofdaily life. ParentsuseTVorDVDsasa“safe”activitytheirkidscanenjoywhilethegrownupsgetdressedforwork,makeameal,ordothehouse-holdchores.Workingparentswhoworry that theydon’thaveenough time to teach their kids the basics feel relieved thateducationalTVshows,videos,andcomputergamesarehelpingtheirkidscountandlearnthealphabetandevensayawordortwo inSpanish.Whenchildrenaregrouchy,orhyper,or fight-ingwiththeirsiblings,momsanddadsuseTVasatooltohelpchange their mood, calm them down, or separate squabblingbrothersandsisters.Mediaarealsousedinenforcingdiscipline,with a TV in the bedroom or a handheld video game playerofferedasapowerfulrewardorenticementforgoodbehavior.Everydayactivities,suchaseatingamealorgoingtosleep,areoftendonewithtelevisionasacompanion.Andmediaareusedtofacilitatemomentsoftransitionindailylife:wakingupslowlywhilegroggilywatchingacoupleofcartoonsonmomanddad’sbed,orcalmingdowntoafavoritevideobeforebedtime.

“Media makes my life easier. We’re all happier. He isn’t throwing tantrums.

I can get some work done.” [Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Irvine, California]

a K a i s E r f a M i l y f o U n d a t i o n r E P o r t �

Manyparentsofyoungchildrenarequiteenthusiasticabouttherolemediaplaysintheirlivesandtheimpactithasontheirkids.Theyaregratefulforwhattheyseeashigherquality,moreeducational choices than when they were young, and for thewidervarietyofoptionstheynowhaveavailable.TheyseetheirchildrenlearningfromTVandimitatingthepositivebehaviorsmodeledonmanyshows.Butitappearsthattheprimaryrea-son many parents choose to bring media into their children’slivesisnotbecauseoftheeducationalbenefitsitofferskids,butbecauseofthepracticalbenefitsitoffersparents:uninterruptedtimeforchores,somepeaceandquiet,orevenjustanopportu-nitytowatchtheirownfavoriteshows.

Atthesametime,manyparentsfeelanunderlyingguiltabouttheirchildren’smediause:primarilyasensethattheyshouldbespendingmoretimewiththeirkidsandthattheyshouldn’tbefeelingsorelievedatnothavingtoberesponsibleforteachingtheir children their ABCs. Some express a suspicion that theymayhavesetinmotionsomethingtheysoonwon’tbeabletocontrol:thattoday’sgood-naturededucationalshowswillleadto tomorrow’s sassy cartoons, and to next year’s violent videogames.Andothersalsobemoanthefundamentalchangestheyseefromtheirownchildhoodswhentheyweremore likelytoplayoutsideortousetheirimaginationstomakeuptheirownplayactivitiesindoors.

“It makes life easier now, but in the long run, when they’re older and starting to run into all these

problems, I think I’ll wish I wouldn’t have let them do it when they were five.”

[Mother of a 4-6 year-old in Columbus, Ohio]

Parents’beliefsaboutmedia—andtheirownmediahabits—arestronglyrelatedtohowmuchtimetheirchildrenspendwithmedia,thepatternsoftheirchildren’suse,andthetypesofcontenttheirchildrenareexposedto.Two-andfour-year-oldswatchingCSIandERwiththeirmomsdon’tseemtobeasrareasonemightthink. ParentswhoarebigTVfansandhatetheinterruptionsfromtheirlittleonesaremorelikelytogetaTVfortheirchild’sbedroom.Dadswhoplayalotofvideogamesusethatactivityasawaytobondwiththeirsons.AndparentswhothinkTVmostlyhurtschildren’slearningaremorelikelytolimittheirchildren’sviewingandlesslikelytoleavetheTVonduringtheday.Inshort,children’smediauseisasmuchormoreaboutparentsasitisaboutchildren.


METHODOLOGY

Thisreportpresentstheresultsofanationalstudytodocumenthowmuchtimeinfants,toddlers,andpreschoolersarespend-ing with media, what types of media they’re using, and whatrolemediaareplayingintheirenvironments.Thestudyhastwoparts: a nationally representative telephone survey of parentsabout their children’s media use; and a series of focus groupswith parents, for a more in-depth discussion of issues raisedinthesurvey.Allstatistical findings inthisreportare fromthenationalsurvey;allquotesarefromthefocusgroups.

Thestudyconcernschildrenages6monthsto6yearsold.Itfocusesprimarilyontheroleofelectronicscreenmediainyoungpeople’slives, includingtelevision,videosorDVDs,computers,andvideogames.Occasionalreferencesto“children6yearsandunder”or“childrensixandunder”aremadeasshorthandandrefer to children ages 6 months to 6 years old. References tochildren“undertwo”refertochildren6-23monthsold.

AcopyofthesurveyquestionnaireandresultscanbefoundinAppendixA.AcopyofthefocusgroupdiscussionguidecanbefoundinAppendixB.

The survey

The survey is a nationally representative, random-digit-dialtelephone survey of 1,051 parents of children ages 6 monthsto6yearsold. ThesurveywasconductedfromSeptember12through November 21, 2005. It was designed and analyzedby staff at the Kaiser Family Foundation, in consultation withPrincetonSurveyResearchAssociates.Fieldworkwasconduct-ed in English and Spanish by Princeton Data Source, LLC.Themarginofsamplingerrorforthecompletesetofweighteddatais+/-3percentagepoints.Themarginoferrorforsubgroupsishigher. Asmanyastenattemptsweremadetocontacteverysampled telephone number.The response rate for this surveywas 33%. Tests for statistically significant differences wereall done at the p<.05 level. All times are presented in hours:minutes(e.g.,1:13foronehourand13minutes).

Callswerestaggeredovertimesofdayanddaysoftheweek.Ineacheligiblehousehold,interviewersaskedtospeakwiththeparentwhospendsthemosttimewiththetargetchild.

In households where neither parent spends more time withthe child, one was chosen at random for interviewing. Thevast majority (81%) of respondents were mothers. It shouldbenotedthatonlyhalf(50%)ofparentsinterviewedsaidtheyspentallormostofthedaywiththeirchild; it ispossiblethatparents’knowledgeoftheirchildren’smediauseislimited.

“My kids watch at day care. She leaves the TV on

for most of the day, but they don’t watch that much of it.”

[Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Denver, Colorado]

Focus groups EightfocusgroupsessionswereconductedbetweenMarch

22,2005andMarch1,2006,infourlocations:Columbus,Ohio;Irvine,California;Denver,Colorado;andWashington,D.C.EachsessionlastedapproximatelytwohoursandwasmoderatedbyaKaiserFamilyFoundationstaffmember.Thereweregenerallyeightparticipantsineachgroup.Participantswererecruitedtothesessionsbyanindependentresearchfirm.

In each location, two groups were conducted: one withmothersofchildrenbetweentheagesof1and3years,andonewith mothers of children between the ages of 4 and 6 years.Participantswererequiredtohaveatleastonetelevisionintheirhouseholdandtosaythattheirchildwatchestelevision,videos,orDVDsatleastseveraltimesamonth.Inaddition,participantswere screened to reflect middle-income families (between$25,000 and $100,000 a year in family income).The recruitingfirmattemptedtoensurethatatleastathirdofparticipantsineach group met each of the following criteria (reflecting thestatisticsfoundinthenationalsurvey):thechildhasatelevisioninhisorherbedroom;fortheoldergroupsonly,thechildplaysvideogamesatleastseveraltimesamonth;andalsoforoldergroupsonly,thechildusesacomputeratleastseveraltimesamonth.

ThetwofocusgroupsinWashington,D.C.,wererecordedonvideoforpurposesofcreatingashorttaperepresentingtopicsfrequentlyexpressedduringalleightgroups.


AMOUNT AND FREQUENCY OF CHILDREN’S MEDIA USE

One thing this study makes clear is that even the youngestchildren in our society have a substantial amount of experi-encewithelectronicmedia.Perhapsnotsurprisingly,almostallchildrenages6monthsto6yearsoldhavewatchedtelevision(94%)andvideosorDVDs(87%).Butuseof“new”mediaamongthisagegroupalsoabounds.Morethanfourinten(43%)haveusedacomputer,aboutthreeinten(29%)haveplayedconsolevideogames,andjustunderoneinfive(18%)haveplayedhand-heldvideogames.

Inatypicalday,83%ofchildrenages6monthsto6yearsusesome form of screen media, including 75% who watch televi-sion,32%whowatchvideosorDVDs1,16%whouseacomputer,and11%whoplayeitherconsoleorhandheldvideogames.ThepercentofchildrenwhowatchTVinatypicaldayissomewhatsmaller than the share who spend any time reading or beingreadto(83%)andlisteningtomusic(82%).

Kids who watch television and those who watch videos orDVDsspendanaverageofaboutoneandaquarterhoursoneach (1:19 forTV and 1:18 for videos/DVDs), while those whoplay video games and use computers spend an average ofjustunderanhouroneach(0:55forvideogamesand0:50forcomputers).Onthewhole,the83%ofchildrenwhousescreenmediainatypicaldayspendanaverageofjustunder2hours(1:57)doingso.

“For our little guy, TV time is all of us on the couch together. The cat comes and sits with us. We’ll talk

about what’s going on. If it’s Blues Clues, we’ll answer back. We only do 20 minutes a night.”

[Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Irvine, California]

Among all children in thisagegroup (ameasure that takesintoaccountbothhowmanychildrenuseamediumandhowlongtheyspendwithit),anaverageof59minutesadayisspentwatchingTV,24minuteswatchingvideosorDVDs2,6minutesplayingvideogames,and7minutesusingacomputer,makingtheaveragescreenuseforallchildreninthisagerangeaboutoneandahalfhours(1:36).Theaveragetimespentreadingorbeingreadtois40minutes.

C H A RT 1:

Inatypicalday,percentofchildren6andunderwho...

Note:ScreenmediaincludesTV,videos/DVDs,videogames,orcomputers.

Of course, these are averages and so reflect a great deal ofvariation,fromchildrenwhospendnotimeusingagivenmedi-um,tothosewhospendanextraordinaryamountoftimewithamedium.Forexample,amotherfromColumbus,Ohio,saidofher4-6year-oldson:“He’supabout12-15hoursaday.Igivehimabout3hoursplayingwithhistoys.Theother12hoursheisinfrontoftheTV.”Ontheotherhand,anothermomfromIrvine,California,watchesTVwithhersonforjust20minutesaday.

Olderchildren(ages2-3and4-6years)aremore likelythan

youngerchildren(under2years)towatchTV,useacomputer,and play video games. When it comes to watching videos orDVDs, 2-3 year-olds are the most likely to do this activity, fol-lowedby4-6year-olds(childrenunder2yearsoldaretheleastlikely).Olderchildrenarealsomorelikelythanyoungerchildrentoreadorbereadto;however,olderchildrenarelesslikelythanyoungerchildrentolistentomusic.(SeeTable2.)

Read or are read to

Use any screen media

Listen to music

Watch TV

Watch videos/DVDs

Use a computer

Play video games

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

83%

83%

82%

75%

32%

16%

11%


Frequency of media useAbouttwo-thirds(66%)ofchildrenages6monthsto6years

watchtelevisioneveryday,somewhatlessthantheproportionwholistentomusiceveryday(70%)andwhoreadorarereadtoeveryday(69%).Aboutaquarter(24%)watchvideosorDVDsevery day, and nearly two-thirds (65%) watch them severaltimesaweekormore.Smallersharesengageinotherformsofscreenactivityseveraltimesaweekormore,includingusingacomputer(27%),playingconsolevideogames(13%),andplay-inghandheldvideogames(8%).Childrenbetweentheagesof4and6yearsengageinmostscreenactivitiesmoreoftenthanthoseages3yearsandunder(withtheexceptionofwatchingvideosandDVDs).Forexample,43%of4-6year-oldsuseacom-puterseveraltimesaweekormore,and24%playvideogamesthatoften.

