Children, Youth and Media Around the World: An Overview of Trends & Issues

This 16-page research paper, presented at the April 2004 4th World Summit on Media for Children and Adolescents in Rio de Janeiro, provides an overview of trends and issues concerning young people and the media. It is based on a review of existing print and electronic sources, interviews with child media experts from different regions worldwide, and analysis of InterMedia's surveys.

Author Susan Gigli explains that recent proliferation and globalisation of the media have meant that young people in many countries now have increased - and increasing - access to various multi-media options, such as computer and video games, radio, printed material, and conventional, satellite, and TV channels. Specifically,

• Television is the dominant medium for young people worldwide. Gigli provides figures from 21 countries indicating that, from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, the number of TV channels, household TV sets, and hours spent watching TV more than doubled. Average daily use of this medium among those school-age children around the world with access ranges from between 1.5 hours to more than4 hours.
• Radio is the next most popular medium among this age group, despite the fact that actual listening rates vary greatly between countries. In many places (e.g., Africa and the former Soviet Union), there has been a spike in the number of youth listeners. Gigli emphasises young people's interest in political and social events, and articulates the need for high-quality information.
• The Internet is also increasingly popular as a source of information, entertainment, and communication among young people, especially among young men in the developed world.
• Print media is not experiencing the steady rise seen among young users of these other media. Gigli speculates that improvement in the quality and quantity of information available in other formats (in industrialised countries) or limited circulation and/or expense (in poorer countries) are among the factors responsible for this decline or leveling. Publications that appeal to young people's special interests, such as magazines focussed on computers or music, tend to have the strongest pull.

A section focussed on the informational divide identifies additional trends in children's and young people's media use. For example, in developing countries, highest overall media use most often occurs among urban, affluent young people. In some of these countries, Gigli explains, TV viewing rates are just as high in rural as in urban areas because of community viewing habits and because of the lack of alternative media. In industrialised countries, in contrast, media use tends to be highest among lower socio-economic groups because TV is inexpensive entertainment. While wealthier young people devote less time to TV and video games, they use computers and print media at higher rates. In general, boys tend to access media more than girls, and use audio-visual and digital media more often. In contrast, in some cultures, restrictions on girls' activities often keep them at home - they do not have the same level of access as their male peers.

Gigli then articulates growing concerns that have been raised about the content of this media: In industrialised countries, problems such as aggression and obesity have been linked to television advertising; in developing countries, programmes imported from elsewhere are either irrelevant or potentially damaging (e.g., in the case of violent images). She lists some of the adverse effects of mass media on young people that have been identified in these studies, presenting evidence showing that a decline in parental supervision of media habits is partially to blame for these impacts.

The author concludes that "The trends and issues highlighted here - from young people's media options and behavior, to the quality and influence of media aimed at them - all point to the need for more effective use of the vast positive potential of mass media and new technologies to advocate for, and enrich the lives of, children and young people worldwide". A bibliography and list of online resources on children and media close the paper.

Click here to access the full paper on the MAGIC website.