University of the Philippines Open

University

IS 201

IT Ethics Final Exam:

Mini Research Paper

Student: Fernando B. Enad

Due date: Saturday 1st December, 2018
Total Number of Pages: 14
IS201 IT Ethics Final Exam

YOUNG CHILDREN'S USE OF DIGITAL MEDIA

AND THE CORRESPONDING
PARENTAL MEDIATION

A Mini Research Paper

Presented to the
Faculty-In-Charge, Computer Ethics (IS 201)
UNIVERSITY OF THE PHILIPPINES OPEN UNIVERSITY
Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines

FERNANDO B. ENAD

November 2018

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IS201 IT Ethics Final Exam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter Page
I INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
II METHODOLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III RESULTS AND DISCUSSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Young Children’s Use of Digital Media . . . . . . . . . 5
Parental Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
IV CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . 11
V BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

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 IS201 IT Ethics Final Exam

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

The present youngsters don't have a clue about a world without cell phones

and the web. It is nothing unexpected then at this point, that they spend a lot of

their time with innovation. As kids' commitment with computerized innovation is

expanding in all parts of the world, it comes together with worries about whether

this is solid or hurtful to them.

Kids use gadgets in accessing digital media for various purposes like

playing games, watching videos, listening songs, chatting with their friends, and

browsing different websites. In fact, it is no longer surprising to see a 2-year old

baby who can and knows how to use a gadget, similar to how a kid knows to use

a feeding bottle (Sundus, 2017). And as the gadgets are increasing day by day, it

is leading to the technology addiction among children that even according to USA

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an average child spends about 8

hours a day watching electronic screens.

Alongside the positive impacts of digital media exposure are its negative

counterparts which if not mediated properly by parents, may result to irreversible

effects. It is on this premise that the researcher was motivated to conduct a study

on the young children's use of digital media and the corresponding parental

mediation in order to suggest recommendations which will serve as a guide to

current and future parents on how they should manage the exposure of their young

children to digital media.

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CHAPTER II

METHODOLOGY

The study employed a qualitative-descriptive approach with a face-to-face

interview and a survey questionnaire as the main tool to collect data. The survey

questionnaire items were adapted from the question items suggested by the IS

201 Faculty-In-Charge. After pilot-testing the research instrument, the researcher

purposely selected the 15 parent-respondents from the pool of teacher-parents

who have young children ages 0-8 who are currently working in San Agustin

National High School, San Agustin, Sagbayan, Bohol, where the proponent is also

currently employed at.

The survey questionnaire contains the following question items: How young

were their children when they started the use of digital media?; How young do they

think should children start the use of digital media?; In a day, how many hours do

their children actually spend on digital media?; How many hours or minutes do

they think should their children spend time on their digital device?; and What are

the control mechanisms you have employed to streamline the use of digital media

by your young children?. The respondents were given an ample time to answer

every interview questions- even to the point of translating the question to the

Cebuano dialect to easily get the respondent’s by-end.

After the data have been gathered and collated, the presentation and the

discussion of the results followed.

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CHAPTER III

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents the results and discussion of the data gathered which

are presented in the matrices. The first portion of this chapter presents the young

children’s use of digital media and the second part deals with the corresponding

parental mediation.

1. Young Children’s Use of Digital Media

Table 1 presents the actual age profile of children when they started the use

of digital media. Table 2 on the other hand presents the actual duration these

young children spent on using digital media.

Table 1. Actual Age of Young Children when they

Started the Use of Digital Media
N=15

Age Frequency Percentage

1.00 5 33.33%
2.00 2 13.33%
3.00 5 33.33%
4.00 1 6.67%
5.00 1 6.67%
7.00 1 6.67%
TOTAL 15 100.00%

Table 1 shows the actual age profile when these young children started the

use of digital media according to the parent-respondents. Survey results revealed

that ages 1 and 3 dominated the top spot obtaining 33.33% each- the highest
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percentage while ages 4-7 has the lowest percentage of 6.67%. From the

comments gathered during the survey, 4 out of the five (5) parents who exposed

their children at an early age of 1 admitted that they resolve to handing over

gadgets with pre-loaded media contents to pacify their children from tantrums.

Furthermore, those parents whose children were exposed to digital media at the

age of 3 revealed that the gadgets pre-loaded with games, where their children

could play on, have become their digital babysitters to keep their children at bay,

and in the process allowing them to focus on other things.

With the average age of 2.67 or 3, the result corroborated with the findings

of babies.co.uk that the age 3-5 is the best age to start exposing young children to

digital media as their minds, by this time, are already ready for such exposure thus

facilitating better motor skills, improved cognitive skills, and better learning

opportunities.