Media skillsMany children, even very young ones, are familiar enough

with the media in their homes that they’re able to turn themonandoffandusethembythemselves,providingadegreeofautonomytotheirmediause.ThemajorityknowhowtoturnontheTVbythemselves(74%)andchangethechannelswitha remote (58%), and nearly half (46%) can put in a video orDVDbythemselves.Farfewerareabletousecomputersalone,althoughaboutoneinfive(19%)areabletoturnonthecom-puterbythemselves,andoneinfour(28%)canuseacomputerwithoutsittingintheirparent’slap.

Co-viewing by parentsAccordingtothesurvey,inatypicaldaymostparentswhose

kidswatchedTVwereintheroomandwatchingTVwiththeirchild all (40%) or most (28%) of the time; just 6% say theywatched with their child none of the time. Parents are muchmorelikelytoreportleavingtheirchildrenalonetouseacom-puter or play a video game, probably at least in part becausechildren engaging in these activities tend to be older. In atypical day, 25% of parents whose children used a computerreportedbeingwiththechild“none”ofthetime,while31%saidthesameaboutvideogames.

Infocusgroups,severalparentsspokeabouttryingtoavoidhavingtowatchTVwiththeirkids—thiswasatimeforthemtogetthingsdone.Butsomechildrenseemtoprefertowatchwiththeirparentsthere. Themotherofone1-3year-oldfromDenversaid,“Mysonsaysheislonely,andhewantsmetowatchwithhim.Igoinoccasionally.”

TA b l e 1:

TVandvideoskills,byage

C H A RT 2:

Inatypicalday,averageamountoftimespentbychildrenage6andunderwhoengagedineachactivity:


C H A RT 3:

Amongallchildrenage6andunder,averageamountoftimespentperday...


0

0:30

1:00

1:30

2:00

Usingscreenmedia

WatchingTV

Listeningto

music

Readingor beingread to

Watchingvideos/DVDs

Using acomputer

Playingvideo

games

1:36

0:40

0:24

0:07 0:06

0:590:48

0

0:30

1:00

1:30

2:00

Usingscreenmedia

WatchingTV

Watchingvideos/DVDs

Listeningto

music

Playingvideo

games

Using acomputer

Readingor beingread to

1:57

1:19

0:550:50 0:48

1:18

0:58

Percent of children who can…6-23

months2-3

years4-6

years

TurnontheTVbythemselves 38% 82% 87%

Changechannelswiththeremote 40% 54% 71%

PutinavideoorDVDbythemselves 7% 42% 69%

AMOUNT AND FREQUENCY OF CHILDREN’S MEDIA USE (continued)


TA b l e 2:

Timespentusingmediaandinotheractivities,byage

*Significantlyhigherthanages0-1;^Significantlyhigherthanages2-3;‡Significantlyhigherthanages4-6;**Includingforgamesandotherpurposes;***Consoleorhandheld;+ScreenmediaincludesTV,videos/DVDs,videogames,orcomputers.Itdoesnotincludeelectronicbooks;†Samplesizetoosmalltoreport.

In typical day, percent who did each activity Average time among those who did activity Average time among all children

Total 0-1 2-3 4-6 Total 0-1 2-3 4-6 Total 0-1 2-3 4-6

Readingorbeingreadto 83% 77% 81% 87%*^ 0:48 0:44 0:52* 0:48 0:40 0:33 0:42* 0:42*

Listeningtomusic 82% 88%‡ 84%‡ 78% 0:58 1:04‡ 1:00 0:53 0:48 0:57‡ 0:50‡ 0:41

WatchingTV 75% 56% 81%* 79%* 1:19 1:02 1:28* 1:19* 0:59 0:34 1:11* 1:02*

Playingoutside 74% 55% 80%* 81%* 1:51 1:43 1:47 1:56 1:22 0:56 1:26* 1:34*

WatchingavideoorDVD 32% 24% 41%*‡ 32%* 1:18 † 1:20 1:23 0:24 0:13 0:32* 0:25*

Readinganelectronicbook 14% 11% 18%* 13% 0:42 † † † 0:05 0:05 0:06 0:04

Usingacomputer** 16% 2% 12%* 26%*^ 0:50 † † 0:50 0:07 0:01 0:05* 0:12*^

Playingvideogames*** 11% 1% 8%* 18%*^ 0:55 † † † 0:06 0:00 0:03* 0:10*^

Totalusedanyscreenmedia+ 83% 61% 88%* 90%* 1:57 1:20 2:07 2:03 1:36 0:49 1:51* 1:50*

TA b l e 3:

Frequencyofmediause,byage

*Significantlyhigherthanages0-1;^Significantlyhigherthanages2-3;‡Significantlyhigherthanages4-6.

Percent who engage in activity every dayPercent who engage in activity several

times a week or more

Total 0-1 2-3 4-6 Total 0-1 2-3 4-6

Listeningtomusic 70% 73% 72% 67% 89% 89% 90% 89%

Readingorbeingreadto 69% 58% 69%* 75%* 90% 83% 93%* 93%*

WatchingTV 66% 43% 72%* 73%* 85% 70% 91%* 92%*

WatchingvideosorDVDs 24% 18% 32%*‡ 21% 65% 44% 73%* 69%*

Usingacomputer 8% 2% 4% 13%*^ 27% 4% 18%* 43%*^

Playingconsolevideogames 3% 0 2%* 6%*^ 13% <1% 7%* 24%*^

Playinghandheldvideogames 2% 0 1% 3%*^ 8% 0 3%* 14%*^

Goingonline 2% <1% 1% 3%*^ 7% <1% 3%* 12%*^

10 T h e M e d i a F a M i ly: E l E c t r o n i c M E d i a i n t h E l i v E s o f i n f a n t s , to d d l E r s , P r E s c h o o l E r s a n d t h E i r Pa r E n t s

C H A RT 4:

Inatypicalday,timespentwithscreenmedia,byage:

2 or more hours 1-2 hours Less than 1 hour None

39%

22%

14%

6-23 month-olds

17%

12%

30%25%

41%

2-3 year-olds

14%

10%

32%

43%

4-6 year-olds

C H A RT 5:

Amongchildrenwhouseeachmedium,percentofparentswhouseitwiththem...

All the time Most of the time About half the time Less than half the time None of the time

7%6%

19%

28%

40%

TV/Video

12%

25%

12%11%

38%

Computers

18%

31%

12%

12%

26%

Video games

AMOUNT AND FREQUENCY OF CHILDREN’S MEDIA USE (continued)

a K a i s E r f a M i l y f o U n d a t i o n r E P o r t 11

C H A RT 6:

Percentofchildren6andunderwholiveinhomeswheretheTVislefton,whetheranyoneiswatchingitornot:

Perhaps not surprisingly, children who live in “heavy TVhouseholds”(thosewheretheTVisonallormostofthetime)aremorelikelytowatchTVandspendmoretimewatchingthanthosewholiveinhouseholdswheretheTVisonhalfthetimeorless(anaverageof25minutesmoreperday,1:16vs.0:51).ThesamepatternistrueforchildrenwholiveinhouseholdswheretheTVisalwaysormostlyonduringmeals,comparedwiththosewheretheTVisonlessoftenduringmeals(33minutesmoreperday,1:22vs.0:49).ChildrenwholiveinheavyTVhouseholdsareless likelythanotherchildrentoreadorbereadtodaily(64%vs.72%),andtheyspendslightlylesstimereadingonaverage(36vs.42minutesperday).

“We’re trying to cut back. My 7-year-old is always asking to have family time and talk.”


PARENTS’ MEDIA USE

All the timeNever/No TV/Don't know

Less than halfthe time

About half the time

Most of thetime

Hardly ever

9% 13%

19%

21%

20%

17%

Large numbers of young children are growing up in homeswithparentswhowatchalotofTVthemselves,puttheTVonduringmeals,andleavetheTVonformuchoftheday,whetheranyone iswatching itornot. Recent research isbeginningtopointto“background”televisionasanimportantpossibleinflu-enceonyoungchildren—perhapsbecauseofthepotentialtointerruptthechild’splayandconcentrationonotheractivities,perhaps because it may indicate that the parent’s attention islessfocusedonthechild,andperhapsbecausethecontentofsuchbackgroundtelevisionislesslikelytobedesignedspecifi-callyforchildren.

“I always have it on. I need the noise.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

Heavy television householdsNearlya third (32%)ofchildrenwhoare6yearsandunder

liveinhouseholdswherethetelevisionisonall(13%)ormost(19%) of the time. In addition, 30% live in households wheretheTVisonduringmealsall(16%)ormost(14%)ofthetime.Astwomothersof1-3year-oldsfromOhiodescribedit,sometimesit’sthemomswhoputtheTVon(“Ijusthaveitontokeepmecompany”),andothertimesit’sthedads(“Myhusbandturnsitonassoonashegetshomefromworkeverynight”).

Interviewer: How much of the time is the TV usually on in your house?

Mother: All the time, mostly because my husband likes to turn it on and then walk away. It’s just on.

It’s background noise. [Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Denver, Colorado]


Parental media useAs noted above, the amount of time parents spend using

media could be relevant to children’s media use patterns inseveralways: becauseofchildren’sexposuretoadultcontent;because competition over TVs and computers may influencewhichmediachildrenuseandwhethertheyhavethemintheirrooms; and because parents may model media consumptionhabitsthatinfluencetheirchildren.

Onatypicalday,83%ofparentsofchildrenages6monthsto6yearsspendatleastsometimeusingscreenmediaathome,with those parents averaging just over two hours (2:13) ofscreenmediause. Sixty-eightpercentwatchtheirownshowson television (for an average of 1:36), 45% use a computer athome,and6%playvideogames.3

“If I want to watch TV, I’ll have him watch on the portable DVD player.”


Children whose parents spend more time watchingTV andusingothermediaaremorelikelytowatchTVthemselves.Forexample, children whose parents use screen media for morethan 2 hours in a day are much more likely to watchTV thatdaythanchildrenwhoseparentsspendlessthananhourusingscreenmedia(81%vs.64%),averaging28minutesmoreTVtimeperday(1:14vs.0:46).However,theydon’tspendlesstimethanotherchildrenreadingorbeingreadto.

TA b l e 5:

Parents’mediause

In a typical day, percent who use

each medium

Average time spent among those who used

each medium

WatchTV 68% 1:36

Useacomputer 45% 1:31

Playvideogames 6% *

Useanyscreenmedia 83% 2:13

*Samplesizeistoosmallforreliableresults.

In addition to their own television use, many children arealso exposed to television when their parents are watchingadult shows. Among the 68% whose parents watched theirownshowsonTV,61%(or41%ofallchildren)wereintheroomwiththeparentatleastsomeofthetime,and29%(or20%ofallchildren)wereintheroomallormostofthetimewhiletheparentwaswatching.

“I usually don’t get to watch TV until they go to sleep because I like the science fiction horror

shows, and I don’t want them to watch that.” [Mother of 1-3 year-old, Denver, Colorado]

TA b l e 4:

Relationshipofhouseholdmediapatternstochildren’smediause

*Significantlyhigherthan“halfthetimeorless.”

