1. IMPACT OF MEDIA
ON
CHILDREN
Bernadette J. Madrid, MD
Executive Director
Child Protection Network Foundation

2. Globalization
• The role of
parents is being
eroded by myriad
of information
exchanges
among individuals
by internet and
cell phones.

3. Information Technology
• Children are
discovering the world
without guidance of
their parent who are
less and less equipped
to follow them or assist
them in making sense
of the information that
bombard them.

4. Technology Reality
• Children & Teens tend to know
much more than the adults
• New language, new frontier,
new culture – part of the reality
or landscape of children/youth

5. Intrusion of Mass Media
Television is
affordable; goes
straight into people’s
homes; does not
need literacy.
No.1 source of
entertainment of
family.
Ave daily time
viewing TV in the
Phil= 3:30

6. Commercialization
• Purchasing power of
• “Cradle-to-grave”
children
school of marketing.
• Children as young as 2
years are influenced
by advertising.

7. In the Philippines young girls
want long hair…

8. Skin Whitening Products Sell

9. Materialism
• Considerable pressure on Teens to conform to a
certain image and they go to great lengths to
create that image.
• Children who frequently watched television
commercials held stronger materialistic values
than did peers who watched TV commercials less
often.
Buijzen and Valkenburg, 2003

10. Health Effects of Media
• Violence and Aggression
• Sex
• Substance Use
• Obesity
• Developmental Concerns
• Prosocial Effects

11. Violence and Aggression
• Exposure to violent media (movies, violent
videogames, violent internet sites, TV)
predicted subsequent increases in
aggression in teens. (Slater, 2003)
• Exposure to television violence in childhood
predicted increased aggressive behavior in
adulthood. (Huesmann et al., 2003)

12. Sex
• Watching sex on TV predicts and may hasten
adolescent sexual initiation.
• Reducing the amount of sexual content in
entertainment programming, reducing adolescent
exposure to this content or increasing references
to and depictions of possible consequences of
sexual activity could appreciably delay the
initiation of sex in teens.
Collins, Elliot, Berry, et al. 2004
Pediatrics. 114;e280

13. Sex
Does Watching Sex on Television Predict Teen Pregnancy?
(Findings From a National Longitudinal Survey of Youth)
Results: Exposure to sexual content on TV
predicted teen pregnancy. Teens
exposed to high levels of sexual
content were twice as likely to
experience pregnancy in the next 3
years.
Chandra, Martino, Collins, et al. 2008
Pediatrics. 122; 1047-1054

14. Mirror Cells
Recent studies show that brain circuits
fire in the same way when we observe
someone doing something; as when
we actually do it; this explains copying
behavior.
www.missingkids.com

15. Substance Use
• Two longitudinal studies have found that
approximately one third of adolescent smoking
can be attributed to tobacco advertising and
promotions. (Biener & Siegel, 2000 and
Pierce, et al., 1998)
• Exposure to movie smoking at grades 5-8
predicts smoking initiation 1 to 8 years later.
(Dalton, Sargent, et al., 2003; Dalton, Beach, et
al., 2009)

16. Substance Use
• Exposure to pro-alcohol messages
represents a significant risk factor for
later adolescent drinking. (Grube &
Waiters, 2005)

17. Obesity
• Existing research indicates that
advertising affects children’s food
preferences, food choices and food
intake are shaped by their exposure to
food advertising.

18. Developmental Concerns
• There are several studies that have
documented the possibility of
language delays among infants
exposed to excessive television or
videos.
Strasburg, Jordan, Donnerstein, 2010
Pediatrics; 125:756-767

19. Protective Factor
Parents watching television,
movies, etc. with their children and
discussing with them the content.

20. Prosocial Effects
• Can learn antiviolence
attitudes, tolerance, empathy, respect for
elders, altruism
• Video games can be beneficial e.g.
improving compliance with chemotherapy;
eye-hand coordination
• Can be used as a tool to educate
• Stimulate adolescent connectedness

21. Online Viewing Leaders in the World
• China
• Indonesia
• Philippines
• India
• Mexico
Nielsen,August 2010

22. Different uses of the cyber
technology
• Meet old or long lost friends
• Meet new friends
• Easy communication access
• A site for discussion
• Research
• Money transfer

23. the dark side of the cyber world
• Prone to abuse
• Sexual aggression
• Sex exploitative or commoditized
use of sex
• Impact on brain development
• Health problems
• Impact on physical development

24. INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY
• The largest group of viewers of
Internet porn is children between ages
12 and 17 (Family Safe Media,
December 15, 2005).

25. Risky Online Behaviors of Third and Fourth
year High School Students in a Public and
Private High School in Metro Manila
Predisposing to Sexual Solicitation and
Harassment : Cross Sectional Study
Marivie A. Flores, Merle P. Tan, Germana Gregorio, M.D
(Winner, PPS Research Contest)

26. Results
• Adolescents’ Risky
Online Behaviors :
Posting personal
information - 91%
Chatting with unknown
people - 58%
Having many unknown
people in friends list -
46%
Opening x-rated web
sites - 23 %
Eyeball with people
met online - 9%
Flores, Tan, Gregorio (2009)

27. Results
The odds of experiencing internet
harassment and/or sexual solicitation is
twice for those:
 Sending personal information online,
interacting with unknown persons,
 Having unknown persons on the buddy list
 Using the internet >5x a week
…. but the odds are increased 4x for those
visiting x-rated websites.
Flores, Tan, Gregorio (2009)

28. Results
23% of adolescents experienced
internet harassment;
50% sexual solicitation;
28% both sexual solicitation and
harassment
Flores, Tan, Gregorio (2009)

29. Sexting
•- is a term coined
by the media that
generally refers to
youth writing sexually
explicit
messages, taking
sexually explicit photos
of themselves or
others in their peer
group, and transmitting
those photos and/or
•National Center forto their
messages Missing & Exploited Children
(NCMEC)
peers

30. Social danger with sexting is that
material can be very easily and
widely promulgated, over which the
originator has no control

31. Cases of Sexting are not rare
• We are now seeing cases of teens being
brought to the Child Protection Unit
because of videos taken by cell phone
while they were having sex with their
boyfriends.

32. “Life events unfold over the course of time.
Who children spend time with – be it parents, peers,
teachers, clergy, media characters – and the context
and content of that time spent provide important
parameters of the health and welfare of
children.”
Baltes, Reese, & Nesselroade 1988