Table 2. Actual Duration of Digital Media Utilization

by Young Children
N=15

Duration (Hours) Frequency Percentage

0.33 1 6.67%
1.00 5 33.33%
2.00 1 6.67%
2.50 1 6.67%
3.00 2 13.33%
3.50 1 6.67%
4.00 2 13.33%
6.00 1 6.67%
7.00 1 6.67%
TOTAL 15 100.00%

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Table 2 shows the duration profile during which young children actually

spent on using digital media according to the parent-respondents. Survey results

revealed that the 1-hour duration dominated the top spot at 33.33% while durations

0.33, 2.00, 2.50, 3.50, 6.00, and 7.00 hours were with the least percentage of

6.67%. It is soothing to note that despite of an early age exposure as manifested

in Table 1, the duration of which the young children were exposed to is within the

norms as what babies.co.uk indicated on their findings that children ages 3-5

should only be exposed to digital media up to 1 hour per day and 2 hours per day

for ages 6-12.

With the average duration of 2.69 hours though, it is still 1.69 hours beyond

the norm which is quite alarming. According to www.omicsonline.org, staring at

electronic screen continuously for long time causes distress further causing the

kids suffer various problems like eye irritation or have difficulty to focus for a while

which if not mediated properly by parents, would result to long-term vision problem.

2. Parental Mediation

Table 3 presents the ideal age profile as to when should young children start

to use digital media. Table 4 on the other hand presents the ideal duration the

young children should spend on digital media. Lastly, Table 5 presents the

mechanisms employed by the parent-respondents to control or streamline the use

of digital media by their young children.

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Table 3. Ideal Age Young Children should

Start to Use Digital Media
N=15

Age Frequency Percentage

2.00 2 13.33%
4.00 1 6.67%
5.00 4 26.67%
7.00 1 6.67%
7.50 1 6.67%
8.50 1 6.67%
10.00 2 13.33%
12.00 2 13.33%
13.00 1 6.67%
TOTAL 15 100.00%

Table 2 shows the ideal age range when young children should start the

use of digital media according to the parent-respondents. Survey results revealed

that age 5 obtained the highest percentage of 26.67% while the age 1 obtained the

lowest percentage of 6.67%. According to one of the survey comments, children

at age 5 are already inquisitive such that if they have something in mind, would

definitely ask as compared to younger ones who will not care asking and just get

on with what they are exposed to.

With the average age 7.20 or 7 as an ideal age for digital media exposure

according to the parent-respondents, this works in contrast with the findings of

babies.co.uk when they stated that the ideal age for digital media exposure is

between 3-5. In one of the survey comments, a parent indicated that exposure to

digital media should start at around age 7 since by this time, research activities are

already required in the school thus utilization of digital media becomes imperative.

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Table 4. Ideal Duration of Digital Media Utilization

by Young Children
N=15

Duration (Hours) Frequency Percentage

0.18 1 6.67%
0.25 1 6.67%
0.50 6 40.00%
1.00 2 13.33%
1.50 1 6.67%
2.00 3 20.00%
3.00 1 6.67%
TOTAL 15 100.00%

Table 4 shows the ideal duration profile during which young children should

spend on using digital media according to the parent-respondents. Survey results

revealed that 0.50-hour duration dominated the top spot at 40.00% while 0.18,

0.25, 1.50, and 3.00 hours at 6.67% each. The 0.50-hour duration is within the

babies.co.uk standards for age ranges 3-5, in fact, in one of the survey comments,

a parent indicated that a parental control on the digital media exposure is

necessary as too much exposure to the same also has some drawbacks.

With the average duration of 1.06 hours, it is worth noting that such duration

is within the babies.co.uk standards for age ranges 3-5. With this, young children

may be provided with other avenues for entertainment and socialization. This

further delineates the possibility of gadget addiction among young children and

avoid having the dilemma of a rising number of toddlers lacking the motor skills

needed to play with building blocks though they can easily “swipe a screen” as the

Association of Teachers in Britain reported in 2014.

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Table 5. Parental Mechanisms to Mediate Use

of Digital Media by Young Children
N=15

Mechanism of Control Frequency Percentage

A reward for accomplishing a
5 33.33%
task/favor/good behavior.
Encourage child to play outside. 6 40.00%

Pacify tantrums. 1 6.67%

Provide other entertainment. 2 13.33%

No control mechanism. 1 6.67%

TOTAL 15 100.00%

Table 5 presents the control mechanisms employed by the parent-

respondents to streamline the digital media use of their young children. Results

revealed that the “encourage child to play outside” control mechanism has the

highest percentage of 40.00% while the “no control mechanism” has the lowest

percentage of 6.67%. It is worth noting that the parent-respondents have become

aware of the drawbacks to excessive digital media exposure and has thus

employed mechanisms to streamline its use.

