PLUGGING INThe Pro’s and Con’s of a

High-Tech Childhood

The American Academy of Pediatrics (1999) has called the negative influence of mass media on children a

Major Health Concern.

A 2003 poll by Common Sense Media found that 9 out of 10 parents believe that exposure to the media is contributing to

children becoming:

• too materialistic

• using more coarse and vulgar language

• engaging in sexual activity at younger ages

• experiencing a loss of innocence too soon

• and behaving in anti-social or even violent ways

Personal, social, educational, physical, familial, moral and financial ramifications:

Multi –Problematic:

Abuse of Television viewing in children can lead to:

http://www.eyeintheear.com/tv.html

Social isolation, lack of social skills Obesity, eating disorders, poor body image Exposure to violence, crude language, sexual material, and

other age in-appropriate material Decrease in physical activity, actually changes metabolic

rate Decrease in imagination Less family time/communication Changes brain development in the young Creates a ‘gimme’ society through excessive advertising,

materialistic children, ingratitude Attention deficit disorder poor school performance Creates unrealistic expectations for a happy ending/simple

solution to big problems in half an hour Promotes stereotypes, racial discrimination, low self-esteem

in minorities

Abuse of computer use in adolescence can lead to:

Social isolation, lack of social skills Exposure to sexual predators, unsolicited or unmonitored

pornography, accidental sharing of personal information Less family time/communication Inappropriate chat rooms Creation of a new form of social cliques, ‘mean teens’,

cyber bullying, cyber gossip (via My Space.com, Instant messaging, chat rooms, etc.)

Decrease in physical activity Easy access to sites that promote harmful information, e.g.

Suicide sites, weapon construction sites, etc. Instant messaging instead of physically playing outside in

groups

Abuse of use of video games in adolescence can lead to:

Social isolation Aggressive or violent behavior Desensitizes youth to human suffering Creates unrealistic time/space relationship

expectations carpal tunnel syndrome or ‘gamers thumb” Decrease in physical activity Decrease in imaginative play Decrease in family time/communication

WHAT USED TO BE CONSIDERED PLAY TIME IS NOW ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY MEDIA TIME!

PLAY! PLAY!

PLAY!

SCARY STATISTICS:

Two-thirds of adolescents have TVs in their rooms. Children spend four and a half-hours per day, on average, in front

of a television, computer, and video game screens, often alone. The average American Adolescent spends about 28 hours weekly

watching TV and only spend 38.5 MINUTES weekly in meaningful conversation

Each hour of TV watching is associated with an increase of 167 calories in their dietary intake

Advertising is King. Adolescents dumped $558 billion, this year alone, into retail coffers. Mostly on fast-food, sweets, snacks and beverages. As the Nickelodeon motto has it, “Kids Rule!”

Each hour of screen time leads to a 12 minute Reduction of sleep time. With an average of 7 hours

In front of a screen daily (yes, Bret…I know you did theMath already!) that equals 1 hour and 14 minutes of sleep

Lost every night.

Brain development + too much early screen stimulus =

ADD or ADHD

Role Models for Girls…I’m impressed!

Fun and exciting place to meet new people…people who are just like you. People

who are honest about themselves and have only your best interest at

heart…

CHAT ROOMS:

Looks like a match to me!

There is light at the end of the

tunnel!

Adolescents who form global Internet communities show signs of

developing their own styles of leadership and social involvement Young people, who are geographically remote, disabled or

housebound due to illness, may find online chatting an important

form of communication Homework and school projects have taken on an entire new

dimension as the Internet has opened up a world of resources

Multitudes of online help-sites, support groups, and crisis lines (including suicide watch) are easily accessible to teens who are too

afraid to ask a parent, teacher or peer Adolescents can access information about safe sexual practices, which

can prevent AIDS, STD’s and pregnancy

For those who have difficulty with face-to-face relationships, the Internet may allow them to more easily express themselves and

thereby experience social connectedness middle-school children from low-income households with free Internet

access became better readers

Our approach as a society is to except this reality and engineer our lives to adjust healthily to technology. If we can put the needs of our children, nature and society first, perhaps we can carefully navigate the trouble-strewn media path and enjoy the benefits while dodging the dangers.