Those who work with young children (including parents, educators, and researchers) need to understand this world so they can appropriately navigate media use during early childhood.
The good news is that children’s media can be a powerful tool to support early learning. This blog answers three key questions to help you understand and use children’s media to the benefit of young learners:
- Why do we care about children’s media?
- What should you know about children’s developing relationships with media?
- What can you do to facilitate early learning with media content?
Why do we care about children’s media?
Young children are using media across a rapidly growing number of platforms—and for increasing amounts of time. According to a Common Sense Media Census (2017):
- Children ages 0-8 average 2 hours and 19 minutes per day with screen media;
- 95% of families with children 0-8 have smartphones; and
- Young children now spend about 48 minutes a day with mobile devices, which is up from only 5 minutes in 2011 and 15 minutes in 2013.
Furthermore, an abundance of media content is now available through the internet and streaming services (e.g., YouTube, Netflix, Hulu). New technologies including voice-activated assistants and virtual reality headsets are now found in about 1 out of 10 homes with children ages 0-8.
Research has found both positive and negative effects associated with children’s media usage. To promote the positive effects (e.g., literacy development) and help mitigate potential negative effects (e.g., poor self-regulation), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released new screen time recommendations in 2016. Among these recommendations:
- Children less than 18 months should avoid screen media, aside from video-chatting;
- Children 2-5 years old should limit screen time to 1 hour a day of “high-quality” programming; and
- Children 6 years and up should have limits placed on amounts and types of media use.
The recommendations for children’s media use are subjective. Those raising or working with young children still need to determine what constitutes high-quality programming, and what limits may be appropriate. To do so, it helps to have some understanding of early childhood development, and how it relates to young children’s understanding of media.
What should you know about children’s developing relationship with media?
As children develop, they gain the ability to recognize and learn through media. This is referred to in the research as the development of media literacy.
Researchers who study media literacy usually support one of two theories. At a high level, the first suggests that children develop media literacy in three stages, aligned to the stages described by Piaget. The second examines how media literacy relates to the development of children’s information processing abilities. Both theories describe the potential vulnerability of children to harmful media content (e.g., advertising) based on their stage of development.
While these models disagree about some of the specifics, they both indicate that as they develop, children have varying abilities to:
- Recognize different types of media content, and
- Understand and learn through the media.
So, what does this mean? Identifying developmentally-appropriate media content and media use behavior is especially important during early childhood. Younger children may need additional support to understand what they are seeing, interacting with, and learning through their media use.
What can you do to facilitate early learning with media content?
In addition to understanding the media landscape and children’s developing media literacy, there are several key things you can do to support early learning with media.
As a parent, educator, or researcher, these strategies all require you to take on an active role.
1. Co-view media content
Research studies have shown that when parents or educators actively engage in media use with young children, it can increase children’s learning from the media content.
An example of co-viewing is watching a television show with your child, while asking questions about the content and making connections to things the child sees in real life. It could also involve providing cues to help young children more easily identify advertising content. Co-viewing allows for repetition of the content, supports the transfer of learning to real-world settings, and has been shown to mitigate some potential negative effects of media use.
2. Provide media literacy lessons
Media literacy education is not yet standard in the United States[1], but the goals and intentions of the media can and should be shared with children starting during early childhood. Providing lessons about who creates media and why can help bolster children’s media literacy development.
An example of a media literacy lesson during early childhood could involve identifying who is telling the story, and whether what you are seeing is real or pretend. Another early childhood media literacy lesson could involve identifying and questioning stereotypes seen in the media.
3. Choose high-quality programming
As discussed in the AAP recommendations, there are differences in the quality of programming available to young children. However, with such a wide range of content to choose from, this may be particularly challenging. Generally, high-quality media content for young children should be:
- Developmentally-appropriate (look for an intended age range of the program or content);
- Created with input from early childhood experts or developmental specialists; and
- Based on established curricula (i.e., it should be educational).
Thoughtfully and actively engaging in media use, being aware of the choices and changing landscape of children’s media, and understanding how to identify developmentally-appropriate media content will help you empower the young learners in your life.
Other Helpful Resources
Beyond links referenced above, we highly suggest the following reference material for those interested in learning more about these topics.
- American Academy of Pediatrics, Media and Children Communication Toolkit
- Hobbs, R. & Frost, R. (2003). Measuring the acquisition of media-literacy skills. Reading Research Quarterly, 38. doi: 10.1598/RRQ.38.3.2
- John, D. R. (1999). Consumer socialization of children: A retrospective look at twenty-five years of research. Journal of Consumer Research, 26, 183–213.
doi:0093-5301/2000/2603-0001S03.00
- Livingstone, S., & van der Graaf, S. (2008). Media literacy. In W. Donsbach (Ed.), International Encyclopedia of Communication. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell.
- Moses, L. J., & Baldwin, D. A. (2005). What can the study of cognitive development reveal about children’s ability to appreciate and cope with advertising? Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 24, 186–201. doi:10.1509/jppm.2005.24.2.186
- Nathanson, A. & Cantor, J. (2010) Reducing the aggression-promoting effect of violent cartoons by increasing children's fictional involvement with the victim: A study of active mediation. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 44, 125-142. doi: 10.1207/s15506878jobem4401_9
[1] Hobbs & Frost, 2003
