No. 1, 2008 Published by The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media at Nordicom Göteborg University Box 713 SE-405 30 Göteborg SWEDEN Editor: Catharina Bucht Publisher: Ulla Carlsson

Media Access and Media Use Television from Children’s Point of View – Ongoing Research in Brazil How Do Colombian Children Interpret Gender Messages on Television? The 1st International Congress on Television and Childhood in Spain Spanish Children as Captive Market of Screens Seen and Heard in New Zealand Media Education/Media Literacy/Awareness Practical Research Concerning the Use of Media Literacy Educational Materials for Japanese First Graders Media Education - Academic Theories and Classroom Teaching First Policy Document on Media Literacy in the European Union Study on Criteria to Assess Media Literacy Levels Children's and Young People's Participation On Children and Audiovisual Production in Spain Images of Children and Young People Children in the News, Children and the News - Notes from a Portuguese research project Juvenile Delinquency in Newspapers Jokela School Massacre in Finland – Viewpoints of Youths and Media Media Contents and Media Production Futura Channel in Brazil – Investigation and Dialogue Girls and Boys and Television “Bonn Network” – Collaborating on Using Media to Prevent Conflicts Agora EEIG is Established Measures and Regulations The German Tug-of-War on Killerspiele Dignity, Security and Privacy of Children on the Internet New Rules in Australia for Age-restricted Internet and Mobile Content Internet, Computer Games, NICT The Byron Review Israeli Children Go Online Internet Use on Mobile Phone in Japan More Children Across Europe are being Exposed to Risks Online Living in World of Warcraft ISFE Report on Video Gamers in Europe In Brief Results from the Clearinghouse’s User Survey Call for Papers: Booklet on Media and Preschoolers Media Access and Media Use Television from Children’s Point of View – Ongoing Research in Brazil [Media Access and Media Use] by Cláudio Márcio Magalhães (1) Journalist, Lecturer, M.A. in Social Communication, Ph.D. in Education Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil Brazilian research shows that children spend an average of three to five hours daily in front of the television. This is certainly enough time to establish a social relationship with the medium. This relationship has been interpreted in several ways: as entertainment for the child, as an object of consumption and an instrument of consumerism, as manipulation of the child’s character, and as competition with the school over childhood. It is important to discover more about this child-TV relationship from the viewpoint of the children themselves, in this manner disentangling adults’ vision of childhood. To do this, 21 interventions were performed in three classes of fourth-graders (ten-year-olds) at two elementary schools in the city of Ouro Preto, Brazil. One school is private, teaching children from the middle class (Class B). The other school is public, teaching less economically favoured children (Class A-1) and those with learning problems (Class A-2). Besides the exercises and debates in the classroom, the 62 participant children took their “TV notebook” home, making entries and performing other activities concerning their personal impressions. Favourite Programs There are important differences in program preferences between the classes. Among the children in Class B – who consider themselves “mature” and say they do not like “childish” programs – cartoons are the favourites. Thus, the desire to be older than they are appears in their speech, but they in fact watch children’s programs. On the other hand, pupils in Class A-1 are actually more mature, although they are not worried about appearing as such. Their most frequently mentioned programs were soap operas with a younger aesthetics content profile (those that are more irreverent, circus-like and comic than traditional soap operas). Yet, these children also mentioned the animated series The Little Bear, as did Class A-2 who mainly preferred programs made for children with an older age profile. The Little Bear is definitely a special case. Not even mentioned by Class B, it often came to the mind of both Class A-1 and, especially, A-2. One can wonder about this attention to a cartoon that only shows a cub and its parents and friends living together without villains or any commercial or media highlights. The reason for this might be that The Little Bear represents an ideal and unrealizable world, for children in Class A a simple, desired and idealized family model. Of the 54 programs mentioned by the children, more than two-thirds were directed at children and a young adult audience. A frequently discussed issue is whether children prefer adult or children’s programs; there is evidence for both (Sampaio, 2000: 174-175). However, in the adult case, the evidence is a product of statistical audience data developed by institutes such as IBOPE, (2) showing that adult programming has a large child audience. But significant aspects are not considered: the few children’s and young adult programs offered in general, the lack of children’s programs during prime time, and children’s need to share moments with adults. Therefore, the hypothesis is that children do not necessarily prefer adult programs, but rather that there are few programs produced for them at times that fit their fun moments and even fewer programs they can share with adults. Also, according to special studies conducted with children and young people (Pacheco, 1998; Remoto Controle, 2004), favourite programs appear to be those dedicated to this audience. Limits on TV Watching Restrictions on watching television were much discussed in the class meetings. At other occasions, children said that their parents decide about TV watching but do not impose any limits. So, what is true? It turned out that the main limit imposed concerns time. Thus, the prime concern, no matter which group, is not about the content but rather aspects related to everyday life such as time to sleep, do homework, eat and take a shower. The child evidently regards “watch at any time” as a criterion of program use, something like “I can watch whatever I want”, and separates it from the use of the TV set, which is connected with chronological limits. There are two different kinds of limits. The fact that the programs children watch do not create worries is supported by other research, in which “57% of interviewed parents said they are not very, or not at all, worried about the television effects on their children’s education” (Mello, 1997:3). Should Parents Forbid? When asked to explain the reasons parents should forbid them to watch a TV program, the children’s answers fell into four types: 1. because they are a child and, therefore, cannot have everything but should be limited by parents’ authority, knowledge and wisdom 2. a program has violent or otherwise inappropriate content 3. issues related to the children’s time use 4. watching the program causes disturbance, especially of sleep Class B emphasized mainly the first reason, that they are children and parents should master them. In the two A classes the inadequate content, especially violence, was more predominant. In Class A-2 there was also a complementary factor: worry about disturbance caused by programs, especially related to dreams, nightmares and emotional reflexes, something that, unfortunately, reflects these children’s social and psychological conditions. Children are Cultural Active Beings The child who emerges in this research shows to be a culturally active being, who understands what is good and bad in his/her relationship with television. He/she is a child who likes television as much as adults do, but is conscious of his/her fragile condition, asks for references and limits, and has strong affective ties with his/her parents, who determine his/her social relations, including the relationship with television. Notes 1. The author has previously written the book Infantile TV Programs: theory and practice to understand television made for children (in Brazilian). Brazil, Autêntica, 2007. 