Seven out of 10 kids in tablet-using homes use the tablet
themselves. The author of a new book argues parents are paying attention
to the wrong criteria to decide what’s good and bad in kids’ media.
The amount of digital media exposure we’re getting, even among the tiniest infants, just keeps growing . Half of all children under the age of 8 have access to a touch-screen device, whether smartphone or tablet, at home, and half of infants under 1 year watch TV or videos--an average of almost two hours a day. The educational app field is seeing massive growth with 80% of educational apps in the iPad store targeted to young children. But research, says one expert, is lagging far behind practice.
"Parents tend to think: 'If my kids are interacting with media, that they’re getting something out of it,' versus 'If they’re just watching they’re not,'" says Lisa Guernsey. "It’s a dangerous dichotomy--it’s not always true. Some passive screen media may be designed much better than some interactive media."
