Ask the Mediatrician

What could possibly make my two year old so scared of an eyeglass commercial?

Q: When a certain commercial for eyeglasses comes on TV, my two year old practically jumps in my arms and holds on for dear life! In it, one pair of eyeglasses makes a karate noise and splits into two pairs. I’m pretty sure it’s the karate sound that scares her, since her brother wears glasses and she’s not afraid of those. She gets so scared I don’t even watch channels that show that commercial. What should I do?
-Confused mom, Fresno, CA

A: Dear Confused,

You’re already doing the right thing—you see that she is terrified of this commercial, so you’re avoiding it.

To understand what’s going on, think about this from the perspective of a two year old: She probably has no idea what that loud, scary sound means to adults. To her, it’s an unfamiliar noise that makes one thing split into two things—and for a young child, changes like that can be very, very frightening.

Use this as an opportunity to limit the TV she sees that isn’t designed for young children. This commercial is aimed at adults (since they’re the ones buying glasses) and will air with TV shows that are also for adults. These shows are likely confusing, distracting, and anxiety provoking for her anyway, so I recommend waiting to watch adult TV until she’s asleep or out of the house.

For ideas on how to occupy your child while you’re getting things done—like cooking dinner or doing laundry—take a look at this post: How do I stop myself from parenting with television?

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician®

When should I talk to my girls about media and body image?

Q: At what age should I teach my daughters about the ways media idealize thinness and display a narrow view of beauty? I want to reach my girls before their opinions are shaped by media influences, but I don’t want to alarm them about something that doesn’t seem to bother them yet. They’re in 4th and 5th grades now, and I feel like, even if I choose my words carefully, talking to them about a healthy body image could inadvertently inspire worries about dieting and other unhealthy eating habits. Is the Evolution video on your website appropriate for this age group? How and when should I be having this talk?

—Body image-conscious mom in Glencoe, IL

A: Dear Body image-conscious mom,

You have good reason to be concerned about how media images of beauty affect your daughters and all of us. Studies show, for example, that the increase in dieting by girls as young as 6 or 7 may be related to influences from media to which they have been exposed. Even though you aren’t facing this issue with your daughters, helping them build a healthy body image in the face of media messages can be a constant challenge.

To help tweens navigate their media environment, you can help them focus their attention on things you do want them to notice and value:

1. Focus on who women are and what they do, not on how they look. Research shows that, by directing even critical attention to media images of beauty and weight with your girls, you could accidentally send the message that looks are most important. Instead, focus on who a person or character is and what she does—like whether she’s a good team player or a loyal friend or a talented artist. Introduce them to media that aims to do the same (like New Moon Girls for tweens and Teen Voices for teens).
2. Take cues from your daughters. When they do start commenting on an actor’s appearance, redirect their focus to who the characters are. If they comment on how pretty someone is, you can say something like, “But what do you like about her?” And when they start to focus more on images of women in media, or if they indicate that they want to look more like a certain actor or model, take a look at some resources that can help guide how you use the Evolution video with your girls.
3. Be conscious of how you talk about yourself. Again, focus on who you are and what you do, rather than on how you look. Then, when and if you do comment on your own appearance, keep it positive: say things like, “I love how I feel after a hike” rather than “I wish I could lose a few pounds.” Wherever you focus your attention is where they will learn to focus theirs.

Your daughters are already exposed to and affected by unrealistic and unhealthy images in media. You can help increase and emphasize the positive messages they see, limit the negative ones, and be a voice that gives them a healthier, more positive way of seeing themselves and the world.

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician®

Will new, graphic tobacco health warnings affect kids?

CMCH staff contributed the following post to Thriving, Children's Hospital Boston's pediatric health blog, in response to questions about how the FDA's newly released requirements for cigarette packaging might affect kids.

Q: Will new, graphic tobacco health warnings affect kids?

A: Last week, the FDA released new requirements for labels on cigarette packaging, which will take effect next September. The nine new health warning labels portray the health effects of smoking through text and full-color graphics, like one that compares a healthy set of lungs with a diseased set of lungs and reads, “Cigarettes cause fatal lung disease.” According to the FDA, these labels are intended to “increase awareness of the specific health risks associated with smoking”, “encourage smokers to quit”, and “empower youth to say no to tobacco.”

These warnings could have positive results. By placing graphic health warnings so prominently in cigarette advertisements (they must take up 20% of the ad) and packaging (they must take up 50% of the front and back), the changes will reduce kids’ exposure to actual cigarette advertising, which influences their decision to use tobacco.