2. The main audience research institute in Brazil. References Mello, Fabiana. 75% querem controle de programas de TV. Folha de S. Paulo, São Paulo, 3 set. 1997. Caderno Cotidiano, p. 3-5. Pacheco, Elza D. (org.) Televisão, Criança, Imaginação e Educação. Campinas, SP: Papirus, 1998. Remoto controle: Linguagem, conteúdo e participação nos programas de televisão para adolescentes [coordenação Veet Vivarta]. São Paulo: Cortez, 2004; (Mídia e Mobilização Social; 7). Sampaio, Inês S. V. Televisão, publicidade e infância. São Paulo: Annablume; Fortaleza: Secretaria de Cultura e Desporto do Estado do Ceará, 2000. Top How Do Colombian Children Interpret Gender Messages on Television? [Media Access and Media Use] by Elvia Vargas Trujillo Psychology Department Social Sciences Faculty Sociocultural and International Studies Centre – CESO Research Group: Family and Sexuality Universidad de Los Andes Angela María Rojas Martinez Communication Sciences Faculty Social Communication and Journalism Program – CEHIS Research Group: Communication, Language and Participation Corporación Universitaria Minuto de Dio Paola Balanta Psychology Department Social Sciences Faculty Sociocultural and International Studies Centre – CESO Research Group: Family and Sexuality Universidad de Los Andes Studies examining the gender theme in relation to mass media have comprised three main ideas: one related to the unequal roles ascribed to men and women in media content (Herold & Foster, 1975; Luke, 1996; López, 2005); another focused on the influence messages have on sexual or gender beliefs, attitudes and behaviours (Witt, 1996; Muramatsu, 2002; Charles, 2002; Vargas, Barrera, Burgos & Daza, 2004); and, finally, gender (although it would be more appropriate to say sex) as a mediating factor in the reception process (Orozco, 1996, 1998; Lozano, 2000, 2001). The majority of these works have found differences in the number of, as well as in the way of representing, female and male characters on TV shows, at the same time as they have been performed with the adult population or from their perspective – leaving aside the interpretation children have of gender in what they see on television. Research Context In this work it is assumed that although the majority of the world’s population is influenced by television, some groups are more vulnerable than others. In Colombia’s case, approximately 7 million children have television as their only form of entertainment, connection with the world and learning tool. It has been found that children in Colombia watch an average of 3.2 hours of television daily, that 75 percent watch at night, that more than 50 percent prefer soap operas and series (shows in which gender stereotypes are abundant), that 46 percent watch with their brothers or sisters, and that 30 percent watch on their own with little or no control from their parents (Niño, 2004; Rincón, 2000). These investigations have also established that the control over the television content seen by children is exerted by the family’s mother, while the father does not seem very interested in this topic. The data make evident the relevance of the analysis of the influence television has on children’s behaviour, which we are interested in for finding alternatives that allow us to overcome the problems derived from gender inequality. This interest is also based on the results of several investigations that globally point out that sexist treatment and gender differences are strongly and positively linked with low quality of life in a country, low standards of education and little respect for civil rights (Moya, Páez, Glick, Fernández & Poeschel, 1997). There is abundant evidence that children are being exposed continuously to mass media messages that refer to what it means to be a man or woman, and that these messages significantly influence the way people, during youth and later during adulthood, understand, interpret and act in the world. Previous studies, conducted by the research group Family and Sexuality, reveal that gender cognitions are determinants to behaviour favourable to sexual and reproductive health in adolescence (Vargas Trujillo & Barrera, 2002; Vargas Trujillo, Barrera, Daza & Burgos, 2004; Vargas Trujillo, Henao & González, 2005; Vargas Trujillo & Barrera, 2003a) and that television is one of the most important and influential socializing agents in the construction of these cognitions (Vargas Trujillo & Barrera, 2003). Research Question and Method If TV messages can maintain the unequal norms and gender expectations that prevail in a society, it is probably also true that TV shows can contribute to overcoming sexism by creating characters and content that encourage children – boys and girls – to fully develop their potential (Begoechea, Díaz-Aguado, Falcon, López, & Pérez Angeles, 2006). Thus, in this study it was of interest to determine the interpretations in relation to gender that children make from their favourite TV shows. This information became the starting point for the design of a formation program with the objective of promoting the ability to think critically amongst boys and girls to allow them to watch TV from a gender perspective. The method used to gather the data was qualitative. Four girls and four boys, between 7 and 9 years of age, selected randomly from a list of second graders at an elementary school in Soacha (in Colombia), were invited to participate in a workshop. Three activities were carried out: First, the children’s television habits were explored. Then the children were asked to draw their favourite TV characters and to describe them (how they are, what they do, how they interact). At the end, a format specially designed by the research team was given to each participant so they could analyse their preferred program from a gender perspective. Results Consistent with findings of other similar studies, this study’s results reveal that the interpretation made by the girls and boys of the messages transmitted by their favourite TV shows is one in which gender stereotypes and sexist attitudes are exposed. For example, the children’s favourite shows vary by sex: The girls prefer series, soaps and programs that are perceived by the boys as “childish”, while the boys prefer programs in which aggression, violence and fights between characters prevail. This tendency is also noticed when preferred characters are analyzed in relation to the role they play in the shows, their personality traits, the way they express their emotions, the type of decisions they make, and their degree of participation in the handling of power. For instance, it was found that both the girls and boys assign to female characters responsibilities such as preparing food, revising school homework, doing housework and providing childcare, while the activities they associate with male characters include watching television, making repairs, having fun, conquering women and paying the bills. With regard to emotional expressions it was found that in the female characters, the girls recognize the tendency to express joy, love and sadness; however, the boys did not identify any emotion. In the male characters the girls recognize concern as a characteristic emotion, and the boys identify joy and anger. Among the decisions the children perceive as being taken by female characters are those related to household affairs, solving conflicts and grocery shopping. On the other hand, they perceive that deciding on "important things" and punishing children correspond to masculine characters. Conclusions The data analysis leads to the conclusion that boys and girls have not developed the required abilities to critically read the messages, which promotes unfair and unequal norms and gender expectations. This