## Step 2 - Reading

You are going to read part of an article about the influence of the media on the psychosocial development of children.
It was published by the Canadian Paediatric Society in 2003. You are going to read about the following topics:

- TV
- Learning
- Violence
- Music Videos
- Video games

What do you think that the article will say about these topics?
Make notes and compare with your partner. Read the first part of the article.
Some words have been removed. Choose the correct word.

#### Television Television has the .....[1]..... to generate both positive and negative effects, and many studies have looked at the impact of television on society, particularly .....[2]..... children and adolescents. An individual child’s developmental level is a critical factor in determining whether the medium will have positive or negative effects. Canadian children watch excessive amounts of television. There is a relationship between watching violent television programmes. Excessive television watching contributes to childhood obesity. Excessive television watching may have a harmful effect on learning and academic performance. Television is an .....[3]..... way of advertising products to children of various ages. The average Canadian child watches nearly 14 h of television each week. By his/her high school graduation, the average teen will have spent more time watching television than in the classroom. Television viewing undoubtedly limits children’s time for .....[4]..... activities such as playing, reading, learning to talk, spending time with peers and family, storytelling, participating in regular exercise, and developing other necessary physical, mental and social skills. In addition to the amount of time spent in front of the television, other factors that influence the medium’s effect on children include the child’s developmental level, .....[5]..... susceptibility and whether children watch television alone or with their parents. #### Learning Television can be a powerful teacher. Watching Sesame Street is an example of how .....[6]..... can learn valuable lessons about racial harmony, cooperation, kindness, simple arithmetic and the alphabet through an educational television format. Some public television programs stimulate visits to the zoo, libraries, bookstores, museums and other active recreational settings, and educational videos can certainly serve as powerful prosocial teaching devices. However, watching television takes time away .....[7]..... reading and schoolwork. More recent studies show that even 1 h to 2 h of daily .....[8]..... television viewing has a significant negative effect on academic performance, especially reading.

Read the next topics of violence, music videos and video games.

#### Violence The amount of violence on television is on the rise. The average child sees 12,000 violent acts on television annually, including many depictions of murder and rape. More than 1000 studies confirm that exposure to heavy doses of television violence increases aggressive behaviour, particularly in boys. Other studies link television or newspaper publicity of suicides to an increased suicide risk. The following groups of children may be more vulnerable to violence on television: children from minority and immigrant groups; emotionally disturbed children; children with learning disabilities; children who are abused by their parents; and children in families in distress. Physicians who see a child with a history of aggressive behaviour should inquire about the child’s exposure to violence portrayed on television. #### Music videos Music videos may have a significant behavioural impact by desensitizing viewers to violence and making teenagers more likely to approve of premarital sex. Up to 75% of videos contain sexually explicit material, and more than half contain violence that is often committed against women. Women are portrayed frequently in a condescending manner that affects children’s attitudes about sex roles. Attractive role models are the aggressors in more than 80% of music video violence. Males are more than three times as likely to be the aggressors; blacks were overrepresented and whites underrepresented. Music videos may reinforce false stereotypes. A detailed analysis of music videos raised concerns about its effects on adolescents’ normative expectations about conflict resolution, race and male-female relationships. Music lyrics have become increasingly explicit, particularly with references to sex, drugs and violence. Research linking a cause-and-effect relationship between explicit lyrics and adverse behavioural effects is still in progress at this time. Meanwhile, the potential negative impact of explicit music lyrics should put parents and paediatricians on guard – paediatricians should bring this up in anticipatory guidance discussions with teenagers and their parents. At the very least, parents should take an active role in monitoring the music their children are exposed to. #### Video games Some video games may help the development of fine motor skills and coordination, but many of the concerns about the negative effects of television (eg, inactivity, asocial behaviour and violence) also apply to excessive exposure to video games. Violent video games should be discouraged because they have harmful effects on children’s mental development. Parents should be advised to familiarize themselves with various rating systems for video games and use this knowledge to make their decisions. The effect of violent video games on children has been a public health concern for many years. No quantitative analysis of video game contents for games rated as suitable for all audiences was made until 2001. The study concluded that many video games rated as suitable for all audiences contained significant amounts of violence (64% contained intentional violence and 60% rewarded players for injuring a character). Therefore, current ratings of video games leave much room for improvement.

Read the topics again, did any information surprise you? Which dangers were you unaware of? Give details.
The final part of the text is about some recommendations for physicians working with families. Read and answer the questions. If your family doesn’t do much TV watching, you can substitute it for internet use.

#### Recommendations Families should be encouraged to explore media together and discuss their educational value. Children should be encouraged to criticize and analyze what they see in the media. Parents can help children differentiate between fantasy and reality. No child should be allowed to have a television, computer or video game equipment in his or her bedroom. A central location is strongly advised with common access and common passwords. Television watching should be limited to less than 1 h to 2 h per day. Families may want to consider more active and creative ways to spend time together. Older children should be offered an opportunity to make choices by planning the week’s viewing schedule in advance. Ideally, parents should supervise these choices and be good role models by making their own wise choices. Parents should explain why some programs are not suitable and praise children for making good and appropriate choices. Families should limit the use of television, computers or video games as a diversion, substitute teacher or electronic nanny. Parents should also ask alternative caregivers to maintain the same rules for media use in their absence. The rules in divorced parents’ households should be consistent. Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

1. How far do you agree with each recommendation? Why/Why not?
2. How easy/ difficult do you think it is/would be to introduce this recommendation into your house? Why?
3. Rank the recommendations in order of importance. Compare your list with your partners. How similar or different are they?
4. These recommendations were made in 2003. How relevant are they still today? What is your opinion?