Media’s presence in children’s lives is totally ubiquitous. Today, American children spend almost six hours a day with media. The potentially negative consequences of children’s media consumption receive a lot of attention. Yet media’s unique power and reach can also be used to educate children and enrich their lives.
Television, which once dominated children’s media consumption habits, is now joined by computers, video game players, cell phones and other connected devices. The result is that children today are completely immersed in media experiences from a very young age. Regulating the impact these experiences are having on our children has become very challenging, for parents and policymakers.
Children Now sheds light on media’s impact on children’s health and education, working in the following issue areas to ensure their best interests are served by the nation’s media policies: