DIGITAL FUN WITH A NEW PIED PIPER? The Henry J. Kaiser Family foundation recently released its 2009 study of student media use. Two thousand students, ages 8-18, filled out questionnaires and an additional 700 respondents completed seven-day media-use dairies. The results are shocking.
Media use averages seven and one-half hours per day. The average usage was six and one-half hours per day in 2004. These seven and one-half hours represent actual time using all kinds of media, but students often use more than one medium at a time. When total exposure is considered, it amounts to ten and one-half hours per day.
Now wait just a minute. Almost eleven hours a day, exposed to media? When do they have time to eat and sleep or take the dog for a walk? As unbelievable as it may seem, the total exposure is surely much higher than eleven hours because these numbers include only recreational use of media. They don't include school related media such as school assignments or online searches conducted for class projects, and they don't include digital learning in the school room.
As pointed out in The Digital Pandemic (Reestablishing Face-to-Face Contact in the Electronic Age) it's the cumulative exposure to all things digital that poses the greatest threat to personal and cognitive growth. These data indicate that the majority of parents don't set rules on the amount of time spent on media. When they do, the media exposure is reduced. Parental rules make for lighter users of media. Heavy media users report less personal contentment, more strain with parents and lower grades and school happiness than light users. They're also more bored, unhappy and get into trouble more.
Is this data valid? Filling out questionnaires, even with guidance, is a chancy proposition since it's based on clear memories which aren't easy to come by, not even in adults. Are the researchers violating the "Developmental Principle" by expecting adult-like awareness, memory, and reporting from kids? It could be. Mizuko Ito's group at the University of California used student interviews for their study. One would expect this research to give more reliable information.
Still, the Kaiser follow-up study is the most up-to-date information we have, and their strategy of repeating the research every five years is critically important. What's really needed is actual observation of the child's media usage and outcome measures such as grades, delinquency and parent involvement. Some of this is being done, but it's expensive and time consuming. By the time the research is completed, the digital landscape has changed. The Kaiser research findings are consistent with most of the smaller studies that have attempted to use direct observation and precise outcome measures.
Overall, I'm afraid it's more bad news, although some believe the deep immersion and diversified exposure to "Cyberland" will give young people the potential to be more creative than older generations. They are encouraged that children take an active role in selecting their own sources of stimulation rather than sitting passively on the couch watching TV or "wasting" time outside in play.
Based on my contact with young people I've seen in private practice and at the Center Academy Schools, along with review of the psychological literature, I'm waving a giant red flag. Color me "Digital Fogie," but true creativity (as opposed to cut and paste creativity) requires solitude, inspiration and deep thinking; not information snacking.
It's true that the child appears to have more choices and appears to take a more active role in choosing what he or she decides is the "flavor of the day." But when we look more closely, we need to question if those choices are truly self-initiated. Dazzling electronic game graphics pull kids into reinforcement schedules like rats in a maze while peer pressure pulls them toward one or another activity or "choice."
And all of this belies the fact that children are not midget adults. Their brains are not fully formed and they have a woeful lack of experience. Experience is the basis for wisdom and wisdom is necessary for wise choices. Who is going to slow down the machines? The kids are following Gaderian, the robotic Pied Piper, to digital tomorrow land, so that leaves it up to the parents. Parents need to set the family schedule around family goals and relationships first-then fit in electronic media where appropriate. And just as important, they need to look at their own behavior as role models for their kids.
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