Crouse Applauds Kaiser's New Study of Children and Media

by Staff
June 22, 2007

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WASHINGTON, (christiansunite.com) -- The just-released and greatly anticipated Kaiser Family Foundation's report on children and the media has both good news and bad news. The good news is that parents are getting control of children's viewing; they are governing their own children's exposure to sex and violence in the media, including the Internet. The bad news is that parents remain concerned about inappropriate content in programs. The Kaiser report is based on a national survey of 1,008 parents of children ages 2-17.

"Parents today are considerably more aware of the influence of media on their children," said Dr. Janice Crouse, Director and Senior Fellow of Concerned Women for America's Beverly LaHaye Institute. The Kaiser report revealed that two-thirds of parents now closely monitor their children's use of media.

The same percentage of parents (65%) are "very concerned" about the effect of inappropriate content on children, with black parents expressing the most concern. Parents are especially diligent in monitoring children's online activities with nearly three-quarters of parents reporting that they know "a lot" about what they kids are doing online.

Crouse said, "This awareness of parental responsibility over media use is a major step forward in protecting children from negative cultural influences.

At the same time, less than 20 percent of parents recognize that they must do more, only a quarter of parents identify inappropriate media content as a top concern, less than a third of parents worry about television advertising and only one in six parents have ever used a V-Chip to block undesirable television content."

"With a television screen at the center of family life in many homes," concluded Crouse, "parents need to be very aware of its influence on the values and attitudes of their children. The Kaiser report indicates that parents are getting more savvy, but still have a ways to go in understanding their responsibility for curbing their children's exposure to inappropriate content."

Concerned Women for America is the nation's largest public policy women's organization.