TV on in household TV on during meals

Child’s TV ViewingAlways/

most of the timeHalf the

time or lessAlways/

most of the timeHalf the

time or less

PercentwhowatchTVontypicalday 84%* 70% 84%* 71%

MeanhourswatchingTVforkidswhowatched 1:31* 1:13 1:37* 1:09

MeanhourswatchingTVforallkids 1:16* 0:51 1:22* 0:49

PercentwhowatchTVdaily 80%* 59% 79%* 60%

PARENTS’ MEDIA USE (continued)


and my son is in the living room. My son wants to see thebloodandgore.Myhusbanddoesn’tcare.”Anotherthingthatconcerned some parents was children being exposed to thecommercialsfoundinnon-children’sTV.“I’vehadtogointoalotofthingswithmykidsthatIdon’twanttobecauseofthecom-mercials,”saidthemotherofa4-6year-oldfromIrvine.

“I tend to watch the old ER. I had to stop because my

daughter tried to give my (younger) son CPR.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Irvine, California]

Onepositiveaspectofparentalmediausethatsomemoth-ersmentionedwasthepossibilitythattheirhusbandsandsonscouldbondwhileplayingvideogames.OneDenver-areamomwasconsideringgettingavideogameplayerjustforthatpur-pose:“Ithink[playingvideogames]issomethingmyhusbandandmysonwouldbondover.Rightnowtheydon’thavemuchincommon. Withworkandschoolandhomework, theyonlygetacoupleofhoursontheweekend.” AnothermotherfromIrvinesaidthatvideogamesalreadyplayedthat rolewithher4-6year-oldson:“Forusitisabondingexperience.Mysonwillwatchhisdadplayandplaywithhim.Theybondwhiletheyareinteracting.”

“I don’t think media has anything to do with how I

am as a parent. I would never sit her in front of the TV so I could go do something. I learned a long time

ago that the dishes can wait until tomorrow. It can all wait. I’ve seen my 15-year-old grow up in the blink of

an eye…I take advantage of all the time I can get.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Irvine, California]

TA b l e 6:

Relationshipofparentalmediausetochildren’smediause

Total parent media use on typical day

Child’s TV viewing <1 hr1-2 hrs >2 hrs

PercentwhowatchTVontypicalday 64% 78%^ 81%^

MeanhourswatchingTVforkidswhowatched

1:13 1:14 1:31^†

MeanhourswatchingTVforallkids 0:46 0:57^ 1:14^†

PercentwhowatchTVdaily 59% 68%^ 69%^

^Significantlyhigherthan<1hour;†Significantlyhigherthan1-2hours.

None

1-2 hours

2 or more hours

Less than 1 hour

17%

42%

28%

13%

C H A RT 7:

Amountoftimeparentsspendusingscreenmedia,inatypicalday:

In focus groups, many parents told of only watchingTV atnight, so their kids weren’t exposed to“adult” content. Otherstalkedabouttheirchildren interruptingthemwhile theyweretrying to watch their own shows; these parents would some-times put up with the nuisance, postpone their viewing, orgettheirkidstheirownTVs(themostcommonreasonparentsgaveforputtingaTVintheirchild’sbedroomwassotheparentandotherfamilymemberscanwatchtheirownshows).Asthemotherofa3-year-oldfromDenvernoted,“ItrytotakeovertheTVwhenIwanttowatchsomething;thenhehastowatchwhatIamwatching.WefightovertheTV.”Someparentsinthefocusgroupsfelttheycouldwatchtheirownshowswithoutithavingmuchofan impactontheirkids. Forexample, themotherofa1-3year-oldgirlfromIrvinesaid:“IwatchCSI….[S]hewillsitdownandwatchwithme.Idon’tknowhowharmfulitistoher.It’ssometimesgory,butitdoesn’tseemtobotherher.Shehasn’thadanynightmaresfromit.”

“For a little while we weren’t really supervising, but then we found him quoting from a movie called

Mansquito on the Science Fiction Channel.” [Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Denver, Colorado]

Some mothers said they monitor what’s on the family TVmore closely than their husbands do. “My other problem ismyhusband,”saidonemomofa4-6year-oldboyfromIrvine,California.“He’llwatchwhatever’son. HewatchesthingsthatIdon’twantmysontosee. TheTVwillbeoninthelivingroom,

1� T h e M e d i a F a M i ly: E l E c t r o n i c M E d i a i n t h E l i v E s o f i n f a n t s , to d d l E r s , P r E s c h o o l E r s a n d t h E i r Pa r E n t s

Why parents want their kids to use mediaFocusgroupsindicatethatmanyparentsareencouragingtheirchildrentospendtimewithmediabecausetheythinkit’sgoodfortheirkids,andbecauseitgivesthemachancetogetthingsdonewithouttheirchildrenunderfoot.Indeed,infocusgroupsparents speak about“getting” their kids to watch certain vid-eosorTVshows,oraboutDVDsbeingbetterthanTVbecausethey’relongerandaffordalongerchunkoftimeinwhichtogetthingsdone.

“They wake up and get to watch TV while I shower and get dressed. It keeps them in my sight line.”


Many parents speak of the numerous demands on theirtimeandoftheirstrongneedtokeeptheirkidsoccupiedwhiletheygetchoresdone. AsamomfromDenversaidabouther1-3year-old,“IfheiswatchingTV,Icangetotherthingsdone.I don’t have to constantly watch him.” Some parents spokeaboutthefactthattheysimplycan’tlettheirkidsplayoutdoorsunsupervised. Others pointed out how much trouble theirchildrencouldcause inside thehouse if theyare leftunmoni-tored: “If theTV isn’ton,he’sputtingthe‘OrangeGlo’allovermy daughter’s bedspread. That makes more work for me.”

“He’s a good little boy. He won’t bother anything. He won’t get into stuff. He’s glued to the TV.”

[Mother of a 4-6 year-old from Columbus, Ohio]

Manyparentsalsotalkedabouthowimportantitisforthemtohave“me”time,whichoftenmeansgettingtheirkidssetupwithaTVshoworaDVD.Themotherofa4-6year-oldfromtheDenverareapointedoutthat:“Beinganadultishard.Therearetimeswhenmyinteractingwithmychildren isbestservedbymehavinganopportunitytoallowthemtodosomethingaloneso I can regroup.When I got laid off a couple of weeks ago, Ididn’tknowitwascoming.Igotblindsided.Icouldn’thaveinter-actedwithmychildrenthatnight.Icouldn’thavedoneit.‘Let’swatchFinding Nemo,kids.Herearesomechickenstrips,herearesippycups—I’llseeyouinaboutanhourandahalf.’”

The educational value of televisionIn the national survey, parents are fairly evenly split on

whether,ingeneral,TVmostlyhelps(38%)ormostlyhurts(31%)children’s learning(22%say itdoesn’thavemucheffecteitherway).Butinfocusgroups,manyparentscited“learning”asoneofthepositivethingsabouttelevision,andindicatedthattheythoughttheirchildrenwerelearningfromTV.Severalmothersmentioned being surprised by their children saying a word inSpanish or being able to count.The mother of a 4-6 year-oldfromDenversaid,“MydaughterstartedsayingsomethingtomeinSpanish—Idon’tknowawordofSpanish.[TVis]definitelyeducational.” Another Denver-area mom said,“My 2-year-oldcancount to10. Ihaven’t reallypracticedthatmuchwithher.Shedidit.Whereelsewouldshehavepossiblylearnedit?”

“Out of the blue one day my son counted to five in Spanish. I knew immediately that he got

that from Dora.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

Mothersarealsoenthusiasticaboutthedifferentexperienceschildren are exposed to through television and videos. “[Myson]hasdevelopedapassionabouttheoceanandanglerfishbecauseofNemo,”saidoneDenvermom.“Hefell in lovewiththat character. That door wouldn’t have even been open if itwasn’t forFinding Nemo.”AnotherDenvermothersaidher4-6year-old son was“always telling me what is right and wrongfromthethingsheseesonTV.Ithasopeneddoorsinbeingableto talk to him.” Several mothers mentioned the“diversity”TVbringstheiryoungchildren.AsonemomfromColumbussaid,“Ithinktheyareexposedtoalittlebitmorediversity.Ithinkthatit’sgoodforthemtobecomfortablewiththat….toknowthatit’sokayforeveryonetobedifferent.”

“My daughter knows…her letters from Sesame Street. I haven’t had to work with her

on them at all.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

PARENTS’ ATTITUDES ABOUT CHILDREN’S MEDIA USE

a K a i s E r f a M i l y f o U n d a t i o n r E P o r t 1�

TA b l e 7:

Relationshipofparentalattitudestochildren’smediause

Parent attitude towards TV

Child’s Media Use Mostly helps

No effect

Mostly hurts

PercentwhowatchTVontypicalday

84%‡~ 75%~ 64%

MeanhourswatchingTVforkidswhowatched

1:27~ 1:16 1:12

MeanhourswatchingTVforallkids 1:12‡~ 0:57~ 0:45

PercentwhowatchTVdaily 76%~ 71%~ 48%

‡Significantlyhigherthan“Noeffect.”;~Significantlyhigherthan“Mostlyhurts.”

Educational value of computersWhenitcomestousingcomputers,mostparentsthinkthis

activityhelpsratherthanhurtslearning(69%vs.8%,with15%sayingitdoesn’thavemucheffect).

Manyparentsfeelthatsincetheirchildrenaregoingtohavetousecomputers later in life,gettingfamiliarwiththematanearlyageisabenefitinandofitself,regardlessofwhatthey’redoingonthecomputer.OnemotherfromIrvinesaid,“Anythingthey are doing on the computer I think is learning.” AnothermomfromColumbussaid,“Ithinktheygetmoreskillsfromthecomputer.Ourworldissocomputer-oriented.Icertainlydidn’tknowhowtouseacomputerwhenIwas3….IfIhadachoiceofthecomputerorTV,Iwoulddefinitelychoosethecomputer.”

“They’ll survive without the video games and TV….I don’t think they’ll survive without the computer.

When they’re older, they aren’t going to have a cashier to check them out at Kroger.”

[Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

Otherfocusgroupmotherspointedtocertainfeaturesofthecomputer that they found beneficial, such as interactivity orthe parent being able to control the content through specificsoftware. The mother of a young child from Irvine said,“Thecomputer is far more interactive than TV. His mind is moreactivewhenhe isusingthecomputer. It’smoreofananalysisandfiguringthingsout.”ADenver-areamom(ofa4-6year-old)said,“Ithinkyouhavemorecontroloverthecomputer.Ifthey’rewatchingTV, you don’t know what the lesson is going to be.Withthecomputeryoucanputinspecificsoftwareorgotoaspecificwebsite.”

“It shows them a world that they aren’t familiar with. We live in the suburbs. She watches Dora

and learns a little bit of Spanish.” [Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

Someparentsfeeltheyneedmediatohelpthemwiththeirchild’s education. As one mother from Irvine, California, said,“I think they (media)are inawaynecessary.Somuchmore isexpected of kids these days….When you go to kindergartennow, you can’t just go and play with toys.You have to knowhowtowriteyournameandspell.It’sallaboutwhatyouknow.”Mostparentsseemedtothinktheirchildrenwouldlearnwhattheyneededtoknowjustfinewithoutmedia,buttheywouldbeunderalotmorepressuretodotheteachingthemselves.Asthemotherofa1-3year-oldfromDenversaid,“Idon’tthinkit’simportanttouseitasalearningtool,butformetouseittokeepthemoccupied.”

The national survey indicates that there is a relationshipbetween parents’ attitudes about the educational value oftelevision and how much time their children spend watchingTV.ChildrenwhoseparentsthinkTVmostlyhurts learningareless likelytowatchthanthosewhoseparentssayitmostlyhelpsordoesn’thavemucheffectonewayortheother.Forexample,48% of children whose parents say TV mostly hurts learningwatch every day, compared to 76% of those whose parentsbelieveTV mostly helps children’s learning. Likewise, childrenwhoseparentssayTVmostlyhurtslearningspendanaverageof27minuteslessperdaywatchingthanchildrenwhoseparentsthinkTVmostlyhelps.

