Children & Media

"Teen life has become a theatrical, self-directed media production."
-- Jim Taylor, Harrison Group

SENATORS PROPOSE TO TRACK SEX OFFENDERS ONLINE
[SOURCE: Reuters]
Sens Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and John McCain (R-AZ) said on Thursday they would introduce legislation that would potentially protect users of popular social networking sites like News Corp's MySpace from registered sex offenders. The bill, to be introduced in January, would require registered sex offenders to submit their active email addresses to law enforcement.
http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-12-07T203733Z_01_N07269514_RTRUKOC_0_US-MYSPACE-SEXOFFENDERS.xml...

MORE FAMILIES PLAYING VIDEO GAMES BUT CONCERNS REMAIN
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Leah Schnurr]
A new generation of technologically savvy parents are turning gaming into a family event, according to a new survey, but critics pushing for greater monitoring of video game content remain concerned. 58% of respondents in an online survey said they play video games and more than half this time is spent with their children. The survey found 74 percent of parents are comfortable with video games becoming a part of their family life and most are familiar with an industry ratings system used to assess what age group should play certain games and used as a guide to the kind of content in the games, such as the levels of violence. But David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and the Family, said the numbers did not represent parents in general as online surveys are more likely to be completed by people who are technologically inclined. The survey comes as a bitter political battle over violent content in video games shows some signs of cooling with two of the industry's fiercest critics, Sens Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Joe Lieberman (D-CT), due later Thursday to join forces with the industry's own rating board in a nationwide educational television campaign.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2006-12-07T173535Z_01_N06478418_RTRUKOC_0_US-LEISURE-GAMING-RATINGS.x...

GROUP ADVOCATES VIDEO GAME RATING SYSTEM
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Andrew Miga]
With the holiday shopping season underway, an industry group for video games is trying to encourage parents to use its voluntary ratings to protect children from graphic images of sex and violence. The Entertainment Software Rating Board said Thursday it would distribute four public-service television spots to more than 800 broadcast and cable stations nationwide. "Just like movies and TV shows, video games are created for a diverse audience of all ages, and some are simply not intended for children," ESRB president Patricia Vance said. Sens. Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) lent their support at a Capitol Hill news conference. Both have been active in the fight to protect children from sexually explicit and graphically violent videos, music and movies.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/V/VIDEO_GAME_RATINGS?SITE=WSAW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

TEENS AND MEDIA: A FULL-TIME JOB
[SOURCE: C-Net|News.com, AUTHOR: Stefanie Olsen]
According to a study released this week, Americans aged 13 to 18 spend more than 72 hours a week using electronic media--defined as the Internet, cell phones, television, music and video games. Because teens are known for multitasking, their usage of devices can overlap. So much technology makes teens feel they are playing a starring role in their own reality TV show, said Jim Taylor, vice chairman of the Harrison Group, which conducted the 2006 Teen Trend study. "This generation is unique," Taylor said. "Teen life has become a theatrical, self-directed media production."
http://news.com.com/Teens+and+media+a+full-time+job/2100-1041_3-6141920.html?tag=nefd.top

POLL SHOWS IM GAP BETWEEN TEENS, ADULTS
[SOURCE: Associated Press, AUTHOR: Will Lester]
A new AP-AOL survey finds that almost half of teens, 48 percent of those 13-18, use instant messaging -- more than twice the percentage of adults who use it. Additional findings include: 1) Almost three-fourths of adults who do use instant messages still communicate with e-mail more often. Almost three-fourths of teens send instant messages more than e-mail. 2) More than half of the teens who use instant messages send more than 25 a day, and one in five send more than 100. Three-fourths of adult users send fewer than 25 instant messages a day. 3) Teen users (30 percent) are almost twice as likely as adults (17 percent) to say they can't imagine life without instant messaging. 4) When keeping up with a friend who is far away, teens are most likely to use instant messaging, while adults turn first to e-mail.
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/INSTANT_MESSAGING_AP_POLL?SITE=TXWIC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT