‘How Media Use Can Affect Your Child’

Today’s children and teens are growing up immersed in digital media, it ranges from Television and videos to social media, video games and so much more. And it is all available on multiple devices like computers, e-readers, gaming consoles, smartphones and other screens.
Media can influence how children and teens feel, learn, think and behave. This is why it is important to understand the risks and benefits of digital media use and how to keep them in balance for your family.
Recent Common Sense Media research shows that media use by tweens (ages 8–12 years) and teens (ages 13–18 years) rose faster in the two years since the COVID-19 pandemic than the four years before. The research found out that 8- to 12-year-olds spend an average of five and a half hours a day on screens and consuming media. That rate climbs to over eight and a half hours a day for teens.
Among teens, 79 percent said they use social media and online videos at least once a week, and 32 percent of these said they “wouldn’t want to live without” YouTube. And nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of tweens said they watch television, 64 percent watch online videos and 43 percent play games on a smartphone or tablet every day.
Average daily screentime rates soared highest among black and Hispanic/Latino children and those of lower-income families. These teens and tweens were spending between 6.5 and 7.5 hours a day on entertainment screens.
In another survey, 71 percent of parents with younger children (under 12 years old) said they were concerned about their child spending too much time in front of screens.
There are risks and benefits of media use by children and teens. Digital media use can expose users to new ideas and information, raise awareness of current events and issues, promote community participation and help students work with others on assignments and projects.
Digital media use also has social benefits that allow families and friends to stay in touch, no matter where they live, enhance access to valuable support networks, especially for people with illnesses or disabilities, help promote wellness and healthy behaviors, such as how to quit smoking or how to eat healthy.
However, overuse of digital media may place your children at risk of not having enough sleep. Media use can interfere with sleep. Children and teens who have too much media exposure or who have a television, computer, or mobile device in their bedroom fall asleep later at night and sleep less. Even babies can be overstimulated by screens and miss the sleep they need to grow. Exposure to light (particularly blue light) and stimulating content from screens can delay or disrupt sleep and have a negative effect on school.
Excessive screen use and having a television in the bedroom can increase the risk of obesity. Watching television for more than 1.5 hours daily is a risk factor for obesity for children from four through nine years of age. Teens who watch more than five hours of television per day are five times more likely to have over-weight than teens who watch 0 to two hours. Food advertising and snacking while watching television can promote obesity. Also, children who overuse media are less apt to be active with healthy, physical play.
It also leads to delays in learning and social skills. When infants or preschoolers watch too much television, they may show delays in attention, thinking, language and social skills. One reason for this could be that they do not interact as much with their parents and family members. Parents who keep the television on or spend excess time on their own digital media miss precious opportunities to interact with their children and help them learn.
Digital media use has negative effects on school performance. Children and teens often use entertainment media at the same time that they are doing other things, such as homework. Such multitasking can have a negative effect on how well they do in school.
It also creates behaviour problems. Violent content on television and screens can contribute to behaviour problems in children, either because they are scared and confused by what they see or they try to mimic on-screen characters.
It also creates problematic internet use. Children who spend too much time using online media can be at risk for a type of additive behaviour called problematic internet use. Heavy video gamers are at risk for Internet gaming disorder. They spend most of their free time online and show less interest in offline or real-life relationships. There may be increased risks for depression at both the high and low ends of Internet use.
Also, teens’ displays on social media often show risky behaviours, such as substance use, sexual behaviours, self-injury, or eating disorders. Exposure of teens through media to alcohol, tobacco use, or sexual behaviours is linked to engaging in these behaviours earlier.
Sexting, loss of privacy and predators is another negative use of digital media. Sexting is the sending or receiving of sexually explicit images, videos, or text messages using a smartphone, computer, tablet, video game or digital camera.
About 19 percent of youth have sent a sexual photo to someone else. Teens need to know that once content is shared with others, they may not be able to delete it completely. Children may also not use privacy settings. Sex offenders may use social networking, chat rooms, e-mail and online games to contact and exploit children.
Cyberbullying is another negative impact. Children and teens online can be victims of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying can lead to short- and long-term negative social, academic, and health issues for both the bully and target. Fortunately, programmes to help prevent bullying may reduce cyberbullying.
Making a family media use plan is very necessary.
Children today are growing up in a time of highly personalized media use experiences. It is smart to develop a customized media use plan for your children. This helps your children avoid overusing media by balancing it with other healthy activities.
A media plan should consider each child’s age, health, personality and developmental stage. Remember, all children and teens need adequate sleep (8–12 hours each night, depending on age), therefore physical activity (1 hour a day) and time away from digital media is vital.

By: Ibinabo Ogolo