By Susan Gallagher

A New York Times headline put it this way: “If your kids are awake, they’re probably online.”

They might be listening to music on an iPod, checking Facebook or watching a video on a cell phone.

A study that led to the Times headline of Jan. 20 measured how much time U.S. kids ages 8 to 18 spend with entertainment media, whether online or plain old TV. The daily average is 7 hours 38 minutes, compared to just under 6 ½ hours in 2004, according to the third in a series of studies from the Kaiser Family Foundation. More than ever, it is important that researchers, policymakers and parents stay on top of the impact media exposure has on children, the foundation said.

The Diocese of Helena’s Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry, and the diocesan Resource Center, have some recommendations for parents.

Moms and dads should talk to their children about media habits, but approach that talk “as a point of dialogue rather than a point of frustration,” said Doug Tooke, the diocesan youth minister.

He likes the counsel of Anna Scally, who is the president of nonprofit Cornerstone Media Inc. in Healdsburg, Calif., (www.cornerstonemedia.org) and is on the staff of the Church-sponsored World Youth Day, next set for 2011 in Spain. Using the music that young people listen to, Cornerstone produces materials intended to help parents, teachers, youth ministers and others converse with young people about values and relationships.

“You can disagree with the values in a song, but still use it for dialogue,” Scally said in a phone interview with The Montana Catholic.

When parents are in a car with a son or daughter and a song the parent finds objectionable is on the radio, many likely would turn the radio off. Scally suggests leaving it on, and asking the child for thoughts about the song.

Cornerstone’s research indicates that “negative-value songs” account for about 15 percent of the music young people consume, 25 percent or more of the music advances positive messages and a lot “just sits in the middle,” neither negative nor positive, Scally said.

Tooke also likes recommendations from the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry. They include the book “Raising Happy, Healthy and Holy Teenagers: A Primer for Parents,” by Robert McCarty. Revisions in 2009 added updates on dealing with technology. Kathy Ward, manager of the diocesan Resource Center, recommends Common Sense Media, online at www.commonsensemedia.org. The national organization offers ratings for movies, websites, TV shows, games, books and music. Additionally, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Office for Film and Broadcasting reviews and rates movies, evaluates TV programs and provides information about media influence on values, online at www.usccb.org/movies.

Common Sense Media says it advocates teaching children “to be savvy media interpreters—we can’t cover their eyes, but we can teach them to see.” Founder James Steyer is a father of four who teaches at Stanford University and wrote “The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media’s Effect on Our Children.”

Common Sense Media says the Kaiser study brings the good news that parental involvement can have a “profound and positive effect. If we set rules and limit media access—at all ages—then we have a shot at having our kids have better grades, feel more personal contentment and have better powers of concentration.“

The Kaiser study found that most children lack parental rules about how much time may be spent watching TV, playing video games or using computers, but when parents do set limits, children spend less time with media. About two-thirds of those surveyed said televisions usually are on during meal times at home, and 45 percent said TV in the home is on most of the time, even when no one is watching it.

Heavy media users reported receiving lower grades than did light users. The research also determined that because children and teens spend so much time “media multitasking,” meaning they use more than one medium at a time, the 7 hours 38 minutes of media time actually encompass almost 11 hours of media content.

Kaiser said surveys conducted between October 2008 and last May questioned a nationally representative sample of 2,002 students who were 8-18 and in grades three through 12.

Using a cell phone for media consumption counted as media time, but talking or texting on the phone did not.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 2, February 19, 2010.