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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION

In Partnership With
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA
THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

TABLE OF CONTENTS

About the Study 3

Definition of Terms 4

Methods 7

Findings 8

Content of Media Use 35

Reasons and Motivations for Media Use 35

Impact of Media Consumption on Children 36

Parental Mediation Styles and Strategies 38

Media Consumption and Classroom Performance 39

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

ABOUT THE STUDY

In the Philippines, television viewing can be considered as a sta-


ple in most households. Majority of Filipino households have access to
at least one television unit and a substantial number have more than
one way to access television programs (cable connection, streaming, or
replays uploaded to the internet or social networking sites).
Based on 2015 NCCT Research Study, children are reported to
spend an average of 3 hours during weekdays and an average of 6
hours during weekends watching television. This may not seem a large
portion of the children’s daily activity, however, with the continuous
development of technology and the increasing curiosity of children in
exploring other media platforms like the internet, which can be used for
online viewing, social media, and video gaming, thus amounting to
increased media consumption.

It is for a fact that media exposure produces different implication


on the child’s development. While there are some positive effects and
benefits for the child’s wellbeing, what is most often noted are the
harmful effects it can cause especially to children undergoing formative
development.

Lack of data on children’s media behavior is what pushed NCCT


to pursue this study. As media platforms continue to diversify, NCCT
intends to explore children’s behavior not only in the television, but with
their social media usage and video gaming too, noting the impact of
these media to their classroom performance, and identify what strate-
gies parents are using in monitoring or mediating their children’s media
usage.

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

DEFINITION OF TERMS

The following terms are conceptually and operationally defined for


better understanding of readers:

Children. Students 6 to 11 years old, ranging from grade levels 1


to 6, enrolled in either public or private school, residing in the
Philippines.

Parents. The term parents is a collective definition for adults


that are in charge of, or those who have a big part in taking care
of the learner respondents (parents, grandparents, other
relatives, caretaker, etc.)

Media Consumption. Viewing hours and the amount of time


spent in watching television and playing digital/video games
and accessing social media accounts; genre and format of the
television program and digital/video game.

Social Media. Refers to the following social networking


platforms that are most popular and most used in the
Philippines: YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat.

Video Gaming. Engaging in electronically produced games, can


be played online or offline (non-Internet computerized games);
solo or with other players; and played on either of the following
gadgets: mobile phones, computer, laptop, tablet, and game
consoles.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

Parental Mediation. Strategies used by parents


to control, supervise or interpret the media content consumed
by their children, either by television viewing and video gaming.
1. Active Mediation. Parents actively discuss the
meanings and effects of media content with children.
2. Restrictive Mediation. Parents restricting the amount
or time of exposure and the types of programs viewed
or played by children.
3. Co-viewing/Co-playing. Parents simply watch
television or play video games together with their
children but do not discuss the content or their effects.

Classroom Performance. Refers to the four performance


appraisal dimensions (Aamodt, 2010) namely:
1. Competency-based Performance. Refers to the child’s
knowledge, skills, and abilities (e.g. writing skills, oral
presentation skills, etc.).
2. Task-focused Performance. Includes several
competencies organized by the similarity of tasks that
are performed.
3. Contextual Performance. These are prosocial
organizational behaviours involved in task
performance.
4. Attributes/Trait-focused Performance. An inherent
characteristic of an individual that makes up one’s
personality.

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

The research project focuses on the involvement of parents in


their children’s media consumption and the influence of parental
mediation in their classroom performance. The study aims to answer
the following questions:

1. What are the contents of media consumed by children, their


viewing and gaming schedule and amount of exposure? What
are the reasons and motivations that make children consume
media?

2. What are the Parental Mediation Styles used in monitoring their


children’s media consumption and why do they use such
strategies?

3. How does media consumption influence children’s overall


wellbeing and classroom performance?

4. What are the challenges and risks parents and children face
with regards to media consumption and media content?

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

METHODS
Research Design
• Purposive Sampling
• Mixed method = Quantitative (Questionnaire) Qualitative (Focused
Group Discussions)

Participants
• Total of 2203 respondents of which 1007 were pupils, 1007 were
parents and 189 were teacher-adviser participants
• Grades 1-6 pupils from public and private schools excluding
out-of-school youth and pupils enrolled in the Special Education
curriculum
• Each region of the country: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao and NCR are
represented by an urban and a rural area with high media
consumption based on the 2015 NCCT research
• Age range: 5-14 years old

Test Constructions
• The survey instruments have undergone pilot testing for its validity
and reliability to 60 children, 38 parents, and 23 teachers.
• Media Consumption was measured by determining the length and
frequency of the kids’ exposure to TV, social media, and video
games.
• Paper and Pencil test of Parental Mediation was crafted with
adaptations from the same test on the study of parents’ mediation
behavior by Valkenburg, Krcmar, Peeters, and Marseille (1999).
• Classroom Performance was measured through a survey
instrument given to the advisers. The constructed scale required
advisers to rate the child’s classroom performance based on their
Competency-based performance, Task-focused performance,
Contextual performance, and Attributes/Trait-focused
performance.

