Children's Media Use and Achievement

With the increase in electronic media in recent years, many parents are wondering what the effects might be of media use on the children--especially on their academic achievement. Many new media (e.g., computer games, websites, etc.) claim to have educational benefits, but in many cases they do seem to displace old-fashioned educational activities like reading books or playing board games.

There is no scarcity of research on this topic, but a recent study in the journal Child Development caught my attention because it looked at different types of media (computer, video games) and its affect on both achievement and behavior in children. In this post, I'll focus primarily on the findings concerning achievement. Here are the main aspects of the study:

- studied 1,900 children age 6-12 years old for a five-year period (1997-2003)

- looked at computer usage in three main areas: communications (i.e., Internet, email), games, and studying

The findings were pretty complicated but here are some of the most interesting highlights:

- boys are more likely to use the computer for games; girls are more likely to use it for communication

- the results are complicated by gender and ethnicity

Computer Use

- for girls (both Caucasian and African American), increased overall computer use was associated with higher achievement in reading and problem solving over the five-year period studied (1997-2003)

- for boys the findings were different:

- for Caucasian boys, increased computer use was not associated with higher achievement; in fact, there was one negative association--higher levels of use of the computer for communications was associated with a decline in achievement in the areas of reading comprehension and applied problem solving

- for African American boys the findings were quite different. Higher use of computers among African American boys (particularly for communications and studying) was associated with an increase in achievement in reading comprehension

Video Games

- for boys there was no association between video game time and achievement

- among African American girls, there was one positive association--increased video game use was correlated with higher scores on applied problem solving

-however, video game use was associated with lower verbal achievement for all girls. The authors found that this was because it displaced reading time.

- it is important to note that benefits of video games were seen in moderate use; extensive use of video games was not associated with beneficial achievement outcomes (in other words, all things in moderation)

It isn't completely clear why there were differences by ethnicity. The authors suggest that the benefits of media use for African Americans may be due to the fact that there is still somewhat of a media divide among ethnicities. African American children may not have as much access to media so we see benefits for those who are able to use it regularly (but not excessively).

I took a couple of things away from this study. First, electronic media can be useful and have educational benefits if used in moderation. Almost all the findings suggested that excessive media use (computers or video games) were associated with lower academic achievement.

Secondly, this study points out to me that you really have to know your child and be aware of how they're performing in school when considering how much computer/video game time they are allowed. There were some benefits of media usage for both boys and girls, but it depended on how the media was being used and for how long.

I think this is a very important topic for research. Although researchers are continuing to study the effects of media use, we have really just scratched the surface of this topic, especially considering new forms of media and technology are emerging rapidly. No one really knows how all this new media is going to affect our children, but it seems clear that technology is not a magic bullet that will solve all our educational issues. It can be a useful educational tool for our children if used along with other types of learning.

Photo credit

Hofferth SL (2010). Home media and children's achievement and behavior. Child development, 81 (5), 1598-619 PMID: 20840243

The Hidden Effect of Early Childhood Education Programs

I noticed a recent article on Wired Science entitled "How Preschool Changes the Brain." Of course, being interested in child development I was immediately intrigued. The article reviews several classic studies conducted over the past 30+ years investigating the long-terms effects of early childhood education programs (i.e., preschool) on children's academic and career outcomes. As you might have expected, children who attend preschool (especially those from economically disadvantaged backgrounds) were more likely to graduate from high school, get better grades, stay married, and less likely to get arrested.

Your first reaction to these findings might be to assume that preschool makes these children smarter. Maybe all the exposure to books, learning games, etc. really increase their intelligence. However, when you look closer at the findings, you see that the children's IQ scores remain relatively stable over time. Some kids' IQ may increase slightly in the years immediately following preschool but usually stabilizes near its original level later in life. It turns out that what preschool really does is teach the life skills that are often much more important than IQ in determining one's success in life--skills like self-control, persistence, and self-discipline. So, after reading that, I felt the title of the article should be something more like, "How Preschool Changes Behavior, not the Brain." Economists love these kinds of findings because it means tax-payers can get a lot of bang for their buck by investing in early childhood education programs, especially for disadvantaged children. In fact, the Wired article showed that, "for every dollar invested in preschool for at-risk children, society at large reaps somewhere between eight and nine dollars in return." Wow! I would much rather invest in preschool than prisons.

