Center on Media and Child Health

Does Gender Make a Difference When it Comes to Media?

Dr. Dafna Lemish, Professor of Communication at Tel Aviv University, editor of the Journal of Children and Media, and visiting scholar at CMCH, was recently notified that she will be the recipient of the first Teresa Award for the Advancement of Feminist Scholarship.

Lemish was chosen for her important contributions to the advancement of feminist scholarship, her ability to open new theoretical and methodological territory in feminist research, and her activism within academia to advance feminist scholarship. Her research, can be found in 8 books, 37 refereed journal articles, and more than 40 book chapters.

She will be presented with the award at a reception at the International Communication Association Conference in Chicago this May.

Here is a video interview with Dr. Lemish about her work:

Research Wrap-Up: April 24, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Courage, M.L., & Setliff, A. E.(2009). Debating the impact of television and video material on very young children: Attention, learning, and the developing Brain. Child Development Perspectives, 3 (1), 72-78.

• Examines the debate about the potential of television and video material to enhance or diminish cognitive development in infants and toddlers.

Dorey, E. & and McCool, J. (2009).The Role of the media in influencing children's nutritional perceptions. Qual Health Research, 19(5), 645-654.

• To explore how children's appraisals of various forms of media inform their health-related perceptions about eating and nutrition.

Iannotti, R., Kogan, M.D., Janssen, I., Boyce, W.F. (2009). Patterns of adolescent physical activity, screen-based media use, and positive and negative health indicators in the U.S. and Canada. Journal of Adolescent Health, 44(5), 493-499.

• To examine how adolescent physical activity and screen-based media use relate to physical and social health indicators, and cross-national differences in these relationships.

Linder, J. R. &  Gentile, D. A.(2009). Is the television rating system valid? Indirect, verbal, and physical aggression in programs viewed by fifth grade girls and associations with behavior. Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology, 30(3), 286-297.

• This study had two goals: first, to examine the validity of the television rating system for assessing aggression in programs popular among girls; second, to evaluate the importance of inclusion of non-physical forms of aggression in the ratings system by examining associations between television aggression exposure and behavior.

Wills, T.A.,  Sargent, J. D., Gibbons,  F. X., Gerrard, M., & Stoolmiller, M. (2009). Movie exposure to alcohol cues and adolescent alcohol problems: A longitudinal analysis in a national sample. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 23(1), 23-35.

• To test a theoretical model of how exposure to alcohol cues in movies predicts level of alcohol use (ever use plus ever and recent binge drinking) and alcohol-related problems.

*****

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Earth Day Posts: Digital Conversion

In honor of Earth Day, this week's posts will give you resources on media and the environment. 
>> See other posts: 

• Recycling Electronics 
• Saving Energy
  
• Environmental Media for Kids

The digital conversion has been postponed to June 12, giving Americans extra time to prepare for life without analog TV. But this transition provides more than the impetus for upgrading your television. It also provides an unprecedented opportunity to rethink how you use media in your home.

Research shows that TVs in bedrooms are associated with negative health outcomes like overweight and sleep disorders.  When TVs are in common, non-eating areas, however, you can both monitor how much your children watch and discuss with them what they see.

So if you already have an analog TV in your child's bedroom - or anywhere else you might not want one -  consider getting rid of it instead of converting it.  In most states you can still throw your TV out with the trash, but their toxic chemicals can harm the environment.

Here is some help for disposing of televisions in an earth-friendly way:

• Take Back My TV-National Recycling Programs: List of electronic manufacturers with links to manufacturers that have established a national recycling program.
• Cities and states have varied electronic recycling programs

Earth Day Posts: Using Media to Educate Kids

In honor of Earth Day, this week's posts will give you resources on media and the environment. 
>> See other posts: 

• Recycling Electronics 
• Saving Energy
  
• Digital Conversion  

Here at CMCH, we often note that the greatest power of media is that it can be used to educate.  Here are some media that can help teach kids about the environment:

Movies:

• Life: Narrated by Oprah, the 11 episodes of this Discovery channel series use the latest HD technology to showcase creatures from around the world.
• Planet Earth: This BBC series is a compilation of 5 years of filming by 70 photographers in 62 countries and captures spectacular landscape and animal footage.  
• Earth: Narrated by James Earl Jones, this big-screen version of footage from Planet Earth (some previously unseen) is compacted into 90 minutes.  Earth hits theaters on April 22 and Disney will plant a tree for each ticket sold this week.