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

FINDINGS

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

TELEVISION VIEWING HOURS OF GRADES 1-3

Monday to Friday

Saturday and Sunday

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

AVERAGE VIEWING HOURS IN TV OF GRADES 1-3


AS REPORTED BY CHILDREN

WEEKDAYS WEEKENDS
0.83 1.89

Grades 1-3 on an average watch television for less than an hour during
weekdays and less than 2 hours during weekends. Contrary to this, parents
believe their children spend at least 2 hours on television viewing during
weekdays while spending more than 3 hours during weekends.

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAMS OF GRADES 1-3

RANK TV PROGRAM
1 FPJ’S Ang Probinsyano
2 It’s Showtime
3 Meteor Garden
Disney Channel
4
Spongebob Squarepants
Araw Gabi
5
TV Patrol

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAMS OF GRADES 1-3


AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

RANK TV PROGRAM
1 FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano

2 Team Yey

3 Cartoons

4 It’s Showtime

5 Disney Channel

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

AVERAGE VIEWING HOURS IN TV OF GRADES 4-6


AS REPORTED BY CHILDREN

WEEKDAYS WEEKENDS
3.02 5.95

Grades 4-6 reported that they watch television for an average of 3


hours during weekdays and almost 6 hours during weekends. Parents on the
other hand, believe their children watch television on an average of 2 hours
during weekdays and almost 4 hours during weekends.

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAMS OF GRADES 4-6

RANK TV PROGRAM
1 It’s Showtime

2 FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano

3 Meteor Garden

4 TV Patrol

5 Victor Magtanggol

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAMS OF GRADES 4-6


AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

RANK TV PROGRAM
1 FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano
2 TV Patrol

3 Meteor Garden

4 It’s Showtime

5 Cartoons

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

LINE GRAPH OF TV VIEWING DAY SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6

LINE GRAPH OF TV VIEWING TIME SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6

Grades 4-6 generally consume more hours watching television on


weekends. However, children still watch television on weekdays and usual
peak time is at 5PM-8PM, the prime time of Philippine television, when
classes are already dismissed, and homeworks have been completed.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

AVERAGE VIEWING HOURS IN TV OF GRADES 1-3


AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

WEEKDAYS WEEKENDS
1.70 3.50

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAMS OF GRADES 1-3


CO-VIEWED BY THEIR PARENTS, AS REPORTED BY CHILDREN

RANK TV PROGRAM

1 FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano

2 It’s Showtime
Meteor Garden
3
TV Patrol

Araw Gabi
4
Ngayon at Kailanman

5 Goin’ Bulilit

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAMS OF GRADES 1-3


CO-VIEWED BY THEIR PARENTS, AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

RANK TV PROGRAM

1 FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano

2 TV Patrol

3 It’s Showtime

4 Eat Bulaga!

5 Team Yey!

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

AVERAGE VIEWING HOURS IN TV OF GRADES 4-6


AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

WEEKDAYS WEEKENDS
1.72 3.88

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAMS OF GRADES 4-6


CO-VIEWED BY THEIR PARENTS, AS REPORTED BY CHILDREN

RANK TV PROGRAM
1 FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano

2 Sunday Pinasaya

3 It’s Showtime

4 TV Patrol

5 Meteor Garden

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED TV PROGRAMS OF GRADES 4-6


CO-VIEWED BY THEIR PARENTS, AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

RANK TV PROGRAM
1 FPJ’s Ang Probinsyano
2 TV Patrol

3 It’s Showtime

4 Meteor Garden

5 News

Majority of the respondents watch television together as a family activi-


ty or a form of bonding, and the most often types of programs they watch are
action, drama and romance, variety shows, and news. Interestingly, majority of
the children have reported to watch cartoons always by themselves, as parents
see cartoons as less harmful than teleseryes or movies.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

VIDEO GAMING HOURS OF GRADES 1-3,


ALLOWED TO USE GADGET = 488 (77.34%)

Monday to Friday

Saturday and Sunday

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

The gadgets most often used by children include mobile phones, tablets,
computers, and laptops. Grades 1-3 on an average use gadget for less than an
hour per day. Video gaming schedule of grades 4-6 starts to rise during Fridays
continuing to the weekends and at its highest from 5PM to 8PM.

