YC100: Lecture 9 – October 25, 2022

Children, the Mass Media, and Consumerism, Ch. 6

Chapter 6
Since children shows change rapidly and because children don’t seem to mind reruns, programs
are shown several times a year = children are seen as a special class of citizens and consumers
when it comes to popular culture and the mass media.

Today, children are considered digital natives—people born and raised in the age of digital
technology and therefore familiar with computers and the Internet from an early age

That said, relatively little research has been done on Internet use by children during the preschool
and middle-childhood periods

a Statistics Canada (2017b) study of Ontario children’s health and well-being found that children
who did not get along well with other children were more likely to spend two hours or more each
day using electronic devices and watching television compared to children who got along “pretty
well” or “quite or very well” with other children.

Negative effects of televoting on children’s cognitive development and educational achievement

- Associated with displacement of cognitively more valuable activities
o Especially in infancy and early childhood
- Associated with disruption of concentration, reduced parental mediation or active co-
viewing and sleep disturbances.
- Excessive viewing has been found to lead to overconsumption of inappropriate types of
viewing content
- having a television in the child’s bedroom was significantly associated with poorer
vocabulary at age four.

Positives:
among preschoolers, any dose of media, including television watching, was safe, provided that
there was a stimulating home environment, sufficient family income, a good amount of cultural
capital, and supportive parenting.
- implies that the children most at risk of delayed language acquisition are not affected by
the media per se, but rather by their socioeconomic backgrounds and the level of parental
involvement when it comes to media consumption
 - other research suggests that the Internet provides children with more developmental
advantages than disadvantages, even when controlling for family socioeconomic
characteristics
o Internet use during childhood is a complex behaviour that varies across children
and contexts
o Instant messaging and community-based Internet use in childhood, for example,
were associated with decreased literacy skills, while some other applications used
at home and at school were associated with increased literacy skills
 there are at least two conflicting public anxieties surrounding children and
the Internet: that children without Internet access are cognitively and
socially disadvantaged compared with others; and, on the flip side, that the
Internet may harm children due to the potential exposure to inappropriate
content.

- Media children are risked of being exposed to risks into broad categories, including being
exploited for commercial purposes and being exposed to sexual, radical, racist, or other
disturbing content. These risks can involve children as recipients, participants, or actors.
- Cyberbullying is a HUGE risk, is the worst thing that could happen to them online
- Lots of sexualization in kids shows and race favouritism

- Media has led to a lot of young girls self-objectifying and sexualizing themselves

- Lots of gender and sexualized stereotypes

- Children are experienced to violence even before they enter kindergarten

- playing the violent video game increased cortisol levels for all children, but that for boys
(and not girls) it increased their cardiovascular arousal more than playing an equally
exciting but nonviolent game. They also found that playing a violent video game led to
more aggressive thoughts being activated among the elementary school children in the
study

- digital technologies can offer disabled children’s certain tools and platforms that may
increase their sense of belonging and give them more space for cultural exchange

- children influence many spending decisions made by their families. They often
accomplish this through a special kind of persuasion that some have called kidfluence—
the power children have over parental, household, and adult purchases

- advertising also modifies self-esteem shapes children’s attitudes towards food, medicine,
and their health, often contributing to obesity and poor health
o shapes attitudes towards alcohol and cigarette consumption

The Children’s Code reminds advertisers that children’s advertising should respect and not
abuse the power of the child’s imagination, but the code only “guides” advertisers and agencies
in preparing commercial messages that adequately recognize the special characteristics of the
children’s audience.

Summary:
- a considerable number of children’s free time, energy, and money is spent consuming
traditional and newer forms of digital mass media
- These media teach children how to think about themselves as citizens, and as gendered,
embodied, and racialized beings.

Lecture Notes

History
• Television became widely available in the 1950’s (advertising was a driving force)
• 1960’s television was the primary mode of advertisement
• Purpose of TV was advertisements (goods for profit)
• Saturday morning cartoons (short, cheap) made children consumers of media
• We no longer have this isolated period – so concern has increased!
• Biggest concern was about violence!

