The Broadcasting Standards Authority has published a report on how New Zealand children are using the media: Seen and Heard: Children’s Media Use, Exposure, and Response. No surprises in the trends perhaps - some good, some bad, some inevitable – but interesting reading.
The researchers interviewed over 600 children aged between six and 13 and their primary caregivers. The results show high levels of access to traditional media such as television and radio, consistent with the BSA’s previous study in 2001. What’s new is that children are accessing a more diverse range of new media in higher numbers, including cellphones, MP3 players and the internet.
Television is still the preferred activity. Ninety-nine percent of children watch TV, primarily for entertainment (73%) and educational value (51%). Eighty-four percent of children play computer or video games, 62% use the internet and 42% use a cellphone.
There’s concerning evidence of a significant digital divide: While 89% of Asian children and 77% of Pakeha children use a computer at home with access to the internet, just 53% of Maori children and 38% of Pasifika children do.
There’s pleasing evidence that children have clear ideas about what media content is unsuitable or upsets them and will act on their concerns by turning off or changing channel. Their concerns include violence, sexual content and bad language on TV, sexual content on the internet and bullying via cellphones. The children’s concerns mirror their parents’ concerns, suggesting a high degree of parental influence. Also noted in the report are the rules and protections that many families have for viewing and media use – especially the television and internet.
The notion that children are not passive consumers of media but have opinions about what they do and don’t like to watch reminds me of another recent research report. A US study by Ipsos MediaCT looked at the viewing habits of those who have streamed or downloaded video content. It reports a noticable shift from TV to computer for video watching – a trend that’s more pronounced among young people.
Although TV is the dominant channel for watching video among those who have streamed a video online, over the period of a year, TV was down to 70% from 75% while the computer jumpted from 11% to 19%. The shift was most pronounced for 12-17 year olds, where TV was down to 55% of screen time and the computer up to 24%. The researchers say half of all Internet users aged 12 and up have streamed a video file online in the past 30 days.
Why’s this interesting? I suspect this trend – slight though it is – is an indication of things to come. The TV audience is largely silent, unconnected and passive, when compared with an online experience that permits viewers to watch when they want, send what they watch to friends, rate it and debate it. As children encounter a more diverse range of media, particularly online media with social and community features, we might expect this trend to accelerate.
Photo cc by Thomas Hawk
[...] Project) of around 1,500 New Zealanders about their internet use – especially alongside the Broadcasting Standard’s Authority’s survey of New Zealand children’s media habits earlier this year. The insights into the [...]