By the time kids start going to school (or not, if you homeschool ;)), they are way more plugged into media. They are watching TV at home, they are using the computer and the internet, and they are playing video games.
Television:
Here's something you might not expect - TV can have a positive effect! When compared to reading, TV had a greater rate of memory retention for both children and adults. So, the power of TV can be harnessed to actually help educate your children.
Of course, the fact that kids remember more what they see on TV can also mean that they will remember negative things they see. And there is the big negative of TV - the violence that seems to be pervasive on television programming. The more kids watch TV, the more they assume violence is normal and come to see the world as a violent place. Even if that does not make them act violently, it can have other effects, such as fearfulness or failure to step up and try to stop actual real-life violence.
The news can actually be a culprit here also. At this age, kids are likely to see the news broadcast, and there is a saying "if it bleeds, it leads" for a reason. I vividly remember seeing the Challenger explosion as a child, and how scary that was. It is fair to say that it altered my whole world view. Similarly, children who saw 9/11 on the news would have had their understanding of the world changed. Luckily, most of us don't witness horrific events in person. But with television news, we can all be secondary witnesses, and the trauma of those events spreads farther out. So, we need to be careful how we introduce the news into our childrens' lives.
If you do want to watch the news with your child, do it interactively. Bring out a map and point to where these things are happening. Talk about how the news focuses on extreme things, but that most people are nice and safe.
Computers and the Internet
Kids on the internet? Yep. Carbon is already on the internet, and he's only six. We just set up his first computer, and we put shortcuts on his explorer homepage that take him directly to his favorite sites - which happen to be the search results for youtube lego videos. There are websites designed for kids, including some kids' chatrooms and social networking sites. What is the danger? Well, there is less danger at this age and less danger in these more controlled sites, but kids are vulnerable to predators and scams. So, keep the computer in a main area of the house where you can monitor what they are doing, and make it a rule to Never Give Out Personal Information. There's software you can use to block some content, but there is no substitute for a nearby adult monitoring the computer use.
Video Games
Like television, there is actually a small benefit to video games. They really do help with hand-eye coordination and spatial reasoning. However, they also are really violent and sexist. Know the rating system and spend some time playing with your kids so you know what the game is like (see the recurring theme here?). Moderation is called for, certainly.
Key Points for parents:
- keep control of the devices (main areas of the house)
- have rules about time spent on media, to prevent over use
- understand the ratings systems
- know how to use filter technologies for your television and computer
- be involved and interact with your child as they interact with media
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