The images were selected based on research into that would be most effective for youth, young adults, and adults. This research focused on how well the images conveyed the intended message and on whether they encouraged viewers to stop smoking. The hope is that they will do both of those things. But will these grisly pictures affect kids in the way they are intended to?

It’s hard to say for sure because fear can be a double-edged sword. Continue reading here.

Do models in ads affect how girls feel about their own bodies?

Q: My 10 year old daughter loves reading teen magazines, but she’s at an age when she and her friends are starting to talk about weight and appearance a lot, and I don’t want her to think she has to look like just the tiny models in the ads to be valued.  How can I talk to her about this?
-Beauty of the Beholder

A: Dear Beauty,

The goal of all media is to tell a story and affect the way the user thinks about an issue, whether it's a website that presents information on a social issue, a documentary that details the lives of apes, or an advertisement for a beauty product.  Advertising is an extremely powerful form of media because that story needs to be compressed into anywhere between the 2 seconds it takes to flip a magazine page to the 30 second spots that companies buy during TV shows. 

To get all of this work done in so little time, the images in ads need to pack quite a punch. They portray extreme versions of thinness, wealth, speed, strength, and other qualities that even the models themselves can rarely achieve without photo editing and camera tricks.

As you mention, children and teens can learn unhealthy expectations from these ads, since they are still developing their understanding of who they are and how to go about becoming who they want to be. In fact, research shows that both young men and young women who read teen magazines have higher rates of distorted body image, dieting behaviors, and dissatisfaction with their appearance. 

So what can you do to help support healthy, positive body image in the face of messages that are likely to make kids feel inferior? Talk about what you see! When you’re exposed to advertising that sells not just a product, but an image of how people should look, open up a conversation about it. Find out what your kids think and how the ads make them feel, and reinforce that ads are designed to get people to purchase a product, not to portray how the world really works. If all else fails, showing them this commercial that pokes fun at advertising techniques will at least get them thinking as they laugh!

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician®

How should I get my kids set up with their first email account?

Q: My kids are "tweens" and want to get their own email accounts. What is the best email program for children of this age?
-Entering the Email World, in Memphis, TN

A: Dear Entering the Email World,

For tweens, you might want to consider whether the email program you choose for them is free or subscription-based. Although it is certainly tempting to use a program that doesn’t cost money, know that what you don’t pay in dollars you do pay in advertising exposure. And not all kids know that they are even being advertised to. One study showed that children learn to recognize online advertisements as they get older, with 6 year olds recognizing ads 25% of the time and 10-12 year olds recognizing ads 75% of the time.  

Another thing to think about in regards to advertising is that unlike TV commercials, ads embedded in email programs are personalized for each user. The email program scans the text of each email and then matches up ads to the content of that email. The data is not shared directly with advertisers, but because the ads are more relevant to the user, they are more likely to be clicked on. For example, if your child writes to a friend about the new video game that she got, she may see ads for other video games or for merchandise related to the specific game she mentioned. 

In addition to considering the specific structure of a given email program, sit down with her and have an open conversation about why and how she’d like to use email, as you would when introducing any new technology (see example of cell phone conversation starter). Maybe her teachers distribute and accept homework through email, or maybe she wants to be able to keep in touch with family members (most kids use text messages rather than email to communicate with friends—for them, email is the way they communicate with adults, like parents and teachers).

Hear her out; then ask her what responsibilities she thinks should come with getting an email account. Use that as a jumping off point for a conversation about responsible Internet use and safety. Make sure your tween knows that the Internet is a public space where she should not share personal information, should communicate only with people she knows, and should say only things she would say to anyone’s face.

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician®

Can kids and teens can help each other use media safely and wisely?

Q: Much of the discussion on kids’ media use centers, appropriately, on parent involvement. I’m wondering, though, are there ways kids and teens can help each other use media and technology—from cell phones to the Internet—safely and wisely? Peer support seems like an important angle, given how much kids influence each other as they get older and how much less savvy (and less interested in media) adults are.
-Kids Can Do, in Suburban Chicago

A: Dear Kids Can Do,

Your question gets at something I firmly believe: that kids are experts on media. In fact, in a seminar I conducted at the Harvard School of Public Health, I asked a group of high school students (with whom I'd previously done media literacy work) to teach the entire critical media use component for exactly this reason. Having kids teach about media is a powerful idea partly because they are the true experts. In addition—and perhaps even more importantly—youth tend to listen to their peers and especially to slightly older kids (who they look up to and want to be like) far more than they will listen to their parents. 

