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31
Children and Computers:New Technology—Old Concerns
Ellen A.WartellaNancy Jennings
Abstract
Computer technology has ushered in a new era of mass media, bringing with it greatpromise and great concerns about the effect on children’s development and well-being. Although we tend to see these issues as being new, similar promises and con-cerns have accompanied each new wave of media technology throughout the pastcentury: films in the early 1900s, radio in the 1920s, and television in the 1940s. Withthe introduction of each of these technologies, proponents touted the educationalbenefits for children, while opponents voiced fears about exposure to inappropriatecommercial, sexual, and violent content.This article places current studies on children and computers in a historical context,noting the recurrent themes and patterns in media research during the twentieth cen-tury. Initial research concerning each innovation has tended to focus on issues of access and the amount of time children were spending with the new medium. As useof the technology became more prevalent, research shifted to issues related to contentand its effects on children. Current research on children’s use of computers is againfollowing this pattern. But the increased level of interactivity now possible with com-puter games and with the communication features of the Internet has heightenedboth the promise of greatly enriched learning and the concerns related to increasedrisk of harm. As a result, research on the effects of exposure to various types of con-tent has taken on a new sense of urgency. The authors conclude that to help informand sustain the creation of more quality content for children, further research isneeded on the effects of media on children, and new partnerships must be forgedbetween industry, academia, and advocacy groups.
W
ith the introduction of each new wave of innovation in massmedia throughout the twentieth century—film, radio, televi-sion—debates on the effects of new technology have recurred,especially with regard to the effect on young people.
1
Each new media tech-nology brought with it great promise for social and educational benefits,and great concern for children’s exposure to inappropriate and harmfulcontent.
 Ellen A. Wartella,Ph.D., is dean and Walter Cronkite RegentsChair of the College of Communication at theUniversity of Texas, Austin. Nancy Jennings is agraduate research assis-tant at the University of Texas, Austin.http://www.futureofchildren.org
The Future of Children CHILDREN AND COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY Vol.10•No.2 – Fall/Winter 2000
 
http://www.futureofchildren.org
Early Media: RecurrentPatterns in Controversyand Research
Debates surrounding the introduction of earlier media have highlighted the novelattributes of each technology, but thepromises and concerns have been funda-mentally similar. In general, proponents of media innovation argue that the new tech-nology benefits children by opening up newworlds to them, while opponents argue thatnew media might be used to substitute forreal life in learning ethical principles,undermining children’s morality and caus-ing them to engage in illicit sexual andcriminal behavior.
3
Research on childrenand media also has followed a recurrent pat-tern, reflecting the shifting focus of publicconcerns. In each case, initial studies havetended to examine which demographicgroups of children were gaining access mostquickly, how much time they spent with thenew technology, and their preferences fordifferent genres or types of use. Then, as thetechnology became more pervasive,research has tended to shift toward agreater emphasis on how the content of media exposure may be affecting children.
1
In fact, the overwhelming similarity in theresearch studies from epoch to epoch—across movies, radio, and television—isquite striking.
Children and Movies
When films were first introduced intoAmerican society in the early 1900s, propo-nents described them not only as a form of entertainment, but as “a means for educa-tion, a business, an adjunct to the stage, aresource for religion, and a great new socialforce.”
4
Through film, they argued, peoplecould see for themselves “the majestictumult of Niagara. . . a locomotive with rodsand wheels in full swing of motion . . . andthe animated presence of far-off peoples.”
5
Meanwhile, opponents soon labeled moviesas immoral for exposing children to scenes of violence and debauchery. They argued thatmovies were the cause of crime, delinquency,and sexual misconduct among teens.
3
Early studies about children and themovies cataloged their attendance and the typeof pictures that appealed to them.
1
Onenoted study conducted in 1929 documentedin great detail the moviegoing habits of 10,052 children in the Chicago area. Thestudy’s author found that nearly all the chil-dren attended the movies and that they wereoften exposed to screen experiences farbeyond their years.
6
Concerns over movie
32THE FUTURE OF CHILDREN – FALL/WINTER 2000
The wired computer provides today’s new mass media—and computergames, CD-ROMs, and the Web are the focus of today’s media debates. Sixtypercent of American homes with children ages 8 to 17 have computers, andmost of these computers are connected to the Internet.
2
Supporters of com-puter technology point to the social and educational benefits of interactiv-ity, while others warn of its potential harms. Concerns about children’s useof computers are being raised in the press, by parents, and increasingly, inpublic policy forums. In many ways, these debates echo those surroundingthe introduction of other new media throughout the past century.This article places the current controversy and research on children andcomputers in a historical context. As a new era of research on children’s useof computers begins, a look back at public controversy and research studiesdocumenting the effects of older media is useful both to point out where wehave been, and to determine how we might proceed in the future.
1
The firstsection describes the debates surrounding the introduction of earliermedia, noting the similar promises and objections and trends in researchthat have emerged each time. The second section provides a more detaileddiscussion of how the controversy and research surrounding the introduc-tionof computer technology and new media reflect these same themes.The article concludes with a few brief observations about directions for thefuture.
 