Video Games:

• African Safari: Go on a wild-animal safari and take "photographs" of more than 30 animals without disturbing them in their natural habitat.  (rated E, Nintendo Wii)
• Endless Ocean:  Go deep-sea diving where you can explore and learn about all kinds of marine life at your leisure. (rated E, Nintendo Wii)

Magazines:

• Wild Animal Baby, Your Big Backyard, and Ranger Rick:  Aimed at different age groups, these magazines are all put out by the National Wildlife Federation.
• National Geographic for Kids:  The same kinds of amazing photographs and stories just like the "grown-up" version, but aimed at kids ages 6-14. 

Music:

• Sarah Pirtle:  The lyrics to her children's songs revolve around connecting with the natural world.
• Singalong Lyrics:  New lyrics about nature set to common tunes you and your kids already know.

Internet:

• PBS Kids EekoWorld: Kids can build their own animals, play games about energy, and talk about what they do in their own lives to help the planet.
• Energy Star Kids:  Kids can click through a virtual bedroom to learn what kinds of changes they can make to save energy.  

Earth Day Posts: Saving Energy

In honor of Earth Day, this week's posts will give you resources on media and the environment. 
>> See other posts: 

• Recycling Electronics 
• Environmental Media for Kids
• Digital Conversion  

Reducing the energy you use to power electronics can help save money and the planet!  Here are some tips.

How to reduce energy use with your current electronics:

• Reduce phantom loads: Many electronics continue to use a small amount of power even when they are switched off.  Unplug anything you think you won't use for a while. 
• Unplug chargers:  Unplug the chargers to you use to power your personal electronics after they batteries are fully charged.
• Turn off computers:  If your computer will be unused for more than 20 minutes, shut off the monitor.  If it will be unused for more than 2 hours, shut down the entire computer.
• See other tips from the US Department of Energy
  

How to purchase energy efficient electronics:

• Search for electronics certified by Energy Star:

• Televisions
• DVD Players
• Home Audio

• Are LCD or plasma televisions more energy efficient?  Check out this video to find out:

Earth Day Posts: Recycling Electronics

In honor of Earth Day, this week's posts will give you resources on media and the environment. 
>> See other posts:  Saving Energy   Environmental Media for Kids   Digital Conversion 

Do you have an old computer in your basement?  Used cell phones lying around?  TVs collecting dust?  Getting them out of your house will help your family reduce the amount of media they use, help others who can use items you no longer want, and help the Earth by making sure materials are properly disposed.  What are you waiting for?  Get the family together and start cleaning!

Last year, our page on recycling electronics received national attention when Newsweek recommended it.  We're recycling it for you to use again -- here it is, with a few updates! 

Perspective on Sexting: Part III - Reactions and Responses

This is the third installment of an examination of the phenomenon of sexting by guest blogger Dr. Richard Chalfen.  

>>See part I: Teen Culture
>>See part II: Photo-sharing Behavior

After examining the historical precedents for sexting in the past two entries, I have come to the conclusion that as trite and reductive as it might sound, sexting seems to me to be a modern and slightly subversive example of teens-being-teens in the context of modern technological opportunity.  In my opinion, legal sanctions have no place here; I am not sure how the incarceration of young people and/or attaching permanent labels to their life records, is in their best interests.  

Regardless, whether legal action continues or not, there are serious consequences to the act of distributing sexual pictures and parents should be encouraged to use the current news coverage as a teachable moment.  Circumstances are just right for some effective counseling in a situation where a young person opens the door to new information and potential learning.  