While the digital media can offer a broader spectrum of socialization for the

younger children, it may not be enough to teach them how to socially interact

properly. Interacting to another person at the other end of the network is totally

different with that of interacting with someone face to face. And if the child has

never learned this first, it may be difficult for him or her to interact with the other

netizens online.

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the results presented from the gathered data, the researcher

concluded that the digital media has already become a part of every child’s life and

while it holds true, young children will always be inclined to use them as it cannot

be denied that digital media also has benefits to offer. Consequently, it is then the

responsibility of the parents to impose control mechanisms to limit the digital media

exposure of their young children.

As such, the researcher recommends the following as adapted from the

American Academy of Pediatrics, The Tips for Parents in the Digital Age:

1. Make your own family media use plan. Media should work for you and within

your family values and parenting style. When used thoughtfully and

appropriately, media can enhance daily life.

2. Treat media as you would any other environment in your child's life. The

same parenting guidelines apply in both real and virtual environments.

Know your children's friends, both online and off. Know what platforms,

software, and apps your children are using, what sites they are visiting on

the web, and what they are doing online.

3. Set limits and encourage playtime. Media use, like all other activities, should

have reasonable limits. Unstructured and offline play stimulates creativity.

Make unplugged playtime a daily priority, especially for very young children.

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4. Screen time shouldn't always be alone time. Co-view, co-play and co-

engage with your children when they are using screens- it encourages

social interactions, bonding, and learning. Play a video game with your kids.

It's a good way to demonstrate good sportsmanship and gaming etiquette.

Watch a show with them; you will have the opportunity to introduce and

share your own life experiences and perspectives- and guidance. Don't just

monitor them online- interact with them, so you can understand what they

are doing and be a part of it.

5. Be a good role model. Teach and model kindness and good manners online.

Because children are great mimics, limit your own media use. In fact, you'll

be more available for and connected with your children if you're interacting,

hugging and playing with them rather than simply staring at a screen.

6. Know the value of face-to-face communication. Very young children learn

best through two-way communication. Engaging in back-and-forth "talk

time" is critical for language development.

7. Limit digital media for your youngest family members. Limit screen use for

preschool children, ages 3 to 5, to just 1 hour a day of high-quality

programing. Co-viewing is best when possible and for young children. They

learn best when they are re-taught in the real world what they just learned

through a screen.

8. Create tech-free zones. Keep family mealtimes, other family and social

gatherings, and children's bedrooms screen free. Turn off televisions that

you aren't watching, because background TV can get in the way of face-to-

face time with kids. Recharge devices overnight- outside your child's

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bedroom to help him or her avoid the temptation to use them when they

should be sleeping. These changes encourage more family time, healthier

eating habits, and better sleep.

9. Don't use technology as an emotional pacifier. Media can be very effective

in keeping kids calm and quiet, but it should not be the only way they learn

to calm down. Children need to be taught how to identify and handle strong

emotions, come up with activities to manage boredom, or calm down

through breathing, talking about ways to solve the problem, and finding

other strategies for channeling emotions.

10. Apps for kids – do YOUR homework. More than 80,000 apps are labeled as

educational. Look to organizations like Common Sense Media for reviews

about age-appropriate apps, games and programs to guide you in making

the best choices for your children.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Academy of Pediatrics (2018): Kids & Tech: Tips for Parents in the
Digital Age. Retrieved from https://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-
life/Media/Pages/Tips-for-Parents-Digital-Age.aspx on November 25, 2018

Hildt E & Sziron M (2018). Digital Media, the Right to an Open Future, and Children
0–5. Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg
.2018.02137/full on November 26, 2018

Ofcom (2017). Children and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report. Retrieved
from https://www.ofcom.org.uk/research-and-data/media-literacy-research/
childrens/children-parents-2017 on November 25, 2018

Sundus M (2017). The Impact of using Gadgets on Children. Retrieved from

https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/the-impact-of-using-gadgets-on-
children-2167-1044-1000296-96313.html on November 25, 2018

Zaman B & Mifsud C (2017). Editorial: Young children’s use of digital media and
parental mediation. Retrieved from https://dx.doi.org/10.5817/CP2017-3-xx
on November 26, 2018

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