http://www.futureofchildren.org
33Children and Computers: New Technology—Old Concerns
content soon gave rise to calls for censorshipand for restricting the distribution of filmsthat might “corrupt the morals of childrenor adults or incite to crime.”
7
By 1931, some40 national religious and educationalgroups had adopted resolutions calling forfederal regulation of motion pictures.
3
Thefilm industry responded by embarking on apublic relations campaign promising betterpictures and admonishing parents tosuper-vise their children’s trips to the movie theater.
 Alice M. Mitchell, about the movies, 1929:“The sweetness, the hopefulness, the joyous-ness, the crude, the morbid, the grotesque of life aremixed in a huge bowl, sometimes not proportioned to reality but convincing, nevertheless, and tasty.Youth does not know the difference. Youth, becauseof youth, does not have the wisdom of years toweigh the real with the unreal, the usual with theoccasional. To him, it is all life. And if it does not  fit within his own life, then his life is not real.”
During the 1930s, the research commu-nity shifted its focus to studies on the effectsof film on children. The 1933 Payne Fundstudies—12 volumes of research conductedby the most prominent psychologists, soci-ologists, and educators of the time—pro-vided a detailed look at the effects of filmon such diverse topics as sleep patterns,knowledge about foreign cultures, attitudesabout violence, and delinquent behavior.
8
For the most part, these studies concludedthat a film would affect individual childrendifferently depending on the child’s age,sex, predispositions, perceptions, socialenvironment, past experiences, and parentalinfluences.
Children and Radio
As with movies, the introduction of broad-cast radio in the 1920s was accompanied byproponents’ promises of a vast potential tobring a variety of information and entertain-ment into homes, schools, and churches,ending isolation and unifying the nation.
3
Yet opponents feared that radio wouldundermine activities such as reading andgoing to church, and they expressed con-cerns about advertising and poor programquality. Newspapers reported parents’ com-plaints about children gulping their meals soas not to miss a favorite radio show andwaking with nightmares from listening to“lurid radio bedtime stories.”
9
 Azriel L. Eisenberg, about radio, 1936:“The popularity of this new pastime amongchildren has increased rapidly . . . This newinvader of the privacy of the home has brought many a disturbing influence in its wake. Parentshave become aware of a puzzling change in thebehavior patterns of their children. They are bewil-dered by a host of new problems, and find them-selves unprepared, frightened, resentful, helpless.They cannot lock out this intruder because it hasgained an invincible hold of their children.”
Unlike the movie industry, radio was reg-ulated from the beginning by the federalgovernment, which granted licenses tobroadcasters and assigned frequencies. Andradio avoided the kind of sex themes thathad brought about frequent calls for censor-ship of movies.
3
Nevertheless, during the1930s and 1940s, radio was attacked for itstreatment of crime and violence, particularlyin children’s programs, and was chargedwith contributing to juvenile delinquency,providing youngsters with both method andinspiration for criminal acts. Complaintsabout the quality of radio programming forchildren resulted in parent letter-writingcampaigns to program sponsors. Duringthe 1940s, the networks responded by sus-pending programs that were most objec-tionable, and the National Association of Broadcasters promised to air such children’sclassics as
Treasure Island, Robin Hood,
and
TheWizard of Oz
.
9
The earliest studies of radio once againexamined children’s listening habits andpreferences. For example, an early review of research on children’s radio-listening habitsdocumented age differences in children’sattraction to and preferences for certainradio programs.
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Later radio studies in the1940s examined a wide range of effects onchildren, including their emotional reac-tions, ability to distinguish between realityand fantasy, school performance, andresponses to advertising as reflected by theirproduct requests. These studies revealedthat the effects of media use could be pow-erful, but that other factors, such as thechild’s developmental level and family cir-cumstances, could modify the impact.
11
Children and Television
Television emerged as a mass medium in1948, and speculation about its impact on
of 00

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