AAP Advocates For Safer Media And Music Lyrics

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry;  Mental Health
Article Date: 20 Oct 2009 - 7:00 PST

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Exposure to media violence through television, movies, music and video games can contribute to a variety of physical and mental health problems for children and adolescents, including aggressive behavior, nightmares, desensitization to violence, fear and depression. Listening to explicit music lyrics can effect schoolwork, social interactions and produce significant changes in mood and behavior.

Two new policy statements from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), "Media Violence," and "Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth" will be released on Monday, Oct. 19, at the AAP National Conference and Exhibition (NCE) in Washington, DC. They include recommendations for parents and pediatricians to take an active role in monitoring and controlling what their children are watching and listening to.

The lead authors of the reports will present the recommendations in a news briefing at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 19, in Press Briefing Room 157 of the Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. Media attending the news briefing should first register in the Press Office in the West Registration area.

U.S. children between the ages of 8 to 18 are using media an average of 6 hours and 21 minutes each day. Children between 0 and 6 years of age spend an average of almost 2 hours a day using screen media (television, movies and computers). By age 18, most teens will have viewed an average of 200,000 acts of violence on television alone.

"Media violence is the single most negative aspect of entertainment media" said Victor Strasburger, MD, FAAP, lead author of the Media Violence policy statement. "Parents who bring young children to see PG-13 and R-rated movies take a risk that their child will see violence as an acceptable way to solve their problems."

As previously recommended by the AAP, babies or toddlers younger than 2 years should avoid all screen media. Parents need to limit their children to 1 to 2 hours of screen time per day, and remove TVs, Internet connections, and video games from the child's bedroom. Children with a TV set in their bedroom increase their risk of obesity by 31 percent, watch more PG-13 and R-rated movies, and double their risk of smoking.

Many parents find the entertainment industry's various rating systems difficult to use. The movie ratings are used by approximately three-quarters of parents, but only half have ever used the TV and video game ratings, or music advisories as a guide. Most parents aren't aware that a v-chip (viewer control) is installed on their TV, and only 20 percent of parents actually use it. The AAP suggests pediatricians advocate for a simple, universal content-based media ratings system to help parents make healthy media choices for their children.

According to the new policy statement, "Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth," it is important for pediatricians and parents to be aware of the music children are listening to, in addition to TV and video games.

"Music plays such a vital role in the socialization and identity of children and adolescents, and parents often don't know what lyrics their children are listening to because of increasing use of downloaded music and headphones," said Rosario Gonzalez, MD, FAAP, lead author of the new statement.

On average, American youth listen to music from 1.5 to 2.5 hours per day, and an analysis of at-risk youth revealed they listen up to 6.8 hours per day. Studies have shown that a preference for certain types of music or music videos with explicit references to drugs, sex or violence can be associated with negative effects on schoolwork, behavior and emotions. Heavy metal and hard rock music have also been associated with increased suicidal risk, depression and delinquent behavior.

The AAP recommends that pediatricians become familiar with the literature on the effects of music and music videos on children and adolescents. Pediatricians should also encourage parents to actively monitor the music their children listen to and purchase. Parents can find song lyrics on Internet search engines and discuss them with their children. In addition, parents should be aware of the parental advisory warning of explicit content, located on the front of the CD, album, or DVD.

Source
American Academy of Pediatrics