Unintended Consequences

A recent report by an organization called Common Sense Media has raised the alarm on children and the media. Taking into account television, videos, and computers, they warn that "there is a strong correlation between media exposure and long-term negative health effects to children." The "negative health effects" included "tobacco use, sexual behavior, obesity, ADHD, academic performance, and drug/alcohol use." The clearest, most obvious connection was to childhood obesity.

We like to think of ourselves as good parents. We tend to think "I'm monitoring my kids." We tell ourselves that's what is important. I suspect, however, that we are mistaken on two counts. First, it is nearly impossible to actually monitor kids, especially in the world of media. Things pop up unbidden. Computers go to websites they never intended. Ads show up which we didn't have a chance to reject. Even "safe" places have sexually-related material shown for all to see. There is no real way to monitor kids when they are connected to the media. The other problem is that in many cases the content isn't the problem. For example, obesity in kids is not a product of content as much as it is of simply being there. Where previous generations used to "go outside and play," today's generation prefers to sit and vegetate. Beyond that, the medium of the media is designed primarily not to feed thinking processes, but to deny them. That is, very little is left to the imagination. Being an audio and visual construct, it leaves nothing for children to think about. Compare that to, say, books, where words construct ideas that readers need to visualize themselves. Other aspects, like poor academic performance and ADHD, would also be, at least somewhat, a product of the medium rather than the content. Time spent in front of a screen is time neglected in other areas, regardless of the content. When it comes to very young, developing children, time spent in front of a screen has several non-content related impacts that I don't think we really want them to suffer. It seems as if our standard society functioning with daily video screens of all types is fraught with consequences we aren't taking into account.

The answer, of course, is unthinkable to most families today. "Get rid of it." That isn't going to happen. Adults enjoy their TVs too much. Computers are necessary. We need the media. But ... do we? The question, I suppose, is really one of priority. Which is more important -- our children or our entertainment? (Face it ... the vast majority of our media usage is entertainment.) To tell the truth, there are negative impacts on adults as well. Will we ignore those, too? Perhaps a middle ground is limiting contact to the media. Perhaps that can work. Are you willing to do that? If we choose to do nothing about it, we can't complain about the media's impact on our society when we have options we refuse to exercise.