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