situation can be explained, first of all, by the fact that while kids watch television they cannot count on the active support of significant figures asking them questions about what they are watching in order to support them in what they should accept or reject in messages about what it means to be a man or woman. Second, and above all, boys and girls are not encouraged to develop the ability to discover television messages’ points of view regarding gender incorporated into shows in order to evaluate them as part of a context and not accept them as something that is “natural”. References Bengoechea, M., Díaz-Aguado, M., Falcon, L., López, P. & Pérez Angeles (2006) Infancia, televisión y género. Guía para la elaboración de contenidos no sexistas en programas infantiles de televisión. Secretaría General de Políticas de Igualdad, Instituto de la Mujer. RTVE Instituto. Barcelona. Charles, M. (2002) El Género en la televisión. Revista Signo y Pensamiento. Bogotá, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana. Herold, E. & Foster, M. (1975) Changing Sexual References in Mass Circulation Magazines. The Family Coordinator. López, P. (2005) Segundo informe sobre representaciones de género en los informativos de radio y televisión. Instituto oficial de radio y televisión, Madrid. Lozano, C. (2000) Consumo y lecturas negociadas de noticieros televisivos en Monterrey, Guadalajara y México. Tesis de doctorado en ciencias sociales, Universidad de Guadalajara, México. Lozano, C. (2001) El género y el nivel socioeconómico como mediaciones en el consumo de noticieros televisivos en México. Zer, 9. Universidad del país Vasco. Luke, C (1996) Introduction. En Carmen Luke (ed) Feminism and Pedagogies of Everyday Life. New York, State University of New York press. Moya, M., Páez, D., Glick, P., Fernández, I. & Poeschl, G. (1997). Sexismo, masculinidad-feminidad y factores culturales. Revista Electrónica de motivación y Emoción, 4(8-9). Muramatsu, Y. (2002). Gender Construction Through Interactions Between the Media and Audience in Japan. International Journal of Japanese Sociology 11, p. 72-87. Niño, D. J. (2004). Niñez, Juventud y televisión en Colombia. Una tarea aplazada. Documento de trabajo presentado en la cumbre mundial de medios para niños, niñas y adolescentes, Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) 19 al 23 de Abril de 2004. Orozco, G. (1996) Hay que hacer algo, pero no somos los indicados. Ambitos de mediación y supertemas en la televidencia de las noticias. Comunicación y sociedad, 27, DECs Universidad de Guadalajara. Orozco, G. (1998) Mexican mediations in TV news reception. in Jensen, K. (ed.) News of the world: World cultures look at television news. London, Routledge Rincón, O. (2000). Medios, Infancia y Adolescencia en Colombia. Informe para la cuarta cumbre mundial de medios para niños, niñas y adolescentes, Rio de Janeiro (Brasil) 19 al 23 de Abril de 2004. Vargas Trujillo, E. & Barrera, F. (2003). Actividad sexual y relaciones románticas durante la adolescencia: algunos factores explicativos. Bogotá: Documentos CESO 56. Universidad de los Andes. Vargas Trujillo, E. & Barrera, F. (2003a). Influencia de los programas televisivos con contenido sexual sobre el comportamiento de los adolescentes. Informe Final presentado a la Comisión Nacional de Televisión. Bogotá, Departamento de Psicología, Universidad de Los Andes. Vargas, E., Barrera, F., Burgos, C. & Daza, B. (2004). Influencia de los programas televisivos con contenido sexual sobre el comportamiento de los adolescentes. Documentos CESO 82. Bogotá, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales Universidad de los Andes. Vargas Trujillo, E., Henao, J. & González, C. (2005). Fecundidad adolescente en Colombia, incidencia, tendencias y determinantes: un enfoque de historia de vida. Documentos CESO 95. Bogotá, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales Universidad de los Andes. Witt, S. (1996). Gender, Culture and Representation. Oxford University Press. Top The 1st International Congress on Television and Childhood in Spain [Media Access and Media Use] by Luis Núñez Ladevéze, Congress Director, Director of the Institute of Studies on Democracy (ID), Universidad San Pablo CEU, Madrid Teresa Torrecillas Lacave, Academic Secretary at ID becaria Tamara Vázquez Barrio, Congress coordinator and scholar at ID The 1st International Congress on Television and Childhood in Spain – organized by the Instituto de Estudios de la Democracia (ID, Institute for Studies on Democracy), a research centre at Universidad San Pablo CEU – was held in Madrid on the 17-19th of October 2007. It was a truly international congress, as all guest lecturers came from research institutions in European and Latin American countries. Founded four years ago, ID has specialized in research on the relationship between children and television. At the same time, the topic of children and the Internet has come to the fore. Because we are just witnessing the beginning of this Internet transformation, which is enhanced by the astonishing technological development, the Internet had to be a topic at the Congress. The Internet is now available to most children in the West, as part of their educational process and as a new socializing factor. Because the Internet is the latest development associated with the socialization of children, the organizers, considering the intellectual prestige of Ms. Sonia Livingstone, President of the International Communication Association (ICA), decided to open the Congress with her lecture entitled “Child Protection in the Framework of the EU Safer Internet Plus Programme”. Need for New Research Methods The Congress was then divided into three blocks covering different topics. The participants in the first group, “Child Audiences”, dealt with an approach used by commercial research in which children are the targets of an advertising purpose measured by anonymous records. The short-sightedness of the goals and data on which this research is based, e.g., audio metrics, suggests the need for new methods of academic research to independently compensate for these commercial approaches. In short, the lines of research in Spain dealing with these problems have mainly focused on: 1) Establishing the dimensions of the child audience 2) Studying successful children’s programmes with regard to those who are responsible for them (mass media) and possible mediators (parents, tutors) 3) Analysing the conditions in the family environment that make it more difficult for those responsible for children to respond to their own responsibility criteria 4) Studying the context of reception, stressing the role of families 5) Promoting the role of public television in the production of contents intended for quality children’s programming 6) Designing a strategy for the protection of children in relation to civic values easily vulnerable to programming All these paths were discussed at the Congress. Firstly, child audiences were considered. Then there was a second group on “Programming and Children’s Consumption”, starting with a lecture by Piermarco Aroldi, University Sacro Cuore, Milán, Italy. Professor Luciano Elizalde, Universidad Austral de Buenos Aires, Argentina, introduced a third block on “Media Use and Children’s Reception”. A fourth block on “Educational Television” closed the Congress. Cecilia von Feilitzen, Scientific Coordinator of The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media, was the lecturer. This topic was studied from the perspective of finding a way to establish standard requirements of “quality” television, a complex issue involving several proposals, which were discussed in a public debate held by Congress participants. Television may be used as a means of communication, as a technological device. Television may also be used in other ways, one of them being “television for educational purposes”. It was not the intention of the Congress to equate “quality” and “educational television” but to remark that a relationship between both concepts may exist and, in any case, that it is worth finding out if an integral notion of “quality television” for children does not require as an essential condition that, at least, it should not be misleading. More than fifty papers and comments were presented at the Congress, which was attended by about two hundred persons. The closing session took place with the attendance of her Royal Majesty, the Princess of Asturias, who had agreed to be Honorary President of the Congress. Top Spanish Children as Captive Market of Screens [Media Access and Media Use] The article “Spanish Children as Captive Market of Screens” by Luis Núñez Ladevéze, Juan Cantavella and Tamara Vazquez presents results of recent investigations in Spain concerning the way child viewers use television. The research shows that there is a contradiction between the criteria used for regulations and the behaviour of parents and caregivers when it comes to their sons’ and daughters’ relationship with television. This contradiction has been defined by those engaged in this research as “pragmatic dissonance”. The dissonance has also been found among programmers of different television channels, who on the one hand agree to sign codes of self-regulation and, on the other, show little concern in their programming tactics for the children watching. The article is available in PDF-format in the section “Electronic Publishing” Read More Top Seen and Heard in New Zealand [Media Access and Media Use] In May 2008, the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) published a report on how children (6-13 years) in New Zealand use and respond to television, radio, the Internet and cell phones. The social patterns of children’s media access and use as well as children’s own thoughts and feelings about media, rules and protections and parental perspectives on the issue are in focus. The study is a continuation of information collected in 2001, The Younger Audience, and enables the BSA to see trends in attitudes and behaviour. Among the various research objectives, one was to examine family media environments. Children’s media environments have changed considerably between 1999/2000 and 2007 when the data were collected, which stresses the need for new research if we are to better understand how children are involved in and affected by the media. Further, the study showed differences in access to media devices between different ethnic groups in New Zealand society. Still, although the number of new media devices in the New Zealand households has increased, television remains a significant medium. Television viewing is also often done while using other media, so-called multi-tasking. The type of television content that most commonly upset the 9- to 13-year-old children is related to violence (29%), sexual content/nudity (21%) and scary/spooky features (20%). Upsetting content on the radio or on the Internet is less common (bad language on the radio, 20%, and sexual content, 16%, on the Internet). The children in the study expressed clear ideas about media content that upsets them or is inappropriate, but they also demonstrated competence and knowledge concerning how to avoid such content through self-selection and control. Both children and their caregivers show great awareness of TV classifications and warnings as a guide to children’s viewing. However, awareness of the ‘8.30 p.m. watershed’ for content less suitable for children was not as great, which according to the BSA calls for promotion of awareness in this area. Note The research is based on face-to-face interviews with more than 600 children between six and thirteen years and their primary caregivers. Some data on media use among 4- to 5-year-olds have also been collected. The report Seen and Heard: Children’s Media Use, Exposure, and Response is available in full text online. Click here Source www.bsa.govt.nz Top Media Education/Media Literacy/Awareness Practical Research Concerning the Use of Media Literacy Educational Materials for Japanese First Graders [Media Education/Media Literacy/Awareness] by Mami Komaya Ph.D., Associate Professor Showa Women’s University Tokyo, Japan Modern children living in a multimedia-oriented society receive a wide variety of information transmitted by media like television. While this information is often useful in daily life, it may have harmful effects on children's development. Therefore, children need to receive media literacy (ML) education to learn how to appropriately process information from the media. Development of Media Literacy Educational Materials In this study, we created the media literacy teaching material (video & guidebook) "TV Mysteries: Ukkie Goes Behind the Scenes!" which focused on understanding differences between fantasy and reality presented in TV programs. The goals of creating this material were as follows: (1) that children of early elementary school age would realize that TV programs are created by someone, (2) that children would become interested in "imagination and reality portrayed in TV programs", and (3) that children would associate specific "imagination and reality portrayed in TV programs" with their own daily living. The video used for this purpose (30 minutes long) consisted of three 10-minute parts: animation, action and drama. This structure would provide viewers with media experience in which the reality increased as they watched animation, action, and drama, in that order. For example, they would learn that in animation programs, characters give different impressions depending on movements, colors and voices. This understanding would lead to the further realization that the imaginary world was created by a wide variety of expressions. In action programs, children would learn the difference between violence in the real world and violence in the fictitious world by learning how action scenes were produced. In drama programs, by watching actors playing character roles, children would learn the difference between a realistic world and the real world. These learning experiences would foster their ability to subjectively understand media, and this ability would then allow them to enjoy and interact with TV programs on a higher level (in other words, children would be able to know the principle of TV images and therefore could appreciate them with better understanding). The objective of this study was to use the ML educational material in school classes to identify its effects. Animation / Action / Drama ©2003, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications ©Toei Corp ©2003, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Method A teaching experiment using the educational material was conducted in two first-grade classes at a Japanese public elementary school in March 2004. The experimental result was then comprehensively evaluated using the pretest-posttest control/comparison group design. The "basic" test (based on the material) and the "advanced" test (to measure the everyday understanding of TV reality), followed by viewing of the actual TV programs, were conducted before and after the experiment. Results and Discussion The effects of the material as identified through this study were as follows: First, the effectiveness of the material led to "awareness" of ML education. The "understanding of TV realism" significantly improved for the experimental group compared to the control group. By teaching the three topics as instructed in the material during classes, the children in the experimental group seemed to understand each of the topics, and this understanding may have been translated into the score of the basic test. Also, the fact that the experimental group showed a significantly higher level of understanding than the control group in the advanced test may indicate that classes using the material promoted children's media literacy. Second, the comments from the