Children's Media Perception

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Children are growing up in an environment saturated with various types of media:

Print media - books, newspapers, magazines
Electronic media - TV, radio
New media (online visual electronic media) – videos, electronic games, social media, and the internet in general; using different platforms such as mobile phones, tablets, or laptops.

As children get older they start consuming media more and more on their own. It is thus important for parents to know how to prevent or resolve related risks. It is also important for them to understand that even though media use is connected to risks (like many other everyday activities are) there are also important opportunities and contributions to be found.

In the EU Kids Online 2020 Survey, 20% of 9-11-year-olds answered that they encountered something bothering or upsetting online in the past year (in the age group of 12-14-year-olds this was the case for 27% of them). Most of the children who have had that kind of experience then decided to talk about it with their parents or peers. Parents, therefore, should get acquainted with the possible risks but also with age-appropriate media that help to lower the risks of undesirable media experiences.

Learn More

Read the transcript or watch the video: Different Types of Media and focus on the pros and cons and what kind of media is suitable for children in this age group. Explore the website www.commonsensemedia.org where you can find reviews of books, movies, TV shows, video games, apps, music, and websites suitable for children.

Read the article Media use in childhood: Evidence-based recommendations for caregivers and formulate recommendations for age-appropriate media experiences. Take into account that this article is primarily focused on 'screen media'. The recommendations provided here do not focus on media consumption related to books, audiobooks, or listening to music, stories, etc.

Watch the video Kids and Tech: The New Landscape and name areas in which technology can support a child's growth and watch the video on screen time control Why Screen Time For Kids Needs To Be Controlled.

The research report Risks and safety on the internet: The perspective of European children provides an important insight into how the risks and opportunities of online media use interconnect. In the Key findings section on pages 5-9, you can learn more about: the occurrence and frequency of the examined risks and parental awareness of these risks actually taking place. The authors of the report suggest that digital skills are an important factor in dealing with online risks. Read the section Framing the project (p. 11-15) to understand the ambiguity of online media consumption as it is linked to both opportunities and risks. The authors make a parallel to cycling to make you understand how common the ambiguity can be regarding any social activities.

To get an overview of (in)appropriate media content (and its' possible division and labeling) read the article Age-Appropriate Media: Can You Trust Parental Guidance Ratings?

Assessing whether some media are appropriate, safe, and beneficial for children requires reflection and mindfulness. The Three C's: Content, Context, and Your Child quiz can help you understand what parents should be aware of when choosing the right media for their children.

There are several legislative documents that focus on the protection of children consuming media. They primarily deal with broadcasted media, and audiovisual media services. The role of legislation is to define inappropriate and harmful content and to determine how children and youth should be protected from encountering this type of content. Look out for some national resources and control measures for media content and present them to parents.

Exercise

Based on the material recommended in this course prepare the following:

Summarize both risks and opportunities of online activities
Define criteria for suitable media for children at this age
Go to the website www.commonsensemedia.org and give a specific example of suitable media for children in this age group in each category (try and choose especially media that are also available in your native language)

You have read the article Age-Appropriate Media: Can You Trust Parental Guidance Ratings? and got to know about different types of ratings and age limit recommendations. Be mindful that the categorization of different age limits can vary across nations and cultures. Search for the usual categories specific to your country regarding the age limits on games, social media, films, and series.

What you learn in this course

Name different types of media and correctly assign media to media types.
Describe children's perception of media in this age group and correctly assign this perception to media types.
Explain criteria of overstraining media experiences and classify media experiences accordingly.
Name the advantages of media education for this age group.
Formulate recommendations for age-appropriate media experiences at parents' evenings. They can independently select support services according to the media experiences described by the parents.
Name criteria for media suitable for children of this age group and classify media accordingly.
Name national control instruments for suitable media content.

Get ready: Tips for MediaParent consultants

Children perceive different types of media in different ways. There are many programs and apps on the market that target children, but not all of them are suitable for children. Parents should be able to recognize which media are age-appropriate for their kids, a simple "check-list" can help them:

doing some research about the media
rating of the media
clarity of content for children
age-appropriate language
values, moral or significance of the media

Parents should be able to recognise which type of media is appropriate for their child and name the criteria for its use.

Find nationally specific sources focused on the legislation regarding media content appropriate for children and tell parents how they can find out more about the topic. There might be different legislative documents regarding broadcasted and online media. Perhaps there will also be differences between state-owned media and private ones. For example in the Czech republic parents can read about this topic on the website www.deti-a-media.cz in the section “Ochrana dětí zákonem” (en. Law Protection of Children).

Children in this age group form significant parasocial relationships with both fictional and real characters represented in various media platforms (such as social media, books, or films). You can learn more from our course Media characters/celebrities, to understand the role of these relationships better.

As children's social lives widen they also start to engage in social activities online. For more information on that, you can study our courses Social Media and Instant Messaging.

You can find national-specific support services both for future media consultants and for parents interested in the topic of media literacy. For future Czech media consultants, we recommend the website Jeden svět na školách www.jsns.cz and their Media education section. Although they focus primarily on educators of children, some of these materials can be implemented by caregivers directly at home and can thus help parents cover specific topics that they might want to explain to their child.