So how can kids can help each other, and how can we as adults best prepare them for it? First of all, we know from research that the ways that media are used at home will shape how children understand media’s role in their lives. Not only are parents setting examples for their children at home, but older children are setting examples for younger siblings. For example, when an older brother turns on the TV to watch a specific show, and then turns it off when the show is over, he’s teaching his little sister that media is used for a specific purpose, rather than as something to passively consume.

But there are also more focused ways that kids and teens can teach each other to use media and technology safely and wisely. For example, if kids really enjoy YouTube, they can find videos that give a “behind the scenes” look at how ads are made and then post them to their Facebook profiles to get a conversation going with their friends. Here are two of our favorites: 

• How do they make that burger look so good?

• What does it take to make a regular person into a model? 

Another conversation starter for kids and teens is song lyrics. Even something as simple as asking friends “Have you really listened to the words to this song?” is a good way to talk about paying more attention to media content, since songs are often about topics like relationships, what people do for fun, and how they treat each other.

This approach recognizes that, sooner or later, these young people will be solely responsible for their behaviors, actions, and time management, and it helps them build their broader media literacy skills and self discipline. But this isn’t to say that adults are off the hook—even peer-to-peer support can benefit from adult assistance. Teens can offer adults an open-minded, innovative sense of how media can be used and adults can offer teens wisdom from life experience and the foresight to think about consequences. Taken together, these perspectives create a powerful foundation for the kind of critical media use that best serves youth.

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician®

How are toys marketed differently to boys and girls?

Q: Recently I saw a pink, flowered version of the Ouija board for girls ages 8 and up.  I would love to know more about how toys get marketed differently to boys and girls.  Are there toys that are marketed to children that may not be appropriate for them?
Wondering about Ouija, Boston, MA

A: Dear Wondering,

You make a keen observation that marketing can make all kinds of things seem geared toward young children. In this culture, the color pink immediately cues consumers that a given product is probably intended for young girls. And you’re right that the product itself doesn’t have to be appropriate or optimal for young girls in order for it to attract their attention.

If you walk into a toy store, you’ll see a divided world, with aisles full of pink and purple for girls, and gray, metallic, and blue for boys. The division is just as stark on TV. Commercials geared toward boys are high paced with fast cuts, lots of noise, and lots of action. Advertisements geared toward girls are sparkly and pastel, and they use camera techniques that are soft and dreamy. But these marketing strategies don’t simply attract buyers; they send messages to children about what it means to be a boy and what it means to be a girl.

In the case of this Oujia board, the marketing was designed to appeal to a specific age and gender.  Marketing works the same way with foods—notice that in any grocery store right now, you’ll find chocolate wrapped in pink, blue, and yellow for Easter and spring.  But in October, the same chocolate is wrapped in black and orange to make it seem appealing for Halloween.  You probably already have an idea of whether that chocolate is something you want your child to have, regardless of the color it’s wrapped in.  You likely decide whether to buy the chocolate based on the ideas you have about nutrition, rather than what the packaging looks like. 

I recommend that you think of toys, TV shows, and video games in the same way you would consider the chocolate—by looking past the marketing and thinking about whether the contents are something you want your child to own or experience. 

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician ®

Racy magazine covers seem to be everywhere -- how can we object?

Q: As I shop in “family-friendly” stores, I am shocked to see the cover photos of popular magazines bordering on soft-porn. I am not surprised at the publishers, but I am surprised at how unaware stores are of this offensive content. No wonder our children think everything in our country is about sex and materialism -- this is how they see the world portrayed in much of our media. I think what disturbs me most is the acquiescence to it by those of us who don’t approve. Parents and a few still-modest women are concerned, but how do we object without sounding like we are overreacting?
-Miffed by Magazines in Seattle, WA

A: Dear Miffed by Magazines,

As social standards change over time, magazines and other media will always be “pushing the envelope” in order to grab and maintain the public’s attention. As a result, there are more sexual images, just as there are more violent images, in mainstream media than there have been in the past. What one person finds offensive may not bother another person. Those who are concerned often give in, possibly because they feel helpless to protest. Media are everywhere, most parents feel overwhelmed, and they do not feel that they have anything to say other than that they are offended, which makes them feel embarrassed for being prudish. But you can respond to these images rather than being offended, and do so in ways that are effective if you have facts, rather than opinions.