children in the experimental group were highly positive and indicated a high level of understanding, suggesting that the use of the material led to a development of "willingness" in the children to receive media literacy education. The feeling that the children understood each of the topics taught based on the material was supported by the numerical values shown as the test result. The increased level of understanding seemed to be linked with the willingness of the children to learn. The fact that they exhibited a willingness to continue studying and to study by themselves strongly suggested that the material could be used in expanded learning in the future. Third, this material did not influence the general perspective of the imaginary world of children. The children in the experimental group who believed in Santa Claus continued to do so while their "understanding of TV realism" improved. This means that receiving ML education using this material would not affect the children's belief in general fantasy. Therefore, learning about "imagination and reality portrayed in TV programs" in ML education using this material will not result in the "destruction of a child’s fantasy world" that teachers and parents have been concerned about. Rather, this material helped children understand and differentiate between the fantasy world, the realistic acting world in TV programs, and the real world. Top Media Education - Academic Theories and Classroom Teaching [Media Education/Media Literacy/Awareness] by Gudmund Gjelsten Director Bergbo Media Barstadvik, Norway and Asbjørn Simonnes Associate Professor Volda University College Volda, Norway For several years, the authors of this article have been reflecting on how to build a bridge between academic theory discussions and classroom teaching about the media. We have written two books on the issue (1) and conducted four years’ research on Children in the Interaction between Intentional and Functional Education, (2) sponsored and financed by The Research Council of Norway. The research was completed in 2004. In the years since then we have worked on the second book (School and Media – Communication and Pedagogy, 2007, in Norwegian) in which we have tried to compile general research findings and our own findings and reflections for more general orientation. Students, teachers and parents comprise our main target audience. Different Ethics of the School and the Media In our research, through questionnaires and a limited number of in-depth interviews with pupils (12 and 16 years of age), teachers and parents, we tried to elicit both a child and an adult view on the issue being studied. The children had observed that the ethical codes taught in the schools were often disregarded by the media. However, the pupils maintained that they had the ability to see the difference between the school and the media in this regard. Parents and teachers were clearly more concerned about the effects of the ethical profile in many media products. The liberal attitude of the media towards ethical norms perhaps created more insecurity in the children than they were willing to admit. Children Want Trustworthy Adult Dialogue Partners To our surprise, the children listed parents and teachers as top advisors about what was factual and morally acceptable in certain media programs. We had guessed that friends would have this role for young people, but our guess proved wrong. We interpret this to mean that the children, through their day-to-day contact with parents and teachers, had learned to trust these adults as people who truly cared for them. This did not prevent them from being critical of parents and teachers, but they nevertheless revealed a basic trust in them. This is a good starting point in future thinking and planning of classroom teaching about the media. In our book we make an effort to share research findings and reflections in such a way that both teachers and parents are encouraged to consider themselves important through being trustworthy adults. Children seem to look for adult dialogue partners they can truly trust, also with regard to their use of media as children. Teaching Teachers and Parents Interpersonal Communication… For this reason, basic teaching of communication and media to new teachers is imperative. Teachers who have been teaching for years, as well as parents, need encouragement as well as theoretical and practical insights to enable them to become better dialogue partners on media issues. We suggest that classroom teaching about communication start with a basic study of interpersonal communication. The classroom has a human group in which we find different personalities who are to interact with each other to create a well functioning fellowship. What creates good relations and what generates conflict? Are mass media similar to or different from face-to-face communication? Does human communication actually have a common role to play, regardless of external settings? This approach will involve a dialogue between teacher and pupil that in a natural way may introduce communication philosophy as well as the history of human communications. Being in dialogue with children, in the classroom and at home, about particular media products may also present a situation in which research findings might be presented to clarify both details and principles. …to Create Good Relationships In this teaching of human communication as relationship-building and problem-solving, the focus is on the ultimate results of human communication and less on the setting of it. Communication may create good relationships or insecurities and conflict in human groups. Pollution of the physical environment is dangerous, as is the deterioration of relationships through manipulative and distorting communication, face-to-face or via the media. Therefore, education about communication is of vital importance both at school and at home. Notes 1. Gjelsten, Gudmund & Simonnes, Asbjørn (1997) Å vekse opp i eit mediesamfunn – Identitet, toleranse og kommunikasjon i oppsedinga [To Grow Up in a Media Society – Identity, Tolerance and Communication in Upbringing]. Oslo, Samlaget Gjelsten, Gudmund & Simonnes, Asbjørn (2007) Skole og media – Kommunikasjon og pedagogikk [School and Media – Communication and Pedagogy]. Bergen, Fagbokforlaget 2. Simonnes, Asbjørn, Gjelsten, Gudmund & Kleven, Thor Arnfinn (2004) The Child in the Interaction between Intentional and Functional Education. Research report No. 56. Volda, Volda University College & Møre Research Volda Top First Policy Document on Media Literacy in the European Union [Media Education/Media Literacy/Awareness] In December 2007, the European Commission adopted a Communication on media literacy at the EU level. The document follows an EU-wide survey conducted last year (1) and is part of the Commission’s plans to encourage the development of media literacy and the exchange of good practice across Europe. The Communication focuses on three areas: - Media literacy for commercial communication, covering issues related to advertising, e.g., in giving young audiences tools to develop a critical approach to reading commercial communication - Media literacy for audiovisual works, which in part concerns raising awareness of European film and enhancing media production and creativity skills - Media literacy for online which, for example, will give citizens better knowledge of how e.g. Google and other Internet search engines work as well as encourage awareness of copyright issues. Media literacy in this area also means ensuring that the benefits of the information society can be enjoyed by everyone regardless of age, gender, ethnicity or disability. The Commission calls on Member States to encourage authorities in charge of audiovisual and electronic communication regulation to get more involved and cooperate in the improvement of media literacy at different levels. Moreover, it is desirable that they promote research on, and