Senior High School

PRACTICAL
RESEARCH PAPER
PRESENTATION
S.Y. 2022-2023
 THE EFFECTS OF DIGITAL MEDIA
CONSUMPTION 
ON EARLY CHILD DEVELOPMENT  
IN THE PHILIPPINES 

CAMANGA, MANALANG, SINGCA

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With the rise of technology, people of all ages.
Infants are exposed to the media they can access
through their television set. The child and its
surrounding environment heavily impacts its
development. We, researchers, aim to observe the
different natures, traits, and disciplines that are
important to toddlers in setting a steppingstone for
them to have a stable and fruitful understanding of
the big world. 
RATIONALE
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 In today’s digital era, technology has become more prevalent and has reached
new heights, people belonging to different age groups being able to access
media content from the palm of your hand from young to old. have begun
relying on technology to seek entertainment. Children are easily drawn to
vibrant and eye-appealing thumbnail used by content creators to lure young
audiences to watch and support their contents.  
 
Devices may easily be within a child’s proximity as some parents use them to
pacify their children to keep them preoccupied, leaving parents to tend to other
matters with their child out of the way. Over time, children may develop literacy
skills and experience behavioral changes from engaging with the cartoons they
watch on the television to the video games they play on their consoles. With
their minds immersed within their respective gadgets, they are more prone to
adapting and copying the media’s content or message.  

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

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 Early childhood development is a crucial stage and shouldn’t be taken lightly.
The child and its surrounding environment heavily impact the way they develop
during the early stages which may affect them when they reach their
adolescence and adult stage.  
 
This study aims to identify the underlying effects of digital media consumption
and its toll on the child’s early behavioral and cognitive development and
conducting this study will provide a perspective on how much technology is
being consumed by toddlers nowadays. 

THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

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 CHAPTER 1:

INTRODUCTION
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 This instrumental case study aims to recognize the effects of the early exposure of digital media

that affect the behavioral and intellectual development of Filipino children ages 4-6.

Specifically, it will seek answers to the following questions:

1. What is the appeal of digital media towards children ages 4-6?

2. How does early digital media exposure affect the behavioral and cognitive development

aspects of a child?

3. What are the effects of prolonged exposure of digital media for toddlers ages 4-6? 

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

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The review of related literature is divided into four parts. Early media exposure, the appeal of digital
media towards preschoolers, digital media and behavioral development, and digital media and cognitive
development.  
 
I. Early media exposure

In a typical day, children under 2 years of age watch about 1 hour of television per day (Common
Sense Media, 2013). TV has been used as an “electronic babysitter” for decades, but recent
evidence suggests that excessive media use is more likely in infants with a “difficult”
temperament or self-regulation problems. Toddlers with social-emotional delays are more likely to
be given a mobile device to calm them down.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

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II. The appeal of digital media towards preschoolers 

It is still unclear what drives children towards television (Anderson & Pempek, 2005). One possibility is that their attention is
driven by visual and auditory changes or what have come to be called the formal features of television. The other possibility,
not mutually exclusive, is that  kids idolizes or fantasizes to copy a certain character.

III. Digital media and early behavioral development 

‘Television is a fertile source of aggressive models’ (Villani, 2001). Anderson and Evans (2001) argued that television’s effects
on children depend on how the children can react to and understand the content being presented to them, this can be
divided into two categories which are background television and foreground television -- Background television (BTV) refers
to the exposure of children to television programs that specifically cater to adult audiences. Young children cannot
comprehend this because of themes that are beyond their comprehension. Foreground television (FTV) refers to children’s
exposure to television programs made for young audiences. Children can comprehend foreground television as its themes
are suitable for younger audiences. Past research studies indicated that background television can leave a negative impact
on the child’s (Courage et., al; 2010; Kirkorian et al,. 2009: Nathanson & Rasmussen, 2011; Schmidt et al., 2008; Setliff &
Courage, 2011)  

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

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IV. Digital media and early cognitive development

According to Berk (2012, as cited in Anderson & Pempek 2005), in the first four years of life,
cognitive development is a new and quickly evolving developmental aspect. As the child's ability
to interact with its environment begins to develop at this age, numerous areas of the cerebral
cortex will manufacture an excess number of synapses. According to Piaget (1952) theorized that
people undergo through various stages in learning how to think as they develop from infancy to
adulthood. Piaget’s theory describes the four major stages: the sensorimotor period, the
preoperational thought period, the period of concrete operations, and the period of formal
operations.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

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 Book sources:  
Zastrow, C., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2009). Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment. Brooks/Cole. 
 
Gunter, B. (2019). Children and Mobile Phones: Adoption, Use, Impact, and Control. 
 
Electronic Sources: 
Hanson, K., (2017) "THE INFLUENCE OF EARLY MEDIA EXPOSURE ON CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING".
Doctoral Dissertations. 1011. https://doi.org/10.7275/9875377.0 URL: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1011.  
 
Globokar, R. (2018) “Impact of digital media on emotional, social, and moral development of children” URL:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329646578_Impact_of_digital_media_on_emotional_social_and_moral_development_of_
children/link/5c49e8f4458515a4c73d99ae/download
 
 
Reid Chassiakos, Y. L., Radesky, J., Christakis, D., Moreno, M. A., Cross, C., Hill, D., ... & Swanson, W. S. (2016). Children and
adolescents and digital media. Pediatrics, 138(5). 
(“Https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/138/5/e20162593/60349/Children-and-Adolescents-and-Digital-Media,” n.d.) 
 
Anderson, D.R & Pempek, T. (2005) , “Television and Very Young Children”  
 
Asimatri D. & Winangun G. (2018) “The Role of Youtube Media as Means to Optimize Early Childhood Cognitive Development” 

REFERENCES
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 The researchers are now
ready to accept questions
from the panelists.
Thank you!