Children and Media

• Digital natives: people born and raised in the digital age, familiar with how computers
and internet work
• Digital immigrants: People who were not born and raised in digital age, having to learn
how computers and internet work later in life
• In 2005:
• 94% of children indicated they had internet access at home (by Grade 11, half had
their own access to internet separate from family)
• 45% had access to a family cell phone

• Marie-Vincent Foundation (2011) found:

• 3/4 children aged 3-12 years old go online, and half of them interact with people
on social networking, chatting, online gaming
• 80% of parents believe the internet is dangerous for children
• 50% of parents said they do not talk to their children about internet safety
• 1/10 children have been in contact with someone they don’t know
• Brisson-Boivin (2018) reported on a typical day:
• 47% of children under 15 (33% 0-4yo) are using digital tech in the hour before
bed

Children and Media

• Impacts of screen time before bed:
• Screen time can stimulate children
• Blue light can suppress melatonin and delay sleepiness
• Can lead to insomnia or disrupted sleep patterns
• Result in sleepiness and low performance the next day
 • Side effects of insufficient sleep
• Higher risk of obesity (less physical activity, poorer dietary habits)
• Problems at school (e.g., shortened attention span)
• Mental health problems (restorative sleep necessary to alleviate mental stress)

• Statistics Canada (2017, 2019):

• 99.2% of Ontario children (4-11yo) have screen time each day
• 53% of children aged 5-17yo exceed the recommended limit
• What about children under 5?
• Girls were more likely than boys to follow recommendations
• Children with peer difficulties are more likely to exceed recommendations
• Children appear to be spending a lot of time on screen. Why do we think this is?

Television
• Negative effects of TV consumption:
• Impact on cognitive development and educational achievement if consumed in
excessive amounts
• displacement of enriching activities!
• Children often recreate what they see  TV plays a prescriptive role
• Associated with concentration issues and sleep disturbances
• Overall, watching TV is safe if following time limits, if content appropriate, and
home environment is healthy (e.g., sufficient income, stimulating environment,
supportive family)

Internet
• More developmental advantages than disadvantages (unlike TV)
• Studies examining children and internet have mixed results
• For example: instant messaging associated with poor literacy skills; home and
school apps associated with positive literacy skills!
• Competing perspectives about the internet:
• Children without internet are at a social and cognitive disadvantage
• Children with internet may potentially be exposed to inappropriate content (or
dangerous situations)

Internet and Risk

• Canadian parents report being concerned about the internet and the following:
• Misinformation
• Sexual content
• Violence
• Cyberbullying and harassment
• Mascheroni et al., (2015) found that children were aware of online risks, focusing mostly
on stranger danger (in a stereotypical way)

• Cyberbullying: intentional, repetitive aggression involving power imbalance between

victim and perpetrator, carried out digitally (subjectively experienced)
• 36% of 12- to 14-year-olds report being bullied online once in the last 4 weeks
 • Cyberbullying can have harmful consequences for children/youth including:
• Drop in social behavior (avoidance, social withdrawal)
• Difficulty concentrating at home and school
• Internalizing problems (anxiety, depression)
• Harmful eating patterns (disordered; gastro issues)
• Self harm (e.g., cyberbullying are twice as likely to attempt suicide or engage in
self harm)
• Can cyberbullying be worse than real-world bullying?

Gender Soicalization, Violence, and the Media

• Gender socialization: Process through which children learn about expectations,
attitudes, and behaviours associated with girls and boys
• Males tend to out-number females in TV and movies
• Females are more likely to be young and traditionally depicted
• Females more likely to smart, good, and beautiful
• Violence in the media has remained relatively stable, but there has been an increase in
violent video games (being accessed by children)
• Increases cortisol in the brain
• Increases cardiovascular arousal (boys)
• Linked to more aggressive thoughts in elementary school kids

Children/Youth as Conusmers
• Children are often targeted in advertising campaigns (TV, internet)
• Is this ethical? Fast food consumption can lead to health issues!
• Young children understand what commercials are, and even those who don’t are still
impacted by them
• Spending by tweens (9 to 14yo) has been on the rise, coming in at $100 million yearly
• Kidfluence: the power children have over parental, household, and adult purchases
• Children’s exposure to advertising shape self-esteem, attitudes towards food, health
(often leading to poor health), alcohol, and views about themselves and others

Children’s Health and Media

• Two major impacts of media consumption and children’s health:
• (1) displace other activities that require energy
• (2) may affect children’s energy levels
• Advertisements may lead to higher levels of sugar and fast-food intake
• Broadcast Code for Advertising to Children  should not abuse power of child’s
imagination, code guides advertisers and commercial messages
• Health Canada (2017) engaged in consultations to propose restricting marketing of
unhealthy food and beverage to children
• Resulted in 2022-2024 plan to make amendments to the Food and Drug
Regulations (Restricting Advertising to Children of Prescribed Foods containing
Sodium, Sugars, and Saturated Fats)
Educational Media
• Many programs for young children are intentionally designed to teach prosocial
behaviour
• E.g., Sesame Street focuses on social competence, tolerance of diversity, conflict
resolution, and real-life experiences
• Many educational apps to foster academic skills (e.g., literacy, math, foundations of
preschool, etc.)
• Many educational apps don’t have intended outcomes
• Educational media and the Internet make education much more efficient, but at
what cost? Are there pros/cons?