It is not possible to tell from this survey whether parentswho think TV hurts learning are more likely to restrict theirchildren’s viewing, or whether parents whose children spendmoretimewatchingTVdevelopahigheropinionoftelevision’sroleinlearning,orwhethersomeotherfactorisinfluencingthisrelationship.

“I just don’t have time to sit on the computer with

him to try and teach him all this other stuff…. I’m not going to put him on it if I have to teach

him how to use the mouse or something else…. I am like — play it at your dad’s and

break his computer.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Denver, Colorado]


“I don’t spend nearly as much time with my son as I need to. He has learned huge amounts through the video and computer games that we have...I’m very

grateful for the computer games. My kid learned his colors and letters from the computer. It’s been very

beneficial to us.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Irvine, California]

Another mother from Denver (of a 1-3 year-old) describedoneoftheCD-ROMssheandherdaughterenjoyusing:“Theyhavea5-a-dayvegetablegame.Mydaughterdoesn’tliketoeat,soweshowherallthedifferentfoodsthataregoodforher.Wemakethingsonthecomputer,andthenwewillgodownstairsandmakethemtoeat.Sheseemstoeatbetterafterweplaythefoodgame.”

Despitetheadvantagessomefocus-groupmotherspointedto,manyothersexpressedalotofconcernsabouthavingtheirkidsusethefamilycomputer. Therewasasensethatmostofwhat children can learn from a computer they can also learnfromTVorvideos—withoutasmuchparentaloversightandwithout as much risk to expensive equipment. As one momfrom Irvine said,“If they’re on the Internet, I have to be righttherewiththem.ThatcanbeannoyingbecauseIdon’talwayshavethetimetosittherewhilemy3-and6-year-oldgoontheInternet. It isn’t that fun for me to watch the same Dora clip20,000 times. I would rather do other things.” Some pointedto the safety of the NickelodeonTV channel over the Nick Jr.website:onemomsaid,“IfIleavemysononNickJr.forjustaminute,hewillclickoneverypossibleadorwhatever,andtherewillbeathousandthingsopen,”whileanothernoted,“Ifthey’rewatchingNickelodeon,youknowtheyaren’tgoingtohaveanypornsitespoppingup.”

Educational value of video games

Accordingtothenationalsurvey,mostparentsthinkplayingvideogameshurtsratherthanhelpslearning(49%vs.17%,with22%sayingnotmucheffect).Inthefocusgroups,parentsdidn’tindicate having as much experience using educational videogamesastheydidwithTV,computers,orvideosandDVDs.Onemother of a 4-6 year-old from Columbus did have experiencewithaneducationalvideogame:“Mydaughterand IplayedaMickeyMouse(video)gamewhereyouhadto…movethecur-soraroundtofinddifferentthings. Ifyoufindtheremote,youcangobacktotheTV,anditwillshowaclip.It’slikethinking.”

C H A RT 8:

Percentofparentswhosayeachmediummostlyhelpsorhurtschildren’slearning:

Focusgroupparentsalsofeltthatvideogamestendedtobemoreviolent,especiallythosefortheolderkids.Someworriedaboutthetypesofgamesyoungchildrenseetheiroldersiblingsplay: “My older kids play…a lot of the violent stuff. They let[myyoungerson]playonetime,andthepoorchildwastrau-matized….Hecouldn’tevensleepthatnight.Hekepttellingusaboutitallnight.”

Many parents noted that their younger children tried tomimic either their dads or their older siblings by playing withgamecontrollers,butjustgotfrustratedbecausetheycouldn’tdoitproperly.

Conversations with pediatricians

Relatively few parents (15%) say that their pediatrician hasever discussed their child’s media use with them. Parentswith higher income and more formal education are morelikely to say their pediatrician has discussed this with them(forexample,22%ofcollegegraduates,vs.11%of thosewitha high school education or less). There is no indication fromthesedata thatchildrenwhoseparentshavediscussedmediausewiththeirpediatricianarelesslikelytowatchTVorthatthehousehold media environment is different for these childrenthan for those whose parents haven’t had those discussions.

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Computers

TV

Video games

69%

38%

17%

8%

31%

49%

15%

22%

22%

Mostly helps Mostly hurts Not much e�ect

PARENTS’ ATTITUDES ABOUT CHILDREN’S MEDIA USE (continued)


“I told my kids we weren’t going to get an Xbox…because we have the computer. To me it’s just one

more thing that I would have to fight over with them. I’m big on entertaining yourself — go play.

Don’t just sit here vegetating.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

C H A RT 9:

Percentofchildrenage6andunderwholiveinahomewith...

ComputersMore than three-quarters (78%) of children 6 years and

under live in a household with a computer, and about threeinten(29%) live inahouseholdwithtwoormorecomputers.Nearlyseveninten(69%)haveInternetaccessinthehousehold,including42%whohavehigh-speedInternetaccess(26%havedial-upaccess).

Even the youngest children are growing up in homes wheremediaareanintegralpartoftheenvironment—withmultipleTVs,VCRs,computers,andvideogameplayersinthehome;TVsleftonmuchofthetime(manywithlargescreensandsurroundsound), whether anyone is watching or not; TVs in children’sbedrooms;andportableDVDplayersandhandheldvideogameplayersreadyforchildrenonthego.

TelevisionNearly all children ages 6 months to 6 years (99%) live in a

homewithatleastonetelevision.Eighty-fourpercentliveinahomewithtwoormoretelevisions,andnearlyaquarter(24%)liveinhomeswithfourormoreTVs.

A large majority (80%) of these children live in homes that

have cable or satelliteTV, and about half (53%) live in homeswhere the largestTV is 30 inches or larger (25% haveTVs 40inchesor larger). Fourinten(40%)haveatelevisionwithsur-round sound, and two in ten (20%) have TiVo or some othertypeofdigitalvideorecorder.ThepresenceofTiVointhehomewasnotrelatedtoeithertheamountortypeofshowschildrenwatched.

VCRs and DVD playersNearlyall(93%)childrenages6monthsto6yearshaveaVCR

orDVDplayer inthehome,andathird(33%)haveaportableDVDplayer.Inaddition,nearlyoneinfive(18%)haveatelevi-sionorDVDplayerintheircar.

“While my daughter has her princess movie in, my son can be upstairs playing his Blues Clues CD-ROM...

It gives them their own space and their own quality time to be apart.”


Video gamesHalf(50%)ofchildren6yearsandunderhaveaconsolevideo

gameplayerinthehome,andnearlythreeinten(28%)haveahandheldvideogameplayer.Childrenages4-6aremorelikelythan children ages 0-3 to live in homes with a console videogame player (54% vs. 46%), and with a handheld video gameplayer(34%vs.22%).

MEDIA IN THE HOME

A television

VCR/DVD player

Videogame player

Large-screen TV(40" or more)

Surround sound

Four ormore TVs

Computer

Internet access

High-speedaccess

Two or morecomputers

PortableDVD player

Handheldvideo game

TV or DVDin car

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

99%

93%

50%

78%

69%

42%

29%

33%

28%

18%

25%

40%

24%


TA b l e 8:

Percentofchildrenwithmediainthebedroom,byage

Items in bedroom Total 0-1 year

2-3 years

4-6 years

TV 33% 19% 29% 43%

VCRorDVDplayer 23% 12% 22% 30%

Cable/satelliteTV 17% 10% 12% 23%

Videogameplayer 10% 2% 5% 18%

Computer 5% 3% 3% 7%

Internetaccess 2% 2% 1% 2%

C H A RT 10:

WhyparentsputaTVintheirchild’sbedroom:

Note:Amongthe33%ofchildrenwithaTVintheirroom.

MEDIA IN THE BEDROOM

So the parent or otherfamily members can

watch their own shows

It keeps the childoccupied so the parent

can do things aroundthe house

Stops �ghts betweensiblings

It helps the child fallasleep

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

55%

39%

30%

23%

As a reward for goodbehavior 26%

To get child to go to bedin their own room 19%

Had an extra TV theydidn't want to throw out 22%

Mostchildren6yearsandunderdon’thaveTVsorothermediain their bedrooms, but many do. One-third (33%) of parentsreport that their children have aTV in their bedroom (19% ofchildrenages1yearoryounger,29%ofchildrenages2-3years,and43%ofthoseages4-6years).SomeparentsalsoreportthattheirchildrenhaveaVCRorDVDplayer(23%),whilefarfewersaytheyhaveavideogameplayer(10%)oracomputer(5%)intheirbedroom.

“The TV is on all the time. We have five TVs. At least three of those are usually on — her bedroom, the

living room and my bedroom.” [Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

Morethanhalf(51%)ofchildrenwithaTVintheirbedroomgetcableorsatellite,while22%getonlyregularchannels,and25%haveaTVthatisjustusedforwatchingvideosorplayingvideogames.AmongthosewithaTVintheirbedroom,athird(33%, or 11% of all children) spend half or more of their TV-watchingtimewatchinginthebedroom.Morethanhalf(54%)ofchildrenwithaTVintheirbedroomhavetheirownroom.Theremaindersharearoomwithabrotherorsister(31%)orwithaparent(15%).

ThemostcommonreasonparentsnameforhavingaTV intheirchild’sbedroomisthatitfreesupotherTVsinthehousesootherfamilymemberscanwatchtheirownshows(citedby55%ofparentswhosekidshaveaTVinthebedroom).Othercommon-lycitedreasonsare:itkeepsthechildoccupiedsotheparentcandothingsaroundthehouse(39%);ithelpsthechildfallasleep(30%);andthat it’susedasa rewardforgoodbehavior (26%).

“My reasoning was that my little boy was extremely intelligent since birth. At one year old he was...

putting his own DVDs in, skipping scenes, changing the volume. I thought it was a real good thing for him

to have his own TV because TV helped him grow at a very young age.”



TA b l e 9:

Relationshipbetweenbedroommediaandtimespentwithmedia

Television TV in bedroom No TV in bedroom

PercentwhowatchTVintypicalday 88% 68%

Averagetimewatchingamongthosewhowatched 1:30 1:13

AveragetimewatchingTV(amongallkids) 1:19 0:49

PercentwhowatchTVeveryday 82% 58%

Videos VCR/DVD player in bedroom

No VCR/DVD player in bedroom

Percentwhowatchvideosintypicalday 40% 30%

Averagetimewatchingvideos(amongallkids) 0:33 0:22

Percentwhowatchvideoseveryday 36% 20%

Video games Video game console in bedroom

No video game console in bedroom

Percentwhoplayvideogamesintypicalday 34% 5%

Averagetimeplayingvideogames(amongallkids) 0:16 0:02

Percentwhoplayvideogamesseveraltimesaweekormore 54% 9%

Note:Alldifferencesstatisticallysignificant.

Falling asleep to TVMostparentsdon’tputtheirchildrentosleeptotheTV(67%

don’thaveaTVintheirchild’sbedroom,andofthosewhodo,40% say they“never” put their child to bed with the TV on).However, as noted above, sleep crops up several times in thesurveyasamongthereasonsthatmanyparentsdecidetoputaTVinasmallchild’sroom.AmongparentswithaTVintheirchild’sbedroom,three inten(30%)sayonereasontheyputaTVthereisthatithelpstheirchildfallasleep,andabouttwointen(19%)saytheydidittotrytogetthechildtosleepinhisorherownroom(insteadofintheparent’sroom).AmongchildrenwithaTVintheirbedroom,37%(or12%ofallchildren)gotobedwiththeTVonhalfthetimeormore.

