CHILD DEVELOPMENT AND THE INTERNET TUTORIAL: WEEK 1

Assignment: Read “Always Connected: The new digital habits of young Children”

Guiding Questions: What has been the transition of use from older media to the internet? Is there a difference amongst the newer generation that has grown up with the internet? Who has access?

Response: As new forms of media come about, it seems that media use has gone up. In the 1930s, people only had the radio and a few forms of media available so media use wasn’t that high. However, with the introduction of television, that percentage increased. From toddlers to young adults, a vast amount of people use media, and the numbers just keep increasing. More people are having access to the internet, however the ways that it’s used differ amongst groups of people. According to Sesame Workshop, “Today, children ages 8 to 10 spend about 5.5 hours each day using media, but they’re actually exposed to almost 8 hours of media, because they use multiple media simultaneously. Most of that time, more than 3.5 hours per day, is spent with television” (16). I really agree with the multitasking issue. Sometimes we may feel that we’re not exposed to as much media, but I know that I (and some of my friends), use my phone and go online even while I’m watching television. I listen to music and do my homework simultaneously at times. In fact, I know some people who claim they’re able to concentrate better with music. I think that’s a huge part of this generation in fact. We’ve gone to the point where multitasking has become a huge part of our lives, yet I feel that this may not necessarily be good for our attention span because we’re not able to give something our undivided attention. Regarding the second half of the statement, we should note that this report is from 2011. I feel that now that it’s 2016, you can find anything online. Interaction with the shows you’re watching is available, and you always have the option to watch a show whenever you want. So yes, even if a lot of the time you use media is for television, I think that even more currently, there’s a shift to the internet rather than the television, or at least the internet is at a relatively similar level.

I think it’s a concern that while internet use and television use is on the rise, the amount of learning that is done using such media is dropping is a concern. According to Sesame Workshop in “Always Connected: The new digital habits of young children,” “Just about half of all children under age 5 use some type of electronic learning toy. But usage drops to 33% of 6-to-8- year-olds and to just 13% of 9-to-11–year-olds. Learning toys is also the only category to show a drop in usage over time” (16). That means that a lot of media consumption goes to other forms of entertainment that may not be considered as helpful to the child’s development. Ipads and laptops, in fact offer television streaming and according to Sesame Workshop, majority of media use is television. This is beneficial to half the kids who don’t have tv recording options available. The fact that portable media is available will encourage kids to use digital media. However, it is also important to note that schools are trying to build connections between media and education so that a lot of screen time spent will be constructive (38).

I really liked the analogy of media consumption being similar to food. It’s the quality of the media/or food that matters just as much as the quanitity. For instance, “Once children get to 7 and 8 years, they are able to focus on activities for longer stretches of time, and their memory, logical reasoning, and problem-solving skills sharpen. Children at this age can also apply their literacy skills to operate or communicate with digital media (e.g., via Internet searching or texting)” (Sesame Workshop 30). Digital media can actually be used to sharpen their literacy skills and helps with application. There are other skills that are available with digital media, so it really depends on the content rather than how much time kids are on digital media.