Is ‘screen time’ a concept of the past?

Presenting a report on the perspectives of Finnish media educators

Screen time questionnaire- The Finnish Society on Media Education produced a questionnaire

for media educators, open 11–20.4.2016, on what kinds of recommendations they felt were needed for the media use of minors.

- 64 respondents, representing different occupations and organizations in the field of media education.

- Most answers came from teachers, kindergarten teachers, youth workers, students, researchers, and library workers.

- Almost 30 districts around Finland were represented.- The report “By the screen: Perspectives of media education

professionals on recommendations for the media use of children and youth and on the concept of screen time” (in Finnish) can be read here.

- Take a look at our blog post summarizing the results in English here.

Q1: Is screen time a good term to use when it comes to discussing the media use of children and the

young?

Q2: Are quantitative recommendations for media use necessary for children and the young (e.g. amount of

hours)

Q3: Should we have other kinds of recommendations concerning the media use of children and the young?

”The term is too one-dimensional. It does not take into account what the children actually do in front of their screens (e.g. entertainment or

educational use), only the time spent in front of screens.”

“The term is okay, as it embodies the concept and makes it easy to understand. However, two hours is too short of a time considering how

most things in today's society are handled “online”.”

“Screen time should not replace parenting and education, or discussions about the media landscape of children and the young”

Main results of the screen time enquiry- A clear need for shared norms and updated recommendations to help

parenting and education in the changed media landscape of today.- Time or content?

- What children actually do with their screens and what kind of contents they consume was seen more important than simply concentrating on time spent in front of screens.

- The respondents saw recommendations necessary especially for young children.

- Recommendations support parents in thinking more about the media use of their children and provides tips for everyday situations.

- Need for content-based recommendations was highlighted. For example, the respondents suggested recommendations based on self-evaluation, pointer lists, themed forms for discussion (i.e. netiquette, games, picture sharing etc.)

Tools on how to approach, understand, and, if needed, restrict media use of children and the young.

- Parents and educators should be interested in children’s media world and learn from the children themselves about their media culture.

- Time spent in front of screens should be reasonable and one should be able to self-regulate and self-evaluate their media use.

- Balanced everyday life and well-being: media is to be seen as a part of everyday life.

- Media education should be part of education from early on.

“Adults and educators should be interested in children’s media culture.”

“Regulating media use is impossible, instead, we should aim to guide it.”

“Best way to learn and understand children’s media use is to listen and learn from children themselves.”

Current topics in the field of media educationCurrents topics in the field of media literacy raised by the respondents:

- Privacy- Children’s rights- Division in the field of media

education, the need for cooperation

- Media education of adults

- Benefitting from the knowledge and know-how of the young

- Digitalization of education- Equality between games and

other contents online- Accessibility- Commercialization of the media

SCREEN TIME WEEK 10.-14.10.2016

#screentime #ruutuaika #skärmtid

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