Center on Media and Child Health

2 Hours of TV, 7 Minutes of Reading

A report released by the National Endowment for the Arts this month confirmed what many already suspected:  Children are reading less.  Over the past 15 years, the amount of time children spend reading has fallen 13% and their reading ability has declined — only one third of high school seniors are capable of reading the daily paper.

While youth report watching TV for almost 2 hours a day, they only spend an average of 7 minutes reading.  The report also found that multitasking appears to be a factor when it comes to youth reading. Researchers found that most middle and high school students usually use other media when they are reading. 20% of the time they spend reading is also spent watching TV, playing video games, sending messages, or using the computer.

Two consequences stem from the above:

• 1 out of 5 American workers currently does not read at the level necessary to perform their job.
• People who are more literate are also more likely to volunteer, follow the news, and participate in sports or church, so fewer literate people may mean fewer people doing these activities as well. 

Seems like the best way to get kids involved in the world around them may just be to show them how to get their heads stuck in a book. Who'd have thought?

Holidays <--> Media: Gift Ideas from CMCH

The holidays influence the sale of media just as much as media influence the holidays.  Kids across the US have wish lists full of media items: video games and the systems to play them on; CDs and the Mp3 players they'll use to listen to them; cell phones, DVDs, laptops and on and on and on....

The media is a major avenue that advertisers use to show off their new products so that they'll get added to those wish lists; radio and TV stations play holiday music and movies to get people in the holiday mindset; and the Internet provides the major avenue for $700 million in sales (and $488 million in lost productivity) on Cyber Monday.

So...in honor of Black Friday and the start of the holiday madness, we present to you Holiday Gift Ideas from CMCH.

Feeling Every Bump and Blow

A special vest has hit the market that allows players to feel thumps, punches, stabs, and other blows to the torso that their character experiences in a video game. It is priced at $189 and is being launched with the first-person shooter game "Call of Duty."

The vest was designed by a US surgeon who was looking to enhance the experience of medical consultations over the phone.  He then modified the vest for video gamers to use as well. 

Hip-Hop, Sex, and Gender Dynamics

A recent New York Times article explored a 3 year study of the hip-hop club scene in NY city.  Munoz-Laboy et al observed dancing and behavior at these clubs and ran interviews with young men and women.  They were surprised to find that even with the sexual and often misogynistic overtones of the music, young women made sure that they were the ones in charge of their bodies on the dance floor.

Target's Target: Manhunt2

Target stores have removed Manhunt2 from their video game shelves a week after its release on Halloween.  The premise of this violent game is that the player is a patient trying to escape from a mental hospital who must kill or be killed.  An added concern over the violence in this game came because it was released for Wii, a game system where players must use a motion-sensing wand to act out how they want the character onscreen to behave.   

Originally rated M for Mature audiences, child advocates convinced raters that the game should be rated AO for Adults Only, meaning that no one under 17 could purchase it.  After modifying the game, the creators were able to return to the M rating before the game was released.  Dr. Michael Rich, Director of CMCH, was interviewed about his thoughts on the game and the ratings controversy.

• See Video

3 Media Articles in November Pediatrics

There are 3 media-related articles in the new issue of Pediatrics:

Zimmerman and Christakis:  Associations Between Content Types of Early Media Exposure and Subsequent Attentional Problems

• See news article
• Conclusion:  "Preschool boys exposed to violent television -- even cartoons -- are more likely to become aggressive later in life."

Christakis and Zimmerman:  Violent Television Viewing During Preschool Is Associated With Antisocial Behavior During School Age

• See news article
• Conclusion:  "Every hour per day that kids under 3 watched violent child-oriented entertainment their risk doubled for attention problems five years later." 

Dworak et al: Impact of Singular Excessive Computer Game and Television Exposure on Sleep Patterns and Memory Performance of School-aged Children

• Conclusion:  "The results suggest that television and computer game exposure affect children's sleep and deteriorate verbal cognitive performance, which supports the hypothesis of the negative influence of media consumption on children's sleep, learning, and memory."