In the case of media-related issues like this one, you often hear people say “Parents just need to talk to their kids!”  But few bother to suggest what should actually be said and how to open conversations up when teenagers are quick to shut them down.  Clearly there is no one successful way to respond, but you might try to emphasize that sexting makes people vulnerable to several kinds of consequences:

• Legal Consequences:  Teenagers who engaged in sexting have been charged with crimes of creating and distributing child pornography and finding themselves in varying degrees of legal turmoil. 
• Physical Consequences:  Sending sexual images to phones and social networking sites allows them to be distributed via the internet, which, in turn, facilitates their use by commercial pornographers, pedophiles or others who might want to harm or exploit young people appearing in the photographs.  
• Emotional Consequences:  Sexting can have ongoing consequences for the victim.  As one educator noted "You're going to be humiliated hundreds of thousands of times. It's totally devastating."  

Parents should also be aware that they may face difficulties as they present their criticisms and warnings, facing a minimum of three notions difficult for teenagers to grasp:

• The Future:  Parents want their kids to consider troubles they will have “later on,” “when you’re older,” “when you grow up,” or “when you’re our age.”
• Forever:  Images released into cyberspace are permanent, and can be retrieved and referenced in years to come.  
• Anonymity:  The internet is not anonymous, even though it appears to be.  People cannot hide behind a screenname or avatar. 

It is my hope that parents can use the ideas mentioned here to think more deeply about the contexts in which young people live and how this leads them to experience today’s technology-rich and image-abundant world.  

Research Wrap-Up: April 17, 2009

Here is a list of recently published studies on children, media, and health which explore a range of topics:

Dalton, M.A. et al. (2009).  Early exposure to movie smoking predicts established smoking by older teens and young adults. Pediatrics, 123(4), e551-e558.

• To determine whether movie smoking exposure during early adolescence predicts established smoking in older teens and young adults.

Notten,N. &  Kraaykamp, G.( 2009). Parents and the media: A study of social differentiation in parental media socialization  Poetics, In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 11 April.

• To analyze the effects of parental social background and family composition on various types of parental media socialization.

Primack, B. A.; Kraemer, K. L.; Fine, M.J.; Dalton, M.A.(2009). Media exposure and marijuana and alcohol use among adolescents.  Substance Use & Misuse, 44(5), 722-739.

• To determine which media exposures are most strongly associated with marijuana and alcohol use among adolescents.

Sánchez-Martínez, M. & and Otero, A. (2009). Factors associated with cell phone use in adolescents in the community of Madrid (Spain). CyberPsychology & Behavior, 12(2), 131-137.

• To measure cell phone use among high school adolescents and the factors associated with intensive cell phone use (depressive symptoms, social isolation, drug and alcohol use, school failure, and cell phone dependence).

Wack, E. & Tantleff-Dunn. S. (2009). Relationships between electronic game play, obesity, and psychosocial functioning in young men. Cyberpsychology & Behavior, 12(2), 241-244.

• To  investigate the relationships between frequency of electronic game play and
  obesity, the social/emotional context of electronic game play, and academic performance among college aged males.

*****

Use the free CMCH Database of Research to find other studies on children, media, and health.

Perspective on Sexting: Part II - Photo Sharing Behavior

This is the second installment of an examination of the phenomenon of sexting by guest blogger Dr. Richard Chalfen. 

>>See part I: Teen Culture
>>See part III: Reactions and Responses

How and when did young people give pictures to one another in the past?  We know that historically young couples swapped pictures of themselves by exchanging them in person or sending them through the mail.  Though school portraits were often traded, shots of girlfriends in skimpy swim suits were often preferred.  For the past few years, the internet has become a major medium of photo exchange, through family-created websites, photo-sharing websites such as Flickr and Picassa, and now through social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.  Very personal pictures, including moment-of-birth shots and sexually revealing shots, are often shared very publicly over the internet.