LINE GRAPH OF VIDEO GAME TIME SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6

LINE GRAPH OF VIDEO GAME DAY SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

TOP 10 MOST COMMONLY PLAYED VIDEO GAMES OF GRADES 1-3


AS REPORTED BY CHILDREN

RANK VIDEO GAME

1 Roblox

2 Paw Patrol

3 Gacha

4 Candy Crush

Grand Theft Auto


5
(GTA) 5

Angry Birds
6
Vortex

7 Mobile Legends

8 My Talking Angela

Fishdom
Plants vs Zombies
9
Stick Man Legacy
Wordscapes

My Talking Ben
10 Super Mario Bros. 3
Sweet Escapes

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

TOP 10 MOST COMMONLY PLAYED VIDEO GAMES


OF GRADE 1-3 AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

RANK VIDEO GAME

1 Minecraft

2 Roblox

3 Wordscapes

4 Plants vs Zombies

5 Mobile Legends

Candy Crush
6
Granny

Helix Jump
7
My Talking Angela

Barbie
8
Temple Run

9 My Talking Tom

10 Subway Surfers

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

TOP 10 MOST COMMONLY PLAYED VIDEO GAMES


OF GRADES 4-6 AS REPORTED BY CHILDREN

RANK VIDEO GAME

1 Minecraft

2 Roblox

Helix Jump
3
Mobile Legends

4 Rules of Survival (RoS)

5 Fortnite

Player Unknown Battlegrounds


6
(PUBG)

7 Granny

Crossfire
8
Wordscapes

9 Grand Theft Auto (GTA) 5

Candy Crush
10
Temple Run

While the most commonly played video games of grades 1-3 are casual
games, it is an interesting finding that children as young as 6 years old are
already knowledgeable of teen-oriented games such as Minecraft and Roblox,
or adult-oriented games such as Grand Theft Auto (GTA), Player Unknown
Battlegrounds (PUBG), Rules of Survival (ROS), and Mobile Legends (ML).

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

TOP 10 MOST COMMONLY PLAYED VIDEO GAMES


OF GRADE 4-6 AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

RANK VIDEO GAME

1 Minecraft

2 Roblox

3 Mobile Legends

4 Rules of Survival (RoS)

5 Hello Cats

6 Wordscapes

7 Candy Crush Saga

Fortnite
8
Granny

9 Clash of Clans

Plants vs Zombies
Player Unknown Battlegrounds
10
(PUBG)
Puzzle Games

Role-playing Games (RPG) are the most popular type of game for
grades 4-6, often battle games, which can be played online and interactively with
chatrooms that allow for conversations with actual players.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

YOUTUBE VIEWING HOURS OF GRADES 1-3, N = 568 (89.87%)

Monday to Friday Saturday and Sunday

LINE GRAPH OF YOUTUBE VIEWING GAME DAY SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6
YOUTUBE GRADES 4 – 6 VIEWERS, N = 531 (96.20%)

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF GRADES 1-3


AS REPORTED BY CHILDREN

RANK YOUTUBE VIDEO

1 Barbie

Frozen
2
Minecraft

3 Cartoons

4 DanTDM

5 My Little Pony

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF GRADES 1-3


AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

RANK YOUTUBE VIDEO

1 Cartoons

2 Minecraft

3 Barbie

4 Funny videos

5 Music videos

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF GRADES 4-6


AS REPORTED BY CHILDREN

RANK YOUTUBE VIDEO

1 5-Minute Crafts

DIY Crafts
2
Minecraft

3 Roblox

4 Sis Versus Bro

Dance videos
5
Gameplays

TOP 5 MOST VIEWED YOUTUBE VIDEOS OF GRADES 4-6


AS REPORTED BY PARENTS

RANK YOUTUBE VIDEO

1 Music videos

2 Minecraft

3 Cartoons

4 Funny videos

5 DIY videos

Respondents as young as 6 years old are reported to be able to navigate


through the social network site YouTube with or without the assistance of their
parents. While parents report that majority of the videos watched by grades 1-3
are cartoons, movies, and tutorials, children are gaining more interest on
popular vloggers and gamers, who produce content like pranks, challenge
videos, tutorials on gaming hacks and cheats, and game reviews and
walkthroughs exposing children to zero censorship.

