With greater access to a variety of media devices and media content, there is a need for new research that updates the information collected during 1999/2000, and that extends our understanding of New Zealand children’s media environments today.
This report presents the results of a quantitative study conducted among children aged 6 to 13 years, and their primary caregivers. The research has been conducted to describe New Zealand children’s media environments, and to explore the issues and attitudes that surround their media use. The present study moves beyond issues surrounding television and radio consumption to incorporate use of the internet, cellphones, and other media devices.
Purpose
This study seeks to answer the question, what do New Zealand children think and do with media? The research objectives were formulated with reference to the findings of a literature review conducted in early 2007.
This research examines the following:
1. Family media environments – including access and demographic variations.
2. The social patterns of children’s media access and use – including reasons for using media, the circumstances under which media are used, and the impact of various media.
3. Children’s thoughts and feelings about media – including the influence of media on values and beliefs, and perceptions of the appropriateness of media.
4. Rules and protections – including the constraints placed on children’s access to and use of media at home, and knowledge/awareness of external constraints.
5. Parental perspectives – issues and concerns for parents.
Methodology
- A nationwide face-to-face survey
- 604 children and 604 primary caregivers were interviewed
- Conducted between August and November 2007
- Children between the ages of 6 and 13 were randomly selected for inclusion in the survey, and both the child and their primary caregiver were interviewed
Key Results
- Children’s electronic and digital media world an extremely diverse one
- Children’s high levels of access to, and use of, traditional media like television and radio are consistent with the 2001 research results
- New Zealand children interact with new media, such as cellphones, MP3 players, and the internet, in high numbers
- There are marked inequities in access to new media, with Pacific and Māori children in particular falling behind Asian and Pakeha children
- When children come across inappropriate content, most indicate that they ‘exit’ the situation by turning off the media device or switching to different content
- Like in 2001 study, children are able to articulate what content is inappropriate for them and their peers and what content upsets them both for traditional media and new media
- Role of regulators in guiding both parents and children important in regard to traditional media
- Classifications and warnings alert three-quarters of children to the potential inappropriateness of TV programme content
- Similar proportion of parents use classifications and warnings to guide their child’s viewing
- Awareness of the 8.30pm ‘watershed’ is not high (under one-half of parents and one-quarter of children were able to identify 8.30pm as the time after which programmes not suitable for children are shown)
- As in 2001, exposure to television programme content broadcast after 8.30pm continues to occur in real-time
- A quarter of parents are concerned about what their child sees on news and current affairs programmes
- Over a third of parents with children who use the internet raise specific concerns about their child unintentionally accessing sites/images or seeing pop-ups
- Seen and Heard: Children’s Media Use, Exposure, and Response reveals that ‘a bedroom culture’ is now more dominant than before with more children having a television in their bedroom (up 9 percentage points to 27%)