Additional structural complexity appears when we acknowledge a series of related photographic activities:

1. Hearing daily reports of adults misusing cell phone cameras for “up-skirting” on escalators, and of cameras being placed in such public locations as department store changing rooms, locker rooms, and even bathrooms.
2. Learning that large sums of money are earned from taking and selling the “right” picture of certain people in private acts.  This occurs in situations from ordinary people using their camera phones to become citizen photo journalists, to actual photo journalists catching images of politicians taking bribe money or celebrities engaged in salacious acts.
3. Acknowledging that photo journalists, street photographers and others have struggled with differences of taking photographs and publishing photographs as two domains of activity, each with different rules, rewards and consequences.  This has resonated with ordinary people because individuals engage in two different processes when they first take a cell phone picture and then second, decide to “publish” it by sending it on to someone else.
4. Redefining the Public and the Private and the subsequent emergence of two overlapping domains.  This relationship is constantly in flux, though we could claim a considerable acceleration of movement from the private into the public. This trend is certainly not new and mass media has perhaps led the way in offering examples.  Consider very personal information about private body acts that were revealed and discussed on popular shows such as the Newlywed Game, as well as the more recent Jerry Springer models of personal revelation.  This private to public phenomenon extends to our personal pictures.  The new aspect is that once you put photos in cyberspace, they can go anywhere and will exist forever.  

Combine all of the above factors with adolescent culture and you can see an expected emergence and popularity of sexting for which relevant codes of laws, rules and standards have yet to be established and formalized.

Parents need to exert caution and care when trying to protect their children from being a participant (willing or unwilling) in sexting.  Because many parents rely on their children having cell phones to keep in touch about locations, plans, and needs, it may be far more troublesome to ban cell phones than to keep an open dialogue about concerns. 

So how can you talk to your kids about your concerns?  Tune in for tomorrow's installment of this post, which will offer some concrete ideas.

Perspective on Sexting: Part I - Teen Culture

A few weeks ago, we blogged about "sexting", which is the new term for when people send sexual text and picture messages to others.  This has been sweeping the news, especially since some teens have been hit with child pornography charges.

CMCH Senior Scientist Dr. Richard Chalfen has been investigating the use of cell phones for a few years and took an interest in this issue.  Here, he joins us as a guest blogger for a 3 part post.

>>See part II: Photo-sharing Behavior
>>See part III: Reactions and Responses

As a practicing visual anthropologist very concerned with young people, health and media culture, I have found it very helpful to adopt a structural perspective when examining an image-related or even image-centric situation.  This applies to current problems surrounding the emergence of "sexting" – the sending of sexually oriented photos of oneself on cell phones (see an introductory overview).

Many of us see this activity as something brand new -- an unfortunate, and indeed dangerous, surprise.  However, if we look deeper, social precedents have been in place for some time.  I often find that taking a historical and structural look at a “new” phenomenon often proves helpful to gain a sense of what’s going on as well as where and how to intervene if and when it is deemed necessary.

Looking at the social world that young people live within, there are at least 4 kinds of sub-cultures crucial to understanding the “sexting” phenomena.  In addition to their home, school and sometimes work cultures, they face:

1. Media Culture – Teens live in a world of mediated life where images are ubiquitous, including an increase in public and private camera surveillance.  Public imagery is more sexually explicit than ever, from television shows to magazines ads.  With the advent of YouTube, Young people are also drawn to the creation of media, not just the consumption of it.
2. Digital Culture –Teens today have grown up as "digital natives" -- they are used to being plugged-in at all times.  Camera-phones are not only embedded in everyday life, they are a part of teen identity.
3. Intense Visual Culture – Young people value personal appearance, and are cognizant of how imagery rules when it comes to entertainment and advertising.  Also important is that kids have been playing with cameras, as well as looking at TV, all their lives, even from infancy in many cases.
4. Adolescent Culture – Adolescence is a period of raging hormones, rebelliousness, competition, identity-seeking and -construction, pushing normative boundaries, seeking privacy and intimacy, living in a world where only the present matters and the future is hard to envision.

In the next installment of this post, Dr. Chalfen will examine how photo-sharing behavior in the past is connected to that of the present.