December 8, 2008

A new report indicates that the average child in America now spends 45 hours a week immersed in the media -- a multiple of the hours spent with parents or in the classroom.

Commonsense Media, a group that advocates for better programming in the media, commissioned and released the report.  Researchers looked at 173 studies done on media and its effects on children and adolescents.  The results are sobering.  Taken together, these reports strongly suggest that significant exposure to the media is related, among other concerns, to behaviors such as smoking and early sexual activity, as well as low academic achievement and obesity.

As USA Today reports:

Parents and policymakers need to take action to protect children from being harmed by TV, the Internet and other types of media, a report says.

Researchers have done individual studies for years to learn how media affect children. A review released today, which analyzed 173 of the strongest papers over 28 years, finds that 80% agree that heavy media exposure increases the risk of harm, including obesity, smoking, sex, drug and alcohol use, attention problems and poor grades.

In one sense, this report should not shock any informed parent or observer.  The report does offer something new, however, in its analysis of so many published scientific reports and studies.  The sheer quantity of the data is impressive.  One obvious point comes to the fore -- there has already been sufficient concern to prompt the development of the 173 separate studies considered in this report.

Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel of the National Institutes of Health commented, "The idea that this is having a really measurable adverse impact on health makes it important to take this seriously."  What isn't measured in these studies, of course, is the adverse spiritual effects of so much media exposure.

Beyond the question of quantity -- 45 hours of media immersion on average -- there is the question of media content.  Anyone with the slightest awareness of media content knows the problems.  Media of all forms and formats are saturated with violence, sexuality, morally troubling themes, alcohol and tobacco use, and the use of drugs.

Furthermore, the boundaries of acceptable content are being pressed back season after season.  What was once limited to adult theaters soon makes its appearance in the mainstream media.  Themes once off-limits to media in any form are now common on mainstream television.  The emergence of the Internet, modern video games, MP3 players, and sophisticated cell phones offers yet more opportunities for increased media immersion and exposure to troubling programming and content.

Another relatively new phenomenon is the digital revolution and the transformation of media consumption from a largely communal activity to one that is more and more solitary.  The television set used to be located in a family gathering place and families watched television together.  No longer.  Now, televisions are distributed throughout various rooms in most houses, and viewing is increasingly solitary.  Millions of American children and adolescents have televisions in their bedrooms -- many combined with digital recorders, video games, and other components.