FocusgroupsindicatethatchildrenrespondverydifferentlytoTV in termsofwhether they fallasleepto itornot. As thesurvey indicates, some moms say theTV helps their child fallasleep.Forexample,themotherofayoungboy(3yearsorunder)in Denver, Colorado explained why she put a TV in her son’sroomthisway:“IdiditsoIcouldwatchmyTV.Ialsowanteditsohewouldwatchandfallasleep.”AnothermomfromColumbus,Ohio,said“My2-year-oldwill literallybounceinhiscribtotheWiggles.AssoonasIturnitoff,heliesrightdownandgoestosleep.”ButseveralmotherssaidtheycouldneverputtheirchildtosleepwiththeTVon,becausethechildwouldjuststayawakewatching. For example, another Columbus-area mother said“Ican’tputaTVinhisroombecausehe’dnevergotosleep….He’dwatchitallnightlongifwelethim.”

Relationship of bedroom media to time spent using media Childrenwithmediaintheirbedroomaresignificantlymore

likelytousethesemediaregularlyandspendsubstantiallymoretimeusingthemoverall.Forexample,childrenwithaTVintheirroom are far more likely to be dailyTV watchers (i.e., parentssaytheywatchTV“everyday”)thanthosewithoutabedroomTV(82%vs.58%),andthosewhodowatchspendmoretimeinfrontofthescreen(1:30vs.1:13).Similarpatternsholdforchil-drenwithaVCR,DVD,orvideogameplayerintheirroom.ThereisnorelationshipbetweenTVinthebedroomandtimespentreadinginatypicalday.

“I hate video games, and I don’t want to see them in the living room. If they want to play them they have

to do it in their room.” [Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Irvine, California]

Itisnotpossibletoknowfromthisstudywhychildrenwithbedroom media spend more time watching. At least threeexplanationsarepossible: that thepresenceofeachmediuminthebedroomleadstogreateruse;thatchildrenwhoaretheheaviest users are the ones who are more likely to get theirownsets;orthatsomeotherfactorexplainsbothwhythepar-entdecidedtoputaTVintheirchild’sroomandwhythechildspendsmore timewatching (forexample,because theparentbelievesTVisgoodfortheirchild,orbecausetheparentwantstospendasmuchuninterruptedtimewatchingtheirownshowsaspossible).


Amongthe94%ofchildrenages6monthsto6yearsoldwhohave ever watched television, a large majority (85%) of theirparentssaythattheyhaverulesaboutwhattheirchildcanorcan’twatchonTV (63%saytheyenforcetheserulesallof thetime,while22%saytheyenforcethemlessoftenthanthat).Asomewhatsmallermajority(60%)saytheyhaverulesabouthowmuchtimetheirchildcanspendwatchingTV(31%enforcedallthetime,29%lessoften).

Asimilarproportionofparentshaverulesaboutwhichvideogames their children are allowed to play and how much timetheycanspendplayingthem.Aslightlysmallerproportionhaverulesaboutcomputercontentortime.(SeeChart11).

“I set a timer. My kids know when it goes off they have to stop.”


ChildrenlivinginhouseholdswithrulesaboutTVtimearelesslikelythanthosewithoutsuchrulestowatchTVinatypicalday(76%vs.84%).Andamongthosewhodowatch,thosewithTVtimerulesspendlesstimewatching(1:15)thanthosewithoutsuchrules(1:26).Whenitcomestocomputersandvideogames,there isnosignificantdifferencebetweenchildrenwhosepar-entsdoanddonothavetimerules intermsofthepercentofchildrenwhousethesemediaorthetimespentusingthem.

Infocusgroups,manyparentsspokeaboutkeepinganeyeon the amount of time their children spend with media, andmakingsureitisn’texcessive—butnotthroughformal“rules.”As the mother of a 1-3 year-old in Irvine said,“It isn’t really arule.Thereistimeforthat,andtimeforotherthings.That’sjustthewaythingsare.Wedon’tsayit’sarulebecauseifwedid,hewouldimmediatelywanttobreaktherule.”

Buttoalargeextent,discussioninthefocusgroupscenteredmoreonparents trying togettheirkidstowatchmedia—sothemotherscangetotherthingsdone—ratherthan limitingthetimekidsspendwithmedia.Parentsspokeof“getting”theirkidstowatchcertainshowsorDVDs,andoftheadvantagesofprogramsthatkeepchildren’sattentionlonger.

“I’ve had situations where I’ve said that he’s been on the computer long enough today, let’s try

something else. It isn’t a rule. It’s just time to do something else.”

[Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Irvine, California]

Some parents in the focus groups mentioned the TVratings. One mom from Columbus said,“I have it blocked onall my children’s TVs with the V-Chip. Anything past TV-13theyaren’tallowedtowatch….Ithinkit’sagreatthing.”Mostparents talked about selecting shows or products based onfamiliarbrands—PBS,Nickelodeon,Disney.Atthesametime,anumberofparentssaidtheiryoungerkidshadbeenexposedtocontentthrougholdersiblings,withouttheparentsbeingawareofitaheadoftime.Forexample,themotherofone1-3year-oldfromDenversaid,“My7-year-oldwatches thishorriblestuff. Idon’tevenknowwhatit’scalled.Idon’tseehowhewatchesit.Myyoungerchildwatchestoobecausehe’slonely,sohegoesinwithhisbrother.”

C H A RT 11:

Among those who use each medium, percent who haveandenforcerulesabout...

MEDIA RULES

Computertime

Videogame

content

Videogametime

Computercontent

TVcontent

TVtime

0

20

40

60

80

100

21%48%23%14% 39% 36%

3%

2%

2%

4%

4% 3%

8%

8%

4%18%

25%

14%

67%

38%

68%63%

31%

44%

No rulesRules, enforced hardlyever or never

Rules, enforced mostof the time

Rules, enforced allthe time


“I think [TV] builds confidence and self-esteem. My daughter was very introverted until she was about three and a half. She was very shy. …By her acting

out with her imaginary friends on the TV or Dora, it just really brought her out. It really opened her up in

preschool and she is really doing well.” [Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Irvine, California]

Imitating behavior from TVNearly seven in ten parents (68%) say they have seen their

childimitatesometypeofbehaviorfromTV.Farmoreparentssay their child imitates positive behavior, such as sharing orhelping(66%),thansaytheirchildimitatesaggressivebehavior,likehittingorkicking(23%).Parentsofchildrenages4-6years(83%)andofchildrenages2-3years(77%)aremorelikelythanparentsofchildrenunder2years(27%)tosaytheirchildimitatesanytypeofbehavior.

“She was going around kissing everyone with her mouth open. She wanted to be like Ariel and Eric.”

(From Disney’s The Little Mermaid.) [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

Boys in both age ranges (2-3 and 4-6) are more likely thangirls to imitate aggressive behavior (nearly half — 45% — ofparents of boys ages 4-6 say their child imitates aggressivebehavior).Childrenwhoprimarilywatchkids’educationalpro-grammingaremorelikelythanthosewhoprimarilywatchkids’entertainmentshowstoimitatepositivebehavior(76%vs.59%).

“My daughter just sits in the beanbag chair

watching TV. If it’s something that she’s really into, she just sits there with her mouth hanging open.”


TV’S EFFECT ON CHILDREN

Calming children down or pumping them up Justoverhalf (53%)ofparentssaythatTVtendstocalmtheirchilddown,whileonlyaboutoneinsix(17%)saythatTVgetstheirchildexcited.Therestofparentseithersay:TVcalmsandexcitestheirchildequally(9%);itdependsonwhatthechildiswatching (8%) or on the child’s mood or time of day (3%); ortheydon’tknow(10%).Television’seffectonchildrendoesnotvaryreliablywiththechild’sageorgender.Childrenwhowatchmostly entertainment shows are more likely to be calmed byTVthanarethosewhowatchmostlyeducationalshows (72%vs.50%).

“When he watched the Buzz Lightyear of Star Command video from the library, he was a monster

child. The very next week I got Teletubbies, and it was completely opposite. He was very mellow.”


Infocusgroups,parentsdescribearangeofresponsestheirchildrenhavetoTV.AnumberofparentstalkedabouthowTVcancalmtheirchildrendown.Themotherofa4-6year-oldfromIrvinesaid,“Mysonisreallyhyper.That’satimewhenIcangethimtoactuallycalmdownandwatchalittleTV….Hewillslowdownandthathelpschangehismood…. It’smuchbetter forhimandforme.”

“She plays along with what she’s watching most of the time. She’s dancing. She’s not being

a couch potato…” [Mother of a 4-6 year-old, Columbus, Ohio]

Butanothermother, fromColumbus, said,“My2-year-old issorambunctiousyoucannotturnyourbackforasecond.WithTV Inotice thathis temperamentchanges.Hegetsmorewildand hyper when he is watching the stuff that he likes.” Manyparentspointedtoapositiveenergytheirkidsgetfromwatch-ingTV as well as dancing and responding to the screen. “MykidswillstandinfrontoftheTVandhopandclap,”amotherofa1-3year-old fromColumbussaid. Othersdescribekidswho“zoneout”orappearhypnotizedbytheTV.“TheTVkindofturnstheirbrainoff,that’swhatIdon’tlike,”saidoneDenvermother.


Response to commercialsInfocusgroups,whenaskedtolistthepositivesandnegatives

ofTVfortheirchildren,manyparentsmentionedcommercialsas a negative. But when asked how many commercials theirchildrenwereexposedtoinatypicalday,mostparentsseemedata losstoguess,andestimatesrangedfrom5to100. Manyparents indicated that their children liked commercials andwereinfluencedbythem.“Shepaysattentiontothecommer-cialsmorethantheshows,”saidthemotherofone1-3year-oldfromColumbus.“That’swhatgetsherattention.”Severaltalkedabout their children memorizing things from commercials. ADenvermom(ofa4-6year-old)said,“Mykidsare—‘Iwantthat,I want that, I want that.’ They commit things to memory formonths.”Butonemothersaidshethoughtthecommercialsjustwentrightpastherkids:“Idon’tthinktheywatchthem….Idon’tthinkthey’repayingattention.”

“I want this, I want that, I want chocolate cereal.” [Mother of a 1-3 year-old, Denver, Colorado]

At the same time, a couple of parents mentioned that adsgivethemgiftideas,andthey’regratefulforthem.Themotherof one 1-3 year-old girl from Columbus said, “My daughter’sbirthdayisnextweek.ShesawacommercialforaStrawberryShortcakedolltoy.Shesaidshewanteditforherbirthday.Ifshehadn’tseenthecommercial,shewouldn’thaveknownaboutit.IwasgladthatIwasintheroomandshecouldtellmethat.”

“I would be at a total loss if it wasn’t for commercials at Christmas time. I wouldn’t know what

to get my kids. They know what they like when they see it on TV.”

[Mother of a 4-6-year-old, Denver, Colorado]

TA b l e 10:

ImitatingpositiveoraggressivebehaviorfromTV

Ages 2-3 Years

Ages 4-6 Years

Percent whose parents say they... All Boys Girls All Boys Girls

Imitatepositivebehavior 75% 75% 75% 80% 79% 82%

Imitateaggressivebehavior 24% 31%† 17% 33%* 45%† 21%

Imitateneither 23%^ 20% 25% 17% 17% 17%

*Significantlyhigherthanages2-3;^Significantlyhigherthanages4-6;†Significantlyhigherthangirlsinthisagerange.

