Content area
Full Text
"The same media people that claim violence on TV doesn't influence people are perfectly willing to sell you advertising time."
-- Author unknown1
"One erect penis on a U.S. screen is more incendiary than a thousand guns."
-- Newsweek critic David Ansen2
"A cigarette in the hands of a Hollywood star on screen is a gun aimed at a 12- or 14-year-old."
-- Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas, 20023
"Research shows that virtually all women are ashamed of their bodies. It used to be adult women, teenage girls, who were ashamed, but now you see the shame down to very young girls -- 10, 11 years old. Society's standard of beauty is an image that is literally just short of starvation for most women."
-- Author Mary Pipher, 19964
The effect of media on young people has been debated since the advent of dime novels and comic books -- each succeeding generation sees new media evolving and forecasts the end to civilization as we know it.
The media are not the leading cause of any health problem in childhood or adolescence. However, they can make a substantial contribution to virtually every health concern that pediatricians and parents have about young people -- aggression, sex, drugs, obesity, self-image and eating disorders, depression and suicide, even learning disorders and academic achievement.5 The sheer amount of time that children and teens now spend with a variety of media -- more than 7 hours a day and nearly 12 hours a day if multitasking is included (see Figure 1, page 558)6 -- should provoke considerable attention and concern.
Pediatricians should take note of how creatively some schools and teachers are using media to their advantage: One Spanish teacher in Florida encourages her students to bring their cell phones to class, then texts them in Spanish and expects them to respond. In Georgia, cafeterias can keep track of students' purchases so that their parents can view them online.7 In Rockland, NY, students chat online at Teen Second Life (teen.secondlife.com) while creating avatars of their own images. In New Jersey, a nurse educator sends short soap opera videos via cell phones to teach women about safe sex.8
Some physicians and hospitals already use technology in...