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

FACEBOOK USE (IN HOURS) OF GRADES 1-3,


N = 281 (44.53%)

Monday to Friday

Saturday and Sunday

Children generally use social media for communication and socializa-


tion, most commonly with relatives and classmates. Teachers in both public
and private schools encourage their students to use social media where group
chats are common, and where the teachers would usually post special an-
nouncements like assignments, projects, school events, and group activities.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

LINE GRAPH OF FACEBOOK USE DAY SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6


FACEBOOK GRADES 4 – 6 USERS, N = 452 (81.88%)

The respondents are all underage, and understandably restricted from


using social media. In which cases where teachers use social media in
announcing classroom activities, children use their parents’ social media
accounts. For children who have their own social media accounts, more often
grades 4-6, know how to pass through the age restriction especially on
Facebook by changing their birth year during account registration.

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

TWITTER USE (IN HOURS) OF GRADES 1-3,


N = 41 (6.49%)

Monday to Friday Saturday and Sunday

LINE GRAPH OF TWITTER USE DAY SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6


TWITTER GRADES 4 – 6 USERS, N = 88 (15.94%)

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

INSTAGRAM USE (IN HOURS) OF GRADES 1-3,


N = 72 (11.39%)

Monday to Friday Saturday and Sunday

LINE GRAPH OF INSTAGRAM USE DAY SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6


INSTAGRAM GRADES 4 – 6 USERS, N = 452 (81.88%)

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

SNAPCHAT USE (IN HOURS) OF GRADES 1-3,


N = 126 (19.97%)

Monday to Friday Saturday and Sunday

LINE GRAPH OF SNAPCHAT USE DAY SCHEDULE FOR GRADES 4-6


SNAPCHAT GRADES 4 – 6 USERS, N = 153 (27.72%)

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

PARENTAL MEDIATION AS REPORTED BY GRADES 1-3

Television Viewing

Video Gaming

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

PARENTAL MEDIATION AS REPORTED BY GRADES 1-3 PARENTS

Television Viewing

Video Gaming

Grades 1-6 perceive that their parents would often watch television with
them, rather than explaining what they are watching or restrict their children’s
media consumption. However, parents believe that they are more restrictive to
their children’s television viewing rather than co-viewing with them. On the oth-
er hand, both children and parents perceive the children’s gaming activities are
most oftentimes restricted by their parents.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

PARENTAL MEDIATION AS REPORTED BY GRADES 4-6

Television Viewing

Video Gaming

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

PARENTAL MEDIATION AS REPORTED BY GRADES 4-6 PARENTS

Television Viewing

Video Gaming

Parents of grades 4-6 often use restrictive mediation in their children


viewing and gaming habits. This comes in forms of restricting the number of
hours watched or played or the types of programs that they can watch and vid-
eo games that they can play.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

DECISION ON TV CHANNEL, PERMITTED TO WATCH TV = 540 (75.00%)


GRADES 1 – 3

TV Channel Choice

DECISION ON TV CHANNEL, PERMITTED TO WATCH TV = 429 (77.72%)


GRADES 4-6

TV Channel Choice

When it comes to choosing the channels or programs to watch, mothers


would often have the authority in choosing programs for grades 1-3. On the
other hand, grades 4-6 have more freedom in choosing the programs they will
watch. As children grow older, parents exhibit more trust on their children’s
media choices, thus giving them the authority to choose programs for them-
selves.

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

CO-VIEWING WITH THE CHILD


GRADES 1-3

Watches with child

CO-VIEWING WITH THE CHILD


GRADES 4-6

Watches with child

Mothers are still the most common companion of children when they are
watching television, mainly because many of the mother respondents are not
working, and if they are employed, they would often voice their concern in being
hands-on in taking care of their children.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

Content of Media Use

The types of programs parents and children usually view


together contain heavy themes on violence, death, sex, extramarital
affairs, drugs, and revenge. Majority of the shows portray glamorized
death and sex.

Parents understand that children are now being drawn to online


media and video gaming. There is also an increased interest in popular
YouTubers or Vloggers, which children idolize and imitate. Most of the
content of the famous vloggers include challenge videos, pranks, game
and product reviews and tutorials. Cheat tutorials are also popular
among child gamers.

Majority of the popular video games intended for children and


young adults are battle or shooting games, and with the continuous
improvement of graphics, scenes where there is blood or killing become
more realistic than ever. While parents are aware of the dangers and
risks of media, majority do not orient their children, least set up online
security on social networking sites.

Reasons and Motivations for Media Use


Younger children primarily use media for entertainment and
keeping up with family members and friends. When children grow older,
their range of interest in using social media widens, and many would
use media as an avenue for finding new friends, keeping up to date
with personalities, and even searching for potential partners.