TV’S EFFECT ON CHILDREN (continued)


AmongparentswhosechildrenwatchTVatleastseveraltimesamonth,thevastmajority(83%)saytheirchildwatchesmostlyshows specifically for kids around his or her age (2% say thechild watches mostly shows for all ages, including adults; and13%saythechildwatchesbothtypesofshowsaboutequally).Moreparentssaytheirchildwatchesmostlyeducationalshows(24%)thansaytheirchildwatchesmostlyentertainmentshows(10%),butaplurality(48%)saytheirchildwatchesbothtypesofshowsaboutequally.

“A show can seem fine one minute, and in the next minute Tom pulls a gun on Jerry.”


C H A RT 12:

Percentofchildrenwhowatch...

Note:AmongthosewhowatchTVatleastseveraltimeamonth.

In focus groups, a number of parents indicated that theiryoungchildrenwatchmaturecontentandthatboththechildandtheparentseemfinewiththat. Forexample, themotherofone4-year-oldfromDenversaid,“The Punisher,mysonlovesthat movie. He’s more mature.” Another said she“goes by herchild’spersonality”indecidingwhathecanorcan’twatch.“Notalotofpeoplewouldbecomfortablewitha4-year-oldwatchingmedicalshowswheretheyshowpeoplecominginandbleed-

ingandcrying,”shesaid.“Obviouslyitisatragedy.Buthereallylovesthehumanbody.”AnothermomfromIrvinesaid,“Itrynottoreallysheltermydaughter….She’stwo.ShewantstowatchJurassic Park….There’sadinosaur[that]ateaguy—that’swhatdinosaursdo—theyeatpeopleandanimals.Sheunderstandsthat.Shedoesn’tgetfreakedaboutit.SheevenwatchedChuckietheotherday.Shethoughtitwasfunny.”

“I’ve found that my kids are usually about a year ahead of what the games or movies say. My son is

two so I look at ones for 3-4 year-olds. I always pick one that is above their level to help them learn.”


Manyparentsinfocusgroupssaytheyareguidedbybrandsinchoosingwhattheirkidscanorcan’twatch.OneDenvermomsaid that children’sTV shows are“all pretty much educationalnow.Theyhelpteachthekidshowtohelpeachotherandhowtoloveoneanother.EverythingonNickislikethat.”AnotherhadasimilarfeelingaboutPBS:“IlikemykidstowatchPBSbecauseit’smoreofa learningthinginsteadofthecartoons. IhavenoproblemwiththemwatchingPBSfortwohoursstraight.Theyhave all those good learning shows.” But one mother of a 4-6year-oldfromColumbussaidshemadeamistakethinkingshecouldgobythebrandalone:“IthoughtyoucouldtrustCartoonNetwork because of the name. I just recently paid attentionto what he was watching and saw it. I said,‘What the heck!’ Icouldn’tbelieveit.”

“Because of the rules that I have set forth he doesn’t ask to watch things that he can’t watch.”


Anumberofparentsinfocusgroupstalkedabouttheinflu-enceoftheiroldersiblingsonwhattheiryoungerkidsseeonTVorvideos.Themotherofone1-3year-oldfromDenvertoldaboutatimewhenheryoungsonwatchedthemovieAlien vs. Predator:“Helikedit….WhenIsawitIcouldn’tbelievemyoldersonlethimwatchit.Ithoughthewouldbeupallnight,butitdidn’tbotherhimatall.”

TYPES OF TV SHOWS WATCHED

Mostly kids’ shows, mostly educational

Don't know

Adult + kids’ shows equally

Mostly kids’ shows, educational + entertainment equally

Mostly kids’shows, mostlyentertainment

Mostly adult shows3%

24%

10%

48%

13%

2%


WatchingTV while eating meals or other snacks is fairly com-monplace among young children. Indeed, 30% of children 6yearsandunderliveinhomeswheretheTVisonmost(14%)orall(16%)ofthetimeduringmeals.Inanygivenday,abouthalf(53%)ofallchildreneatasnackoramealinfrontoftheTV.

In focus groups, one mom of a young boy from Irvinedescribedthesceneinherhome:“I’llturnontheTVinthemorn-ing,and[myson]willwatchcartoons.Mykidswillhavebreak-fast,andthenwetakemydaughtertoschool.I’llturntheTVonforhimwhenwegethome….We’llusuallywatchTVwhenwe’reeatinglunch.…HethinksthatyouonlyeatinfrontoftheTV.”

C H A RT 13:

HowoftentheTVisonduringmeals,amongchildrenage6andunder:

In talking about commercials, many parents spoke abouttheirchildren’sstrongreactionstofoodads.Themotherofa1-3year-oldfromDenvertalkedaboutwhathappenswhenshehastodriveheryoungsonhomefromheroffice:“WehavetodrivepastChuckE.Cheesetogohome.It’ssuchabigordeal....[E]verytimehewatches[thecommercial]hewillthrowahugefit.AnytimeIseethatmousecomeonthescreen,Ichangeit.”Anothersaid,“They[commercials]reallyworkonmyson(4-6yearsold)already.He’llseesomethinginaBurgerKingcommercial.He’lltellmethatwehavetogotoBurgerKingtoday.Itdoesn’tmat-

terwhatwe’redoing,wehavetogo.”Onemomofa4-6year-oldsaidherdaughter’sfavoritefoodcommercialisontheInternet,notTV:“WehavealinktoacommercialfordietcherryvanillaDr.Pepper.Shelovesit,soshewatchesitoverandover.”

C H A RT 14:

Inatypicalday,percentofchildrenage6andunderwhoeatsnacksormealsinfrontoftheTV:

Most parents in the focus groups found their children’ssusceptibility to food commercials annoying, but one Denvermother found it funny: “When my daughter was about 15months, she would say ‘ba, ba, boppa ba’ [hums McDonald’sjingle].The first time she did it I cracked up. It was hilarious. Inoticedthateverytimeshesawthegoldenarchesshewoulddoit.Sherecognizedit.”

“My daughter would eat a cheeseburger from McDonald’s every day if I would let her. She sees it on

TV, and she will come to me right away saying that’s what she wants for lunch.”


TV AND FOOD

Always

Never

Less than halfthe time

About half the time

Most of thetime

Hardly ever

27%16%

14%

13%

12%

18%

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Any meal

Snack

Any mealor snack

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

17%

10%

15%

30%

40%

53%


Muchofthisstudy’sdataonchildrenandcomputershasbeenpresentedinvariousothersectionsofthisreport,butthischap-ter isdesignedtobringthebasic informationtogether inoneplace.

Amongallchildrenages6monthsto6yearsold,aboutfourinten(43%)haveusedacomputeratsometime.Inanygivenday,16%useacomputer,foranaverageof50minutes.Abouta quarter (27%) of children in this age group use a computerseveraltimesaweekormore;therestusecomputerslessoften(15%)ornotatall(57%).

Aboutthree-quarters(78%)ofchildrenthisagehaveacom-puterathome,andaboutthreeinten(29%)havemorethanonecomputer.Forty-twopercenthavehigh-speedInternetaccess,26%havedial-up,andtheresthaveeithernocomputer(22%)oracomputerwithnoInternetaccess(9%).

Amongallchildrenages6monthsto6yearsold,18%havegoneonlinetolookatInternetwebsitesdesignedforkids.Whenparentsof thosekidswereaskedwhattheirchildren’s favoritewebsitesare,90%gaveananswer(almostallofwhichweresitessponsoredbychildren’stelevisionshowsornetworks):28%saidNickelodeon,NickJr.,orNoggin;24%saidDisney;10%saidPBSKids;5%saidSesameStreet;and4%saidCartoonNetwork.

The majority of parents (69%) say using computers mostlyhelpschildren’slearning(8%sayitmostlyhurts,while15%sayitdoesn’tmakemuchdifferenceonewayortheother).Three-quarters(74%)ofthosewhosechildrenusecomputerssaytheyhave rules about what their kids can or can’t do on the com-puter,while49%saytheyhaverulesabouthowmuchtimetheirchildrencanspendonthecomputer.Infocusgroups,mostpar-entsseemedmoreconcernedaboutthedamagetheirchildrencoulddototheircomputersthantheotherwayaround.

“My son knows how to use the ‘www’ stuff. He can go to e–Bay now. My husband taught him how to go to

iTunes. The other day we caught him using Excel to add up his Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.”

[Mother of a 6-year-old, Irvine, California]

Older kids and computersNotsurprisingly,thereisabigdifferencebetweencomputer

useamongtheyoungestchildreninthesurveyandthoseages4-6yearsold.Among4-6year-olds,inatypicalday26%willusethecomputer(foranaverageof50minutes).Oneineight(13%)usethecomputereveryday,and43%useitseveraltimesaweekormore.Sevenpercenthaveacomputerintheirbedroom.

Amongthe26%of4-6year-oldswhousethecomputerinatypicalday,35%didsowiththeirparenttherehelpingthemthewholetime,27%didsowithouttheirparentintheroomhelp-ingthematall,andintherestofthecasestheparentwasintheroomatleastpartofthetime.

C H A RT 15:

Percentof4-6year-oldswhohaveeverdonethefollowingonthecomputer:

COMPUTER USE AND ACCESS

Used a mouseto point

and click

Used a computerwithout sittingon parent’s lap

Loaded aCD-ROM

by themselves

Turned onthe computer

by themselves

Looked atwebsites

for kids

Asked to goto a particular

website

Gone towebsites

by themselves

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

66%

52%

37%

33%

33%

24%

10%


Manyexpertsconsiderthefirsttwoyearsoflifeespeciallycriti-calforchildren’sdevelopmentandareparticularlyinterestedinmonitoringmediausepatternsduringthisperiod.Forexample,the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended noscreenmediauseatallforchildrenundertwo.

In fact, this study indicates that children under age 2 havequite different media habits than children 2 years and older,althoughitalsoindicatesthattheylivemedia-richlives.Almostallbabies6-23monthsoldhavelistenedtomusic(98%),orbeenreadto(94%).Nearlyeightinten(79%)havewatchedTV,andtwo-thirds(65%)havewatchedvideosorDVDs.Onlyaveryfewhave ever used a computer (5%) or played any kind of videogame(3%).

Morethanfourinten(43%)childrenthisagewatchTVeveryday,whileanother17%watchseveraltimesaweek.Nearlyonein five (18%) watch videos or DVDs every day, while another26%watchatleastseveraltimesaweek.Inatypicalday,61%ofchildrenthisagewatchTV,avideo,oraDVD,foranaverageofonehourandnineteenminutes.Mostparentssaytheyareinthesameroomwiththeirchildwhilethey’rewatchingTVeitherallormostof the time (88%of thosewhosechildrenthisagewatchTVinatypicalday).

AroundfourintenchildrenundertwocanturnontheTVbythemselves(38%)andchangechannelswiththeremote(40%).Almostoneinfive(19%)haveaTVintheirbedroom.Aquarter(26%)ofparentsreportthattheirchildrenthisagehavealreadyimitatedapositivebehaviorfromaTVshow,likesharingorhelp-ing.Amongthe63%ofchildrenthisagewhowatchatleastsev-eraltimesamonthormore,35%watchmostlykids’educationalshows,40%watchamixofkids’educationalandentertainmentshows,and19%watchamixofprogrammingforbothchildrenandadults.

Inadditiontowatchingtheirownshows,babiesthisagearealso exposed to“background” television. A third (33%) live inhomeswheretheTVisonmostorallofthetime,whetherany-oneiswatchingornot.SeventypercentofparentswithchildrenundertwosaytheywatchtheirownTVshowsinatypicalday,for an average of an hour and forty-three minutes, including32%whosaytheirchildwasintheroomwiththemallormostofthetime,17%whosayhalforlessofthetime,and20%whosaynoneofthetime.

Morethanhalf(58%)ofchildrenundertwoarereadtoevery

day,withanother25%beingreadtoseveraltimesaweek. Inanygivenday,77%arereadto,foranaverageof44minutes.