monitor different aspects and dimensions of, media literacy. The development and implementation of codes of conduct, co-regulatory framework and self-regulatory initiatives are also recommended. Furthermore, on the 6th June 2008, the European Council published its conclusions on a European approach to media literacy in the digital environment. Considering that the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive calls for the development of media literacy in all sections of society the European Parliament has asked the Council and the Commission to develop and to implement media literacy programmes to promote active and aware citizenship in Europe. Considering that knowledge, skills and attitudes related to digital competence are essential attributes to the European Parliament's and European Council's Lifelong Learning Programme (2007 - 2013), the Commission has welcomed the Communication ‘A European approach to media literacy in the digital environment’ as a further building block to European audiovisual policy. Read more Note 1. "Study on the Current Trends and Approaches to Media Literacy in Europe" was carried out for the Commission by the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona in the second half of 2007. The study, covering the 27 member states of the European Union and the EEA Member States, map current practices in implementing media literacy in Europe. The final report is available in full text on the following link Click here Source "A European approach to media literacy in the digital environment", COM(2007) 833, available in 22 languages Link and ”Lifelong learning strategies calls for greater literacy in media and technologies” Link Top Study on Criteria to Assess Media Literacy Levels [Media Education/Media Literacy/Awareness] The Commission has published a Call for tender for a Study on criteria to assess media literacy levels. The deadline for receipt of tenders is 27 June 2008. The references to this Call are the following: Contract Notice 2008/S 67-089657 (SMART 2008/0005). The Contract Notice may be consulted on the TED-website: http://ted.europa.eu/ Direct link to the Call: Click here Top Children's and Young People's Participation On Children and Audiovisual Production in Spain [Children's and Young People's Participation] by Jacqueline Sánchez Carrero Ph.D. in Communication, TV Producer Department of Audiovisual Communication, Advertising and Literature University of Seville Seville, Spain Today, everyone knows that several public institutions and some professionals, as well as private citizens, are making a great effort to promote children’s and teenagers’ media production. The most frutitful experiences in Spain have been those in which the school has taken the lead, i.e., the teacher has gotten involved in the media learning and teaching, and the children have lived the experience as their own. In Spain, the number of media literacy practical courses, which began in theory well into the 70’s, has lately been increasing. Examples of Media Literacy Practices We could mention, in the first place, the teaching program Behind the Camera, which has been implemented for more than a decade, free of charge, at La Casa de la Cultura Larrotxene in the city of San Sebastián. It is a workshop created to teach children – aged 9 or older – to think of the image. It promotes content creativity and teaches the children to reflect before they have the camera in their hands. Orson the Kid Film School for Children in Madrid has other aims. From the year 2000 this school has helped its students, aged from 8 to 18, to write, produce and direct a large number of short films and two feature films – El Guardavías (The Linesman) and Los Veraneantes (The Vacationers). The two feature films have already been shown in Spanish movie theatres. What differentiates this school from others is its demand that the real dynamics of the cinematographic process be put into practice through the use of fully professional equipment. The Grimm Proyect, which has accumulated a large number of experiences since the 90’s, has developed a different approach. It favours the use of new information technologies in the school. It has an Internet portal where secondary school teachers and students can upload their projects, which are usually related to their subjects. More recent is Teleclip, the first Spanish television channel broadcast on the web, made “for and by” children. It is an educational experience by which children and teens, aged from 7 to 17, have at their disposal a platform where they can upload their videos to a news program tailored specifically for them. The thematic channels include sports, cinema and cooking, among others. Best Practices in Seville Telekids, which is a workshop that has taken place in Seville, is the real proof that children and teenagers can develop skills not only for audiovisual production but also for critical interpretation. It is an educational scheme that allows the child to learn script writing, videocamera production and the key points of sound and editing. At the same time, the child is educated to become a critical TV viewer regarding the different audiovisual genres. The final outcome of this workshop is, on the one hand, a short film made entirely by the student group, and, on the other, the improvement of the students’ critical ability when viewing different programs. The students must learn to dissect the components of several animated cartoons, television serials, films, advertisements and news programs, and discover the author’s intention for using them. One of Telekids’ experiences resulted in the creation of the video Juanito’s Secret. This video tells the story of Sara, a girl from a well-off family, who discovers that her parents mistreat Juanito, the boy working in her house. She fights until everyone considers Juanito to be a child, which is what he in fact is. The group that made the video, moreover, was able to issue a steadfast criticism of their final work, admitting that mistakes had been made in the plot and some technical aspects, and suggesting feasible solutions for improving the audiovisual product. In Seville we have now also been able to reach two well-defined communities, thanks to the NGO Fundación Gota de Leche here: the immigrant and Romani communities. This organization is committed to attending to children’s needs in Spain and in some areas of Latin America. The Filmaking Workshop was used in the immigrant community to reach the basic objective of their adaptation to the new host society. The use of the camera allowed this community to express their own fears and become aware of new socio-laboural possibilities. One of the groups created a docufiction entitled Adaptation. In this docufiction, the group showed the difficulties in adapting to the new educational level, and the lives of those who had abandoned trying to do this and had returned to their countries. The reality of the Romani community is quite different. In this case we worked with girls aged from 10 to 17, living in the marginal settlement El Vacie. The aim was to regulate their behaviour, encourage school attendance and instill in them their identity as citizens with rights and duties. Through the Camera Worshop they created what they called their “soap opera”, an anecdotical mirroring of the Romani way of life. The final video The Vacie Girls includes family arguments concerning money, first boyfriends and even the ancestral celebration of a Romani wedding. Audiovisual Education as Part of the School Curriculum? As can be seen, a large variety of practical courses in media literacy are emerging in Spain. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for the educational authorities to consider audiovisual education to be a part of the school curriculum, so as not to limit the basic contents of this curriculum to the writing and reading worlds. Top Images of Children and Young People Children in the News, Children and the News - Notes from a Portuguese research project [Images of Children and Young People] by Cristina Ponte Ph.D., Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal In 2005, all the news items involving children (under 18 years of age) and related issues were analysed in four national Portuguese newspapers throughout the year and in a sample of TV prime time news. The task was aimed not only at updating and expanding previous research from the year 2000 (1) but also at including children’s and young people’s perspectives and promoting a public debate with journalists. Children in the News Children at social risk (situations that threaten their physical, emotional and social welfare) dominated the news (around 2 out of 5 items) in 2005 like in 2000, presenting children as either passive innocent victims (of sexual abuse or parental violence) or young delinquents. Most of the items referred to national events, but great focus was also on the victims of the Asian tsunami. An 18-minute TV report on starving children in Angola generated a wave of goods donation to minimize the situation. In a hidden context, all these kinds of contents suggested a world of the others from the audience’s perspective, a world affected by deviance, poverty and geographic distance. Other risk situations, such as accidents and illnesses, were also frequent topics on TV and in the popular press. The focus on specific events contrasted with the secondary presence of public policies on safety or health care. Education was again (like in 2000) a frequent topic (1 out of 5 stories), mostly framing children as the passive recipients of policies or affected by teachers’ controversies. Children’s consumption, culture and lifestyles (12% of the stories) appeared as the other side of the coin, showing a rising importance of children’s industries and economies. In both topics (Education and Culture/Consumption), children were mostly framed as our children from the audience’s perspective, thus being closer to its experiences and worries as parents. Summing up, if the dominant stories were framed by the social risk, other frames enlarged the perspective of children at risk as part of a risk society. Focussing mainly on individual cases, the news invited individual answers in risk management rather than childhood policies at national or global levels. Children’s Perspectives on Children in the News In 2006-2007, around 500 children of different ages and social experiences were asked about their relationship with news. Besides opinions from 9 and 10-year-olds in eight public schools in the Lisbon area and in the countryside, children from Social Care and Justice Systems were also heard. For the 250 primary school children, talking with adults about news was an unusual experience. Although watching TV news tends to occur within the household, with parents at dinner, there was no conversation about its content, and the same happened at school. Therefore, children were astonished when they were told that researchers would like to listen to their opinions about news concerning children. Answers and comments showed that children had vivid memories of news involving traumatic events, even if the events were over two years old. The children studied repeatedly reproduced media expressions about murdered children (the data were collected before Madeleine McCann’s disappearance) and referred to African children, children’s poverty and the tsunami victims. The items also included accidents or school space conditions. On the other hand, the 150 institutionalized children and young people, who were 12-20 years of age, showed a high interest in the news, not only because it allowed them to be “updated” but also as a way of occupying their time. These young people were particularly sensitive to news about battered and abandoned children, some projecting personal experiences. Crime and delinquency stories had ambivalent readings: There was shock and perplexity about reported acts, and identification feelings in the way the facts were presented. References to “positive news” were residual and came mostly from sports or local culture. Some of these young people had had direct contact with journalists as part of news stories on delinquency, and expressed critical opinions on the inefficiency of the Identity Protection Act. Difficulties of contextualization and understanding the event were also pointed out: “They don’t know how to cover when they should stop; they seem to think we are murderers…” Public Debate These voices and experiences showed that the Rights of the Child (namely, the rights of expressing opinions and accessing information from the mass media) seem to be left out of the public attention, including that of the media. A first discussion of this overall picture based on news content analysis and voices of children occurred at a seminar in November 2007. Editors, news sources and researchers discussed the trends, with live participation from the public (NGOs, journalists, media students, academics, education and healthcare professionals). Workshops oriented toward journalists and news sources have already started, around the IFJ (International Federation of Journalists) guidelines, news culture, ethics and law. Involving children in news production and the circulation of their voice in newspapers is also the aim of a connected ongoing project. Empowering media professionals, children’s advocates and children themselves concerning children’s rights is a perennial task in the main project, which is now facing new challenges. Note 1. Ponte, Cristina (2002) “Children in Portuguese Newspapers – Two International Perspectives”, News from ICCVOS, 1, pp 4-5 Top Juvenile Delinquency in Newspapers [Images of Children and Young People] by Maria José Brites M.A.,Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa Lisbon, Portugal How do the media cover the issue of juvenile delinquency? This question was behind some of the concerns that led to the investigation for the master’s thesis on “Juvenile Delinquency Representations in News Media: case study of two daily national newspapers – Público and Correio da Manhã (1993-2003)” (1). This period of time is relevant because it was during the 90s that this issue gained more visibility in Portuguese media. During this ten-year period most news coverage was routine, based essentially on episodic coverage in both newspapers, focusing on the event itself. For those who are not familiar with these two Portuguese dailies, it is important to briefly describe them. Público is a quality newspaper that stresses political, domestic and international affairs. On the other hand, Correio da Manhã is a popular newspaper that tends to focus (at least during this period of time) on issues such as crime, violence and insecurity. Thematic vs Episodic Reporting Before presenting results, we must bear in mind two important concepts: thematic vs. episodic reporting. For McManus and Dorfman, thematic reporting “looks at the big picture, examining connections between similar events”, and tends to try to answer questions such as “why” and “how”. Episodic reporting, however, focuses on a single event, describing “what” happened (McManus and Dorfman, 2000: 6). “The thematic news frame places political issues and events in some general context”, while episodic reporting focuses on specific events (Iyengar, 1991: 2). Frames help to provide meaning and show slight changes in selecting problems and issues. In the popular newspaper, even extraordinary media events do not usually provide a thematic frame. A sample of this publication (549 articles on juvenile delinquency) provided very few examples of thematic coverage (never over 8%). This publication placed little importance on the political context, despite its concern with and focus on insecurity. It is important to note, however, that even when events or dates placed the focus on the problem of juvenile delinquency, the coverage