Reading this article reminded me of Ellen Galinsky's great book Mind in the Making in which she discusses the importance of teaching children crucial life skills like self-control. With all the emphasis on academic rigor and high-stakes testing, it's easy to forget that these life skills are equally, if not more important than book knowledge.

Of course all this emphasis on preschool doesn't mean we, as parents, cannot teach our kids these skills at home. There is nothing magical about preschool; it's just a scheduled, regulated environment that helps children learn these skills. Even if your child is in preschool, you would still have to reinforce these lessons at home. As far as the public sphere, however, preschool is a good investment in our nation's future.

Photo credit: D Sharon Pruitt

Review: The Total Transformation Program

In recent months I’ve begun to get more offers to review products/books on this blog. At first I was hesitant to do this, but I have decided that I will review products occasionally as long as they relate directly to child development topics.

So, with that said, one of the first products I was asked to review was The Total Transformation Program developed by James Lehman, MSW. Lehman is a licensed social worker and has worked in private practice for many years focusing mostly on children with behavior problems. The Total Transformation Program is a set of several audio CDs for parents. The program also has a toll-free telephone advice line for parents using the program. I was sent a abridged version of the program to review since the complete program is too lengthy for a busy mom/blogger like myself.

Before I begin, I should mention that my background is in Human Development and Family Sciences, not Social Work. Social Work is a much more hands-on, deal-with-families-everyday kind of field than the research-oriented field I come from; hence, my review comes from a somewhat different perspective. I felt the program was most appropriate for late elementary-adolescent age children (Mr. Lehman refers to adolescents quite a bit). Based on the types of techniques and language he suggests parents use, I do not feel it would be appropriate for parents of younger children.

One of the things I appreciated about the CDs was their practical approach. Mr. Lehman has a very no-nonsense style that I found very refreshing and I think many parents would probably find it helpful. He focuses primarily on practical skills and techniques that parents can use to deal with children with behavior problems. When he refers to behavior problems, he is generally talking about disrespectful, abusive, or destructive behavior in children.

One of the main goals of the program is to help parents re-gain authority over their children. According to Mr. Lehman this is one of the first things that often goes by the wayside with children who are disrespectful and misbehaved. He offers parents some very specific strategies for ending negotiations and pleading with their adolescent children but just simply focusing on their compliance. Mr. Lehman emphasizes the need for parents to not accept any excuses from their children and to follow through on expectations. I really appreciated this approach and felt it was appropriate for adolescent children to have such limits and expectations.

Another aspect of the program I appreciated was Mr. Lehman’s goal of helping parents focus on their children’s behavior, not so much on their attitude. As he explains, many of us as adults have feelings/attitudes about our job, our chores, etc. that may not be all that positive, yet we know we have responsibilities to our employer or others so we continue on with our duties. I think this is a wonderful lesson to model for children. A big part of growing into adulthood is learning to manage your emotions and have enough self-control to do what is required of you, even if you do not feel like it at the moment. I was glad to hear that Mr. Lehman emphasized this point.

Self-esteem is another topic that The Total Transformation Program addresses. In popular culture, many people understand self-esteem to just mean that you feel good about yourself because someone (usually parents) tell you how great you are or what a wonderful job you’ve done on a task. I was happy to hear that Mr. Lehman goes beyond this superficial understand of self-esteem. He wisely explains that self-esteem develops when an individual takes on a challenging task and is able to complete it. If children avoid challenging tasks or are praised all the time, true self-esteem does not develop. Mr. Lehman goes on to explain further the role of self-esteem among children with behavior problems.

Overall I felt The Total Transformation Program would be helpful for many parents trying to develop more effective strategies for dealing with difficult children. Given my bias towards research, I wanted to understand more of the “why” behind the behavior problems. I kept asking myself “why do children get to the point of acting out this way in adolescence” or “how did these problems develop?” Although the program addresses some of these questions, I still felt like it did not get to the core of early parent-child interactions that may have set up this scenario. However, I realize that these issues are really outside the scope of the goal of these audio CDs. The goal is to give parents some hands-on techniques to help address their child’s behavior. If you have a child with severe, on-going behavioral problems you may need to seek out further help from a family therapist who can work with you personally. Otherwise, if you need some strategies to help you and your child get back “on track” The Total Transformation Program is worth checking out.

For articles and free advice from Mr. Lehman check out Empowering Parents.

* The Thoughtful Parent also acts as an affiliate marketing partner for Legacy Publishing Company.