C H A RT 16:

PercentofchildrenunderagetwowhowatchTV...

CHILDREN UNDER AGE TWO

Never

Several timesa month

Several timesa week

Every day

Less often

3%

12%

43%

17%

24%


Overall, there are only modest differences between boys andgirlsintheamountortypeofmediausedwhentheyareages6yearsorunder.Themaindifferencesarethatboysaremuchmoreinvolvedthangirlswithvideogames,evenatthisyoungage,andthatgirlsaremorelikelytoread.Thisinturncontrib-utestoatendencyforboystospendabout12minutesmoreinatypicaldayusingscreenmediathangirls(1:42vs.1:30amongallkids).

Boys are three times as likely as girls to play console videogamesinatypicalday(12%vs.4%amongall,and21%vs.7%among 4-6 year-olds). Nearly twice as many boys as girls playvideogamesseveraltimesaweekormore(17%vs.9%forcon-solegames,and10%vs.5%forhandheldgames).Thispatternholds true for 4-6 year-olds (31% vs. 17% for console games,and17%vs.10%forhandheldgames).Boysarealsosomewhatmorelikelythangirlstoplaycomputergamesinatypicalday(14%vs.10%).TheyarealsomorelikelythangirlstohaveaTV(36% vs. 30%) and a video game player (13% vs. 8%) in theirbedroom.

Girlsaremorelikelythanboystoreadorbereadtodaily(74%vs.65%),especiallyforages4-6years(81%vs.71%).Girls’earlyreading skills also seem to be somewhat better: among 2-6year-olds,parentsreportthatgirlsaremorelikelythanboystorecognizealllettersofthealphabet(51%vs.42%),andlesslikelytorecognizenoneofthem(14%vs.8%).

One other difference has to do with how children respondtotheTVshowstheywatch.Boysaremorelikelythangirlstoimitate aggressive behavior fromTV (31% vs. 15%), especiallyamong4-6year-olds(45%vs.21%). Therewerenosignificantdifferencesinthetypesofshowsboysandgirlswatch.

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MEDIA USE AND ENVIRONMENT

TA b l e 11:

Mediausebygenderandage

Ages 0-3 years Ages 4-6 years All ages

Video Games Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls

Percentwhoeverplayvideogames 15% 10% 64%* 48% 38%* 27%

Percentwhoplayvideogamesseveraltimesaweekormore 5% 3% 31%* 17% 17%* 9%

Timespentplayingconsolevideogamesinatypicalday(amongallkids) 0:02 0:01 0:15* 0:03 0:09* 0:02

Reading

Percentwhoreadabookaloneorwithsomeoneelseeveryday 60% 67% 71% 81%* 65% 74%*

Timespentreadinginatypicalday(amongallkids) 0:37 0:40 0:45 0:45 0:38 0:42

Television

PercentwhowatchTVeveryday 58% 60% 73% 74% 65% 66%

TimespentwatchingTVinatypicalday(amongallkids) 0:58 0:53 1:00 1:06 0:59 0:59

Computers

Percentwhouseacomputerinatypicalday 10%* 5% 28% 23% 19%* 13%

Timespentusingacomputerinatypicalday(amongallkids) 0:14 0:10 0:05 0:03 0:10* 0:06

Screen Media

Totalscreenmediatimeinatypicalday(amongallkids)+ 1:32 1:16 1:54 1:45 1:42* 1:30

*Significantdifferencebetweenboysandgirls;+ScreenmediaincludesTV,videos/DVDs,videogames,orcomputers.


There are a number of significant differences in children’smediausepatterns—andintheirhomemediaenvironments—basedontheirparents’incomeandeducation,andontheirraceandethnicity.

In general, children whose parents have a lower income orless formal education tend to watch more television and playmorevideogames;theyaremorelikelytohaveTVsandvideogame players in their bedrooms, to have parents who watchmoreTV,andtoliveinhomeswheretheTVisleftonmuchofthetime.Conversely,childrenwithwealthierparentsorthosewithahigherlevelofeducationtendtoreadmoreandaremorelikelytohaveusedacomputer.

For example, children from families with incomes under$20,000ayearspendanaverageofalmostahalf-hourmore(27minutes)watchingTVeachdaythandochildrenfromfamiliesearning$75,000ayearandup. And inanygivenday,92%ofchildren from those upper-income families spend some timereadingorbeingreadto,comparedto71%ofchildrenfromthelower-incomegroup.

C H A RT 17:

Inatypicalday,averageamountoftimechildrenage6andunderspendwatchingTV,byparents’income,education,andrace:

*Statisticallysignificantdifference;**SignificantlydifferentfromWhitesandHispanics.

These same differential patterns occur between childrenwhose parents have a high school education or less, as com-pared to children with a parent who is a college graduate.Herethedifferencesareevenmorepronouncedfortimespentreadingandforthelikelihoodofplayingvideogamesinatypi-cal day, and slightly less pronounced than income differencesfortimespentwatchingTVorusingacomputer. Andwhileafamily’sincomedoesn’tpredictwhethertherewillbedifferencesinrulesaboutmediause,parents’educationdoes:parentswithahigherlevelofeducationaremorelikelytohaverulesaboutbothTVcontentandtimespentwatching.

Therearealsosimilarpatternswithregardtochildren’sracialor ethnic backgrounds. (See Appendix C for detailed tableson media use and household media environment by race,income,andparenteducation.)Forexample,childrenofAfricanAmerican parents spend significantly more time watching TVthan do children of White parents (an average of 25 minutesmore a day) as well as significantly more time playing videogames(12minutesadayversus4minutesaday,onaverage).

C H A RT 18:

Inatypicalday,averageamountoftimechildrenage6andunderspendreadingorbeingreadto,byparents’income,education,andrace:

*Statisticallysignificantdifference;**SignificantlydifferentfromHispanics.

DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN MEDIA USE AND ENVIRONMENT

0

0:30

1:00

1:30

2:00

Under$20,000

$75,000or

more

Highschoolor less

Collegegraduate

AfricanAmerican

Hispanic White

1:15* 0:48 1:18** 1:00 0:531:07* 0:49

Income Education Race

0

0:30

1:00

1:30

2:00

Under$20,000

$75,000or

more

Highschoolor less

Collegegraduate

AfricanAmerican

Hispanic White

0:40 0:46 0:39** 0:24 0:44**0:31 0:45*

Income Education Race


ChildrenofHispanicparentsspendlesstimereadingthandothoseofWhitesorAfricanAmericans(20minutes lessperdaythanWhites)andalsolesstimeusingacomputer(forexample,anaverageof6%ofHispanicchildrenuseacomputerinatypi-calday,comparedto19%ofbothWhiteandAfricanAmericankids). Similarly, African American parents are far more likelythanWhiteorHispanicparentstoreportthattheirchildrenhaveplayedconsolevideogames(39%ofAfricanAmericansvs.28%ofWhitesvs.25%ofHispanics).WhiteparentsarefarmorelikelythanHispanicparentstoreportthattheirchildrenhaveusedacomputer(50%vs.23%),andaremorelikelythanbothAfricanAmerican and Hispanic parents to report that their childrenreadorarereadtoeveryday(75%forWhitesvs.66%forAfricanAmericanvs.50%forHispanics).

Regressionanalyseswereconducted todeterminewhetherthesepatternsholdindependentlyforeachofthedemographicfactors—income,education,andethnicity—orifoneortheotherfactorweredominant. Inaddition,theregressionanaly-sesweredesignedtoensurethattheageofthechildwasnotafactorinfluencingthedifferencesfoundbyincome,education,and ethnicity. The regression analyses were conducted on asubset of measures, including: hours spent watching TV in atypicalday;whetherthechildhaseverusedacomputerorvideogame; whether they are daily readers; how much time theyspendreadinginatypicalday;whethertheyhaveaTVintheirbedroom;andhowoftentheTVisleftoninthehome,whetheranyoneiswatchingornot.

C H A RT 19:

Percentofchildrenage6andunderwithacomputerinthehome,byparents’income,education,andrace:

Note:Alldifferencesarestatisticallysignificant.

Under$20,000$75,000or more

High schoolor less

Collegegraduate

AfricanAmerican

Hispanic

White

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

54%

95%

76%

51%

85%

58%

94%

Income

Education

Race

Under$20,000

$75,000or more

High schoolor less

Collegegraduate

AfricanAmerican

Hispanic

White

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

30%

54%

42%

23%

50%

32%

52%

Income

Education

Race

The results indicate that each of these demographic char-acteristics — income, parental education, and race — has anindependentrelationshipwiththemediabehaviorsinquestion.Thus,evenwhencontrollingforachild’sageandforthefamily’sincomeandeducation,theparent’sraceremainedasignificantpredictorofhowmuchtimethechildspentreading,watchingTV,andsoon.

In other words, independent of a family’s income and aparent’slevelofeducation,thegeneralpatternsforthesemediabehaviorscontinuetohold,basedonthefamily’sraceandeth-nicity. Likewise, those from different income and educationallevelshavedifferentmediabehaviors,whethertheyarefromthesameracialorethnicgroupornot.

Ontheotherhand,althoughthereoriginallyappearedtobedifferencesinmediabehaviorsamongchildrenfromsingle-vs.two-parent families, those differences disappeared when con-trollingforparenteducationandfamilyincome.Inotherwords,children from low-income homes or families with less formaleducationhadsimilarbehaviorswhethertheywerefromsingle-ortwo-parentfamilies.

C H A RT 20:

Percentofchildrenage6andunderwhohaveeverusedacomputer,byparents’income,education,andrace:

Note:Alldifferencesarestatisticallysignificant.


In2003theKaiserFamilyFoundationconductedasimilarsurveyof parents of young children. Some of the issues addressedin the current survey are new, but others are identical to theoriginalsurveyandcanbeusedtotrackchangesinmediauseovertime.Thesemeasuresindicateseveralimportanttrendsinyoungchildren’smediause:adecreaseintimespentwithtele-visionandDVDsamongthosewhowatchedthem,andmodestdecreasesinthelikelihoodofparentsleavingtheTVoninthehome, or believing that TV mostly helps children’s learning.These changes may indicate a slight shift in parents’ attitudestowardTV, especially as it concerns the very youngest babies(under2yearsold).Ontheotherhand,therewasnostatisticallysignificantchangeinthepercentofchildren6yearsandunderwhowatchTVonadailybasisorareallowedtohaveTVsintheirroom,andtherewasaslightdecreaseinthepercentofparentswhosaytheyhaverulesabouttheirchildren’sTV-watching.

Changes in time spent on activitiesAlthoughtherewasnosignificantchange inthepercentof

childrenwhousedeachmedium ina typicalday, therewasastatisticallysignificantdecreaseintheamountoftimechildrenspentonvariousmediaactivitiesbetween2003and2005.4Forexample,amongchildrenwhodideachactivityinatypicalday,parentsreportchildrenspendinganaverageof17minuteslessper day listening to music, ten minutes less per day watchingTV,and7minuteslessperdaywatchingvideosorDVDs.Timespentreading,usingacomputer,orplayingvideogamesdidnotdecreaseappreciably.Itispossiblethatthisreflectsaseasonalchange (and, in thecaseofDVDs,aslightchange inquestionwording from one survey to the other): the 2003 survey wasconductedfromApril11toJune9,whilethe2005surveywasconducted from September 12 to November 21. Replicatingthisdata in futuresurveyswillhelpusunderstandwhetherornotthisistrulyatrend.