Parents, on the other hand, would let their children use media as
a form of early “teacher” and oftentimes as distraction especially for
working parents or housewives. Some parents see media as a reward
for achievement, when children do well in school or in extracurricular
activities. Thus, children would see gadgets and media almost always
in a positive light because it is associated with achievement.

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

Impact of Media Consumption on Children

Five major domains are affected by media consumption:

Cognitive Domain

Among the respondents, the most prominent impact of media


can be seen on children’s academic performance. Media is found to
have helped enriched learning (e.g. DIY tutorials, curriculum-based
programs or games) and improved life skills (e.g. life hacks) among
the participants, while some reported that overexposure leads to
lower academic scores. Media also play a great role in the
development of language and expressions among children,
although both positive and negative expressions can be learned
through media (e.g. curse words, jargons, misuse of medical terms).

Psychological Domain

Virtual images were associated with reality, thus inducing


conditioned fear and trauma-related symptoms (e.g. as if seeing
the images in real life) and emotions (e.g. nightmares, tantrums).

Overexposure to gaming, especially to violent games leads to


less empathy and desensitization towards violent images or
scenarios. Furthermore, perceived moral trends arise, which in
some cases children would often refer to violence as something
normal and that it happens in daily life.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

Behavioral Domain

Children easily learn new behaviors from the television, social


media, and video games. Even without reinforcement, children can
easily copy behaviors whether it be positive or negative.
Additionally, children are also influenced by popular personalities in
shaping their attitudes and reactions through simple observation.
On the other hand, overexposure to media especially video
games may lead to addiction. On instances where children are
restricted from playing video games, certain negative behaviors are
accumulated, such as moodiness, destructive reactions and
unresponsiveness.

Social Domain

When children become disengaged with the real world, children


become loners in real life, and disintegrating with their
relationships. They become trapped in their own virtual world, and
often they would not join family discussions, meals or activities.

Health Domain

Impaired senses (e.g. sight, hearing) are greatly associated


with gaming addiction. When one becomes too focused on gaming,
a child may become sleep deprived, and forget to eat or stay clean,
leading to malnutrition and non-hygienic patterns. If intervention
was not done early, this may lead to psychosomatic symptoms
(e.g. tics, dizziness, and seizures).

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THE FILIPINO CHILD AND MEDIA:
MEDIA CONSUMPTION, PARENTAL MEDIATION, AND CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE

Parental Mediation Styles and Strategies


Parents are aware of the non-child-friendly content in media,
thus they use co-viewing strategy to monitor their children’s television
viewing. For example, when a violent or erotic scene appears in a
program, parents would usually tell their children to avert their gazes.
However, not all parents would state the reason why they avoid their
child to be exposed to such scenes.

Parents have a divided opinion on the safety and risks of video


games. While some fathers are not bothered with battle or violent
games, mothers are more meticulous in choosing the games their
children are playing. However, because of lack of digital literacy, or lack
of interest in trying out the games their children enjoy, they would resort
to restricting them instead. This may also be attributed with working
parents or housewives who have less time in educating themselves
about the popular video games.

There were also nuances in the Parental Mediation styles


manifested from the focus group discussions. A common practice
among Filipino households is the “Grandma’s rule”, in which media
consumption is used as an incentive after following a correct behavior.
Parents on the other hand, would often use punishment and threats as
an effect of media consumption.

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NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY—MANILA

Media Consumption and Classroom Performance

The content of the media has a vital role in the school


performance of children. This could produce different implications on
children’s behavior towards school and learning. Childhood is the most
critical stage in learning new skills that are relevant in the development
of their literacy.

Multi-tasking can bring positive and negative things to children.


However, for children, this may bring more of a negative effect rather
than a positive one because their attention is divided between different
tasks, this may cause distraction and grasping much lesser information
from their learning material. As reflected from the study, media
consumption has displayed negative effects in the children’s
task-focused performance in school. Children explained difficulty
finishing their school works because of watching television, playing
video games or using their social media accounts simultaneously.

Furthermore, television viewing and video gaming have


significant effects on the children’s development of prosocial behavior.
Prosocial behavior refers to the acts intended to mutually benefit such
as sharing, comforting, cooperating, and helping others. However,
results from the study signified that children who have higher levels of
media consumption specifically television and video games, have
reported to portray negative behaviors such as using derogative
language, bullying, and causing physical harm to their classmates.

39
NATIONAL COUNCIL
FOR CHILDREN’S TELEVISION (NCCT)
An attached agency of the Department of Education

Rooms 214-215, 2nd Floor, Mabini Building,


Department of Education Complex,
Meralco Avenue, Pasig City 1600
Telefax Number: (+632) 634-7156
Telephone Number: (+632) 637 -2306

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