Report Media for Children1.pdf - AIBD

elong, which is in many ways defined by
global communication.
Outlining five points of principle for
children’s media, she said media must
above all have an educational goal and be
trustworthy. Programme producers must be
allowed to take risks by pushing
boundaries, exploring new possibilities,
raising fresh questions and challenging
children to think and act. She emphasised
the importance of story-telling and of using
the opportunities presented by multi-media,
multi-platform patterns that children take to
so naturally.
She also spoke briefly about the World
Youth Digital Story-telling Exchange
Project (WYDSTEP) aiming to enable
children to tell their own stories, train them
in new media, and encourage them to share
ideas and stories across the globe. The
project includes plans for a global digital
archive/library that will help give young
people a voice.
Next Mr. Thomas Rump presented key
findings of two studies conducted in
Germany over the past few years, seeking
information from children on their own use
of media. The figures revealed that
children’s media consumption rose from
346 minutes per day in 1980 to 502 minutes
per day in 2000 and 600 minutes per day in
2005. According to Mr. Rump, the gain is
explained partly by their pattern of
simultanously using two or more sources of
media, which means that they are diverted
and their attention levels are reduced.
Also, he said, the emergence of more media
forms will translate into growth in time
spent on media.
The biggest gainer in terms of time share
between 2000 and 2005 was the Internet,
which rose from three to seven per cent,
whereas TV’s share remained constant at
37%, radio’s share went down slightly
(from 41% to 37%) and the share of other
audio went up by just one percentage point
to eight per cent. With media use, too, the
most remarkable growth was in computer
usage: if in 1990 only seven per cent of all
children used a PC at least once a week, by
2003 the figure had risen to 61%.
Similarly, while the Internet was not even
on children’s horizon in 1990, it had
established itself quite firmly by 2003.
There was no substantial difference
between age groups in their use of TV
(ranging from 97% among 8-9 year-olds to
100% among 10-11 year-olds). However,
12-13 year-olds emerged as the top users of
all the other media, including computers,
with 10-11 year-olds coming close only in
terms of radio; the biggest gap was in
Internet usage, with the younger group 14
percentage points behind the older group.
Mr. Rump specially highlighted research
findings relating to radio, which suggested
that only about seven per cent of all
children aged 6-13 tune into specific
programmes, while 77% just tune in and
listen to whatever is being broadcast at that
time. Further, only 35% of all children tune
in daily and 80% do not listen to radio in
their own room (in other words, of their
own volition). Most children in the 6-13
age group (86%) seem to use radio
primarily for music and, consequently
perhaps, to prefer commercial radio stations
to public broadcasters.
According to Mr. Rump, while media use is
likely to grow in the future, time budgets