Parents Are More Worried About Kids Minds Than Bodies

This news piece gleans data from a study conducted by the Insight Research Group that explored American parents' attitudes about their children's media consumption behaviours. Commissioned by the United-States-based Common Sense Media, the study found that parents seem to be more concerned about their children's "overuse" of media - including using the internet for social networking, downloading music, playing video games, and watching television - than they are about their kids' involvement with sex or drugs.

Specifically, between December 13 and December 20 2006, Insight Research Group conducted an online survey of more than 1,000 parents who have children ages 5 to 16 that "use media." (The sample was recruited using random digit dialing in an effort to ensure that it represented the U.S. population.) The study found that parents worried more about their children's use of television (29%), the internet (24%), and video games (18%) than they were about them smoking, drinking, engaging in sexual activity, being overweight, or developing eating disorders. In total, the percentage of parents concerned with the overuse of media by their kids was 57%.

According to Common Sense Media "scientific research by leading universities and medical institutions shows that media use by kids and teens, indeed, contributes to negative health outcomes including the epidemic rise in obesity among children, early sexual activity, and smoking." Pam Gaulin (author of this news piece) hypothesises that perhaps parents are not aware of this connection; if they were, their observations about media (over)use might in turn lead to worry about potential health-related impacts of media consumption.

The study also found that, while 91% of parents reported that family played the most important role in their child's life when it comes to health matters and 96% of parents acknowledged "that they are responsible for monitoring their children's media use" (in the words of Common Sense Media), 68% said that media producers are also responsible.