Research shows that kids don’t necessarily imitate what they see in sexualized media, but they do pay attention, because they are learning about the world and the way they should behave in it. What they see teaches them about what is normal and what is attractive, so it guides the way they present themselves. Sexualized images also may build insecurity, which can motivate us to buy cosmetics, clothes, even cars, to feel better about ourselves. While making sales is the goal of advertising and the publications in which they are published, this insecurity can have unfortunate outcomes. Among adolescents, who are at their most self-conscious and insecure developmental stage of their lives, this can lead to real health problems, including anxiety and depression, eating disorders, body-building supplements, and substance abuse.

Magazine publishers and media producers do not seek to offend anyone with sexualized images, they want to get your attention. You are their potential customer. They want to know what you think and feel. Communicate with the magazines, advertisers, and consumer products companies and let them know. Don’t underestimate the power of sending a letter to corporate executives, they understand that they need to make you happy if they want you to buy their products. As consumers, we can create change by voting with our voices and our wallets. And don’t forget to give positive feedback, both in your communication and your business, to those companies that provide images, ideas, and products that make you healthier and happier. 
>> Tips on writing a letter
>> Related question: How can I convince networks not to play violent commercials during family programming?

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician

Should I worry about junk food ads on kids' websites?

Q: My 7-year-old son is extremely good at navigating the Internet. In fact, he’s taught me almost everything I know about using the Web. I have software that blocks him from everything except kid sites like PBS, Nickelodeon, Disney, and the Cartoon Network, where he has spent a lot of time and they seem harmless enough, but recently I’ve been hearing about junk food ads on websites. I don’t think he looks at them, but I’m wondering whether that’s a problem anyway. Am I missing something?
-Websurfing in Washington, DC

A: Dear Websurfing,

Your impulses with regard to the Internet are right on. The Internet is a place where your son can both learn a great deal and become very technologically skilled, but it's also possible and likely that he'll be exposed to material that is not optimal for him. In an era when kids are digital natives and parents are digital immigrants, your question is extremely common.

The sites you’re allowing him to access probably won’t expose him to overt violence or sex, and that is a positive thing. But remember that pre-selecting sites isn’t enough to teach him to use media critically. Your son will see advertising  wherever he goes, online or offline, thus, it is important that he learn to think critically about all media, even those that seem harmless.

Just recently, researchers looked at the sites most used by kids, and they found that only 5 of the 77 advertised food products were things that kids should be encouraged to eat. We don’t evaluate individual sites or products, instead we try to give parents the information to make decisions that work for their family. And even though your son may not be paying specific attention to those ads, there is evidence that people exposed to online advertising think favorably about advertised brands, even if they don’t pay attention to, or even remember seeing the advertising. Advertising affects him, whether he thinks it does or not. 

To help your son think critically about the ads, explain that he is being pursued as a consumer of products as he will be all his life, and he will need to choose for himself which products are good and which are not. Together, examine ads that attract him and ask him questions about them. What is his selling? Who is it for? How does it grab his attention? What do the people who created the ad want him to do? Doing this will help him build the skills he needs to critically view and analyze the messages he’s receiving and that can help him get the most benefit and least harm from his experience on the web.

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician

Disney is offering full refunds for Baby Einstein videos--should I turn mine in?

Q: I hear that Disney is offering full refunds for Baby Einstein videos, but I don’t really understand why. I received some of these videos as baby shower gifts and my 7-month-old son seems to enjoy them. What do you recommend?
-Buzz on Baby Videos in Ft. Lauderdale, FL

A: Dear Buzz,

It’s true! After years of pressure by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), Disney is offering a full refund (or exchange for another product) for any Baby Einstein video bought within the past 5 years.

The CCFC called Disney to task for marketing these videos as educational (even the name "Einstein" implies that the videos will help kids become geniuses), even though none of the scientific research shows that they increase learning.  In fact, the research that has been done on the effects of media exposure on babies shows either no effects at all or associations with negative health outcomes, like language delays.

Why might these be the results? Because your baby was born with a brain that is developing in response to his environment. The activities that are best for his brain development include face-to-face interaction with people, manipulation of objects in his physical environment, and open-ended, creative, problem-solving play. No electronic screen, regardless of the content it shows, can provide any of these learning situations.  >>Related question: How will TV affect our 3-month-old?

For that reason, I recommend that you take advantage of Disney’s offer of a refund for your Baby Einstein videos. If, like many parents, TV or baby videos are one of the ways you keep your child entertained while you get things done around the house, check out this post for ideas on other activities your child can do while you make dinner or take a shower.  You could even use your refund to buy a toy that your son will get much more out of; check out this great list of toy ideas for young kids.

Enjoy your media and use them wisely,
The Mediatrician