Changes in household media environmentTherewasasmallbutstatisticallysignificantdecreaseinthe

percentofchildrenlivinginhouseholdswherethetelevisioniskeptonalwaysormostofthetime,from37%in2003to32%in2005.Similarly,therewasasmallbutstatisticallysignificantdecreaseinthepercentofchildrenlivinginhouseholdswherethe television is on during meals always or most of the time,from35%in2003to30%in2005.Whilethesechangesoccurredamong children of all ages, the decrease in leaving theTV onalldaywasmorepronouncedinfamilieswithchildrenunder2yearsold(a12percentagepointdrop,comparedto1percent-agepointfortheotheragegroups).

There was a significant increase in the share of children inhouseholdswithatleastonecomputer,from73%to78%.TherewasalsoanincreaseintheshareofchildreninhouseholdswithInternet access, from 63% to 69%, and a large increase in thesharewithhigh-speedInternetaccess,from20%to42%.

Changes in media rules and parents’ attitudesThe share of parents who say they have rules for their chil-

dren’smediausedeclinedsomewhatbetween2003and2005,particularly for rulesabout timespentwithTV,computer,andvideogames.

Forexample,69%ofparentssaidtheyhadrulesabouthowmuchtimetheirchildcouldspendwatchingTVin2003,com-paredto60%in2005.Similarly,61%ofparentswhosechildrenuse computers said they had time-related computer rules in2003,comparedto49%in2005.

Parents’attitudestowardsTVandvideogamesalsoshowedamodestchangebetween2003and2005.Parentsin2005wereslightlymorelikelythanin2003tosaythatwatchingTVmostlyhurts learning (31% vs. 27%) and that playing video gamesmostlyhurtslearning(49%vs.40%).Attitudestowardscomput-ersandlearningwereroughlythesamein2003and2005.

CHANGES OVER TIME


TA b l e 12:

Timespentwithmediaonatypicalday,changesovertime

Watch TVWatch Video/

DVD Listen to music

Play video games (console or hand-held)

Use a computer (for games or

other purpose)

Percent of kids who did each activity

2005 75% 32% 82% 11% 16%

2003 73% 46% 79% 9% 18%

Difference(percentagepoints) -14*+

Mean hours among kids who did each activity

2005 1:19 1:18 0:58 0:55 0:50

2003 1:29 1:25 1:15 1:01 0:59

Difference(minutes) -10* -7*+ -17*

Mean hours for all kids

2005 0:59 0:24 0:48 0:06 0:07

2003 1:04 0:38 0:59 0:04 0:09

Difference(minutes) -14*+ -11*

*Indicatesstatisticallysignificantchange;+SlightmodificationinquestionwordingmayaccountforchangesinwatchingvideosandDVDs.Seeendnote#1.


The role of parentsIn the public debate about children and media, people on allsidesoftheissueoftenenduppointingtotheroleofparentsinmonitoringtheirchildren’smediause,encouragingthemtopushthe“off”button.Thisstudyprovidesimportantdocumen-tationofjusthowpowerfularoleparentshaveinshapingtheirchildren’smediahabits.Athirdofchildrenliveinhomeswhereparentssimply leavetheTVonmostof theday,whetherany-oneiswatchingornot—and,notsurprisingly,thosechildrenendupwatchingsignificantlymorethanotherkidsdo. Manyparents spend a fair amount of time watching TV or on thecomputerthemselves,andagain,childrenofthoseparentsalsospendmore timewatchingascreeneachday. Anda thirdofchildren6yearsandunderhavebeenallowedtohaveaTVintheirbedroom—mostlytoavoidconflictswithparents’orotherfamily members’ viewing — and again, those children spendmoretimewatchingTV.

Why parents are drawn to mediaManyparentsfindmediaatremendousbenefitinparenting

and can’t imagine how they’d get through the day without it(especiallyTV,videos,andDVDs).Mediaallowparentsachanceto get their chores done, quiet their kids down, or just havesome“me”time,knowingthattheirkidsare“safe”—notplayingoutside,andlesslikelytobemakingtroublearoundthehouse.MultipleTVsets,DVDplayers,andcomputershelpsolvesiblingquarrelsandalsoletparentsgettheirownscreentimeuninter-rupted. While fewer than four in ten (38%) parents say theythinkTV mostly helps children’s learning, parents are relievedthattheycanmakeuseofmediainthesewayswithlessguilt,because of what they see as real advances in the educationalqualityofmediacontent.

The educational value of children’s television

While parents in the survey seem pretty evenly split onwhetherTVingeneralismostlyhelpful(38%)orharmful(31%)to children’s learning, in the focus groups almost all parentspointedto“learning”asoneofthebigpositivesofTVfortheirkids,andmanymadecommentsaboutobservingtheirchildrenlearningthingsfromTVshows.Ingeneral,parentsinthefocusgroupsseemedwellsatisfiedwiththequalityofprogrammingavailable to their kids. Most felt their children would learnjust as well withoutTV, but didn’t want the extra burden thatthat would place on them as parents.The reigning sentiment

seemed to be that there is simply no way they can live theirlivesandgeteverythingdonewithoutTVandvideos,andthatthe educational content and positive lessons in much of theprogramminglessenstheirguiltatnotspendingmoretimewiththeir kids. And while parents in the survey indicate that theythink the computer is more educational than isTV, the focusgroupsrevealedthatmanyparentsgreatlypreferTVorvideosbecausetheyrequirelesssupervision(andbecausethey’rewor-riedabouttheirkidshurtingthecomputer).

A big role for media

Media,especially television,areclearlyplayingakey role inchildren’s lives, starting at an early age. In a typical day, morethaneightinten(83%)childrenages6monthsto6yearsoldusescreenmedia,averagingabouttwohourseach(1:57).Asmen-tionedabove,athirdliveinhomeswheretheTVisleftonmostorallofthetime,whetheranyoneiswatchingornot,andasimi-larproportion(30%)havetheTVonduringmostoralloftheirmeals.HomeswithmultipleTVsetsandportablemediaallowkidstowatchintheprivacyoftheirrooms,orwhenthey’reonthego—athird(33%)haveaportableDVDplayer,andathird(33%)haveaTVintheirbedroom.Aboutoneineight(12%)areputtobedwiththeTVonatleasthalfthetime.

Less time with TV and DVDs

While there haven’t been any major changes in children’sdailymediahabitssinceasimilarsurveywasconductedin2003— they aren’t more likely to use computers or video games,or less likely to watch TV — when children do watch TV orvideos, they are spending less time doing so (10 minutes lesswatchingTV,and7minuteslesswatchingvideosorDVDs).It’spossiblethatthischangefollowsontheslight—butstatisticallysignificant—dropintheproportionofparentsnationallywhosaytheyleavetheTVonallormostoftime(from37%to32%)orwhosaytheyusuallyeatmealsinfrontoftheTV(from35%to30%). It isalsopossiblethattheshiftcomesfromagreaternumberofparentsthinkingTVmostlyhurtschildren’slearning(upfrom27%to31%).However,itisalsopossiblethatitisanartifactofashiftinthetimeofyearthesurveywasconducted,from April and May to September, October, and November.Slight decreases in time spent with computers and playingvideogameswerenotstatisticallysignificant.Wewillcontinuetotrackthesedataovertime.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS


American Academy of Pediatrics recommendationsAsubstantialnumberofchildrenareusingmedia inexcess

of the amounts recommended by the American Academyof Pediatrics (AAP). In a typical day, nearly two-thirds (61%)of babies under two years old use screen media, and 43% ofchildrenthisagewatchTVeveryday(theAAPrecommendsnoscreentimeforbabiesundertwo).AndwhiletheAAPrecom-mends no more than 1-2 hours per day of screen media forchildren two and older, in a typical day 41% of 2-3 year-oldsand43%of4-6year-oldsusescreenmediafor2hoursormore.Fewparentsreporthavingspokenwiththeirdoctorabouttheirchild’smediause.

Four-to six-year-olds

Bythetimetheyhitthe4-6year-oldagegroup,childrenarelivingrichlymedia-centriclives,oftenwiththeirownmediathattheycantakewiththemonthego,orusebythemselvesintheirrooms,andwithmanyyoungsterseatingandgoingtosleeptoTVonaregularbasis.Inatypicalday,90%ofchildrenthisageusescreenmedia,foranaverageof2hours(2:03).Forty-threepercenthavetheirownTVintheirbedroom,athirdhaveapor-tableDVDplayer,andathirdhaveaportablehandheldvideogameplayer.AthirdofthosewithaTVintheirroomswatchTVintheirbedroomsatleasthalfthetimeormore,and17%areputtosleeptoTVhalformoreofthetime.Bythisage,“new”mediahavebecomearegularpartofchildren’smediadiets:43%useacomputerseveraltimesaweekormore,and24%playvideogamesthatoften.

Digital divide

A substantial racial and socio-economic divide separatesthose children who have ever used computers from thosewhohavenot,withHispanicchildren least likelytohaveuseda computer at these early ages (23%, compared to 42% forAfricanAmericanand50%forWhitechildren).Abouthalf(54%)ofchildrenfromfamiliesearninglessthan$20,000ayearhaveacomputerathome,comparedto95%ofthosefromfamiliesearningmorethan$75,000ayear. Butthere isalsoabroader“divide” inchildren’smediausehabitsandhouseholdenviron-ments. Children from lower income families, children whoseparentshavelessformaleducation,aswellaschildrenofcolorallspendmoretimewatchingTV,andaremorelikelytoliveinahomewheretheTVisleftonmostofthetime;andtheyalsospendlesstimereadingorbeingreadto.

Electronic media have clearly become a central focus of many young children’s lives, a key component in family routines such as waking up, eating, relaxing, and falling asleep. Not only do children — starting when they are just babies — spend hours a day using media, but they are also learning to use the media by themselves, often watching their own TVs, DVD players or hand-held devices, many times in the privacy of their own rooms. As much as media have become a part of the fabric of family life, they are often con-sumed separately, used as much or more to keep the peace than to bring family members together.

It is hoped that the data in this report will be used to help families assess their own media habits; to spur the development of media products that are beneficial to children and families; to inform policy debates about public broadcasting, digital media, and children’s commercial exposure; and to provide the data to help inform future research about the impact of various media on young children. To date, there has been very little research about the impact of media on the youngest children, especially those 2 years and under. Given how much a part of children’s lives these media are, it seems important to explore in greater depth the impact media may be having on their development.

Endnotes1ThepercentofparentswhoreportthattheirchildrenwatchedvideosorDVDsmaybeanunderestimateduetothewaythequestionwasworded.Thequestionread“DidyourchildspendanytimewatchingvideosorDVDs,includingwhileridinginthecar?”Inaprevioussurvey,thequestionwasaskedwithoutthephrase“includingwhileridinginacar,”andafargreaterproportionofparentsreportedthattheirchildrenhadwatchedvideosorDVDs(46%,comparedto32%inthecurrentsurvey).Manyrespon-dentsinthecurrentsurveymayhavemisunderstoodthequestionandanswered“yes”onlyiftheirchildwatchedvideosorDVDswhileridinginthecar.

2Seepreviousnote.SincethepercentwhowatchedvideosorDVDsmaybeanunderestimate,theamountoftimespentwatchingvideosorDVDs,aswellasthetotalscreenmediatime,mayalsobeunderestimates.

3Thesurveyswereconductedwiththeparentwhohadspentthegreatestamountoftimewiththechildthepreviousday.Thevastmajority(81%)ofrespondentsweremothers.Womenaregenerallymuchlesslikelytousevideogamesthanmen.

4Thedecreaseinthepercentwhowatchedvideos/DVDs,andthecorrespondingdecreaseinamountoftimespentwatchingthem,maybeatleastpartiallyattribut-abletothechangeinquestionwording.

kaiser family foundation: the media family

Documents