Kids and Media

I recently babysat a five-year-old named Gabby. We followed a pretty typical routine—she watched her allotted one hour of TV, I gave her dinner, but when I suggested we play a game, she opened my eyes to a new side of childhood. Gabby plopped in front of the computer and proceeded to play some sort of reading game. She grew bored, switched to a different game, and finally left technology behind for a game of evil witch (me) and captured princess (Gabby). When she outmaneuvered my attempt to give her a poisonous potion, she was giddy. I never saw that expression when she played on the computer.

I may be only 22, but I must be getting old fashioned. Kids should be using their imaginations and reading outside instead of spending hours at a computer or TV everyday. They have the rest of their lives to do that, right? Henry Jenkins’ “Why Heather Can Write, Media Literacy and the Harry Potter Wars” reveals a new media creature that combines both worlds.

The article shows how in the wake of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, kids and teens around the world created fan fiction Web sites, where people write their own stories about Harry Potter’s world at Hogwarts. They take on imaginary roles in this fantasy world, and develop writing, editing, and critiquing skills as a bonus to their fun.

It sounds great—cutting edge changes to society. Kids learn and grow on a virtual playground where people from any and every background can come to the table without judgment. While I don’t deny the positive possibilities of learning in this new environment, the fact is, it’s all fantasy. Kids don’t really meet or play—they’re on a computer…alone. The Web provides an isolation that could limit a kid’s social development. People need to be together to play and laugh and learn in their own worlds.

After watching a PBS documentary about Sesame Street, TV actually seems like a safer medium that virtual realities. Granted, there has been plenty of research on the negative effects TV has on children. Commercials for sugar and toys, violence, objectification of women…the list goes on and on. However, Sesame Street has bucked that trend since its birth in 1969. Globally, its importance outweighs that of the Internet because most homes don’t have computers.

However, Kids in 120 countries watch Sesame Street and learn about local issues. Children in South Africa learn about life from an HIV positive puppet named Kami. Sesame Street is reaching kids and possibly changing prejudices. Instead of getting lost in an imaginary computer world, kids can take what they learn and apply it to their actual lives.