was more routine during the entire period. This type of coverage is constant and systematic. On the other hand, the quality newspaper’s coverage (sample of 213 articles) is not as intensive, usually using some extraordinary event or a group of dates to enhance coverage and make it extraordinary, which, in this case, can create thematic news coverage. Sometimes, nevertheless, this type of reporting does not focus on the problem itself – there is a political and legal agenda. Political powers increasingly tend to take advantage of fear of crime to justify their political intentions. It is interesting to see that although the popular newspaper’s coverage is more thorough and intense on the inside, the quality newspaper has almost as many first pages focusing on the problem (27) as the popular paper does (32). Image of Youth through Adults' Words If we analyze the sources – when they are quoted – the one most frequently quoted is the police. But, once again, there are many differences between the two publications if we look at other sources. While the popular one tends to go to a location and quote sources like family, friends and neighbours, the quality paper is more likely to quote specialists. Young people, particularly young offenders, are rarely used as a source in both either newspaper. Thus, we received an image of them through adults’ words. The way young offenders are portrayed in the news during this period is very different, taking into account factors such as the act itself and whether it was practiced individually or in a group, the social context, the gender and the skin colour. They can be presented as murderers, violent aggressors or thieves, but, in particular cases, also as heroes or victims – of drug addiction or of their family's situation and the social context in which they live. Our findings indicate that juvenile delinquency is an important matter for both newspapers during the aforementioned period of time, but their approaches are very different. It is also essential to mention that somehow, the problem itself and its causes (such as poverty and other social factors) are sometimes neglected. Politicians take advantage of these events as well as a fear of crime to focus on the need to make laws more restrictive. The role of the media in an eclectic society should never be overlooked because most of what we know comes from newspapers. They contribute to making our society either more educated or more stigmatized. Note 1. Included in “Children and Young People in the News” Project (PPCDT/COM/60020) coordinated by Cristina Ponte. References Dearing, James W. & Rogers, Everett M. (1996): Communication Concepts 6 Agenda-Setting. Thousand Oaks, Sage. Estrada, Felipe (2004): “The Transformation of the Politics of Crime in High Crime Societies”. European Journal of Criminology, SAGE, vol. 1 (4) 419-443. Iyengar, Shanto (1991): Is Anyone Responsible? Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press. Roché, Sebastian (1993): Le Sentiment D’Insécurité, Paris, PUF Tuchman, Gaye (1980): Making News – A Study in the Construction of Reality. New York, The Free Press. “Youth and Violence in California Newspapers” http://www.bmsg.org/pdfs/Issue9.pdf by John McManus and Lori Dorfman, Issue Vol. 9, Berkeley Media Studies Group, 2000. [May 2004] Top Jokela School Massacre in Finland – Viewpoints of Youths and Media [Images of Children and Young People] by Sirkku Kotilainen Ph.D., Senior Researcher Research Centre for Contemporary Culture University of Jyväskylä Jyväskylä, Finland “Date: 11/7/2007 Attack Type: Mass murder, political terrorism (although I chose the school as a target, my motives for the attack are political and much much deeper and therefore I don’t want this to be called only a ‘school shooting’).” Soon after this attack information was published online (on e.g. Youtube and Myspace), six youngsters, two adults and the shooter himself died in the massacre at Jokela high school in Finland in November 2007. The shooter was an 18-year-old male student at this school in Jokela, a village near Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The school massacre covered the main news in certainly all Finnish media for several days. This time, the blame was placed on the media not only by psychologists, but also by youths themselves, in the middle of the crisis. The media was partly blamed for the whole massacre (i.e., providing violent material to youths), but it was also blamed for publicly presenting the process, for example publishing pictures of the young people in newspapers and online. In this text I briefly describe what kind of phases the process of the crisis went through in the Finnish media from the viewpoint of children and youths. From First Aid to After-treatment For the first time in Finland, this kind of national crisis was published and followed in real-time online news, additional to extra news transmissions on television and radio and in special editions of newspapers. During the ongoing crisis and soon after, mainly psychologists and other child development experts were interviewed, as were terror-stricken and bereaved residents in Jokela, especially youths. The experts were asked, for example: How should you follow this news with your children? How can you maintain children’s feelings of safety in this news environment? In this phase of ‘first aid’, adults (e.g., teachers) and young people themselves established online communities to offer support and listen to each other, for example at the largest online picture gallery in Finland, the IRC Gallery. In the second phase, the media looked for reasons for this horrible massacre. I call this phase “the incrimination”. With the voices of experts, the tragedy was mainly presented as a personal psychological problem the young man suffered from. In some media texts, the young man’s parents as well as teachers and educators were also blamed. Additionally, the media was pronounced guilty, as were other factors – as one could already foresee in the light of the history of children, youths and the media. For example, the shooter was active in publishing his societal viewpoints, discussing and gaming online. The incrimination of the media took on new aspects, when the young people living in Jokela insisted on sorting out its work methods in this crisis. Additionally, they asked media professionals to reflect upon their own principles of good communication. The youths were upset about the methods journalists used to secure interviews with or take photos of residents, victims and their relatives – and about them showing their private, personal grief in public. The youths published their claims in an announcement in the main Finnish media outlets, two weeks after the shooting. The third phase, ’after-treatment’, is still going on in Finland. The recovery in Jokela has been supported by the state, for example by increasing the number of youth workers. The working group of the Ministry of Justice is conducting several investigations (e.g., concerning the effects of media) for the research board appointed by the government, which is going to be settled later this year. The Council for Mass Media in Finland has published a number of resolutions concerning the news reporting in Jokela, i.e. media breaking regulations concerning the protection of private life. The Council had expected more complaints, but the residents of Jokela have not been willing to restart such public processes. Demands for More Media Literacy In the field of research, the youth researchers have published several viewpoints online regarding this tragedy in Finnish, including, for example, demands for the teaching of more media literacy, and more discussion and debate in educational settings (Hoikkala & Suurpää 2007). Researchers want to get adults’ attention in taking young people’s interest seriously regarding, for example, extreme political opinions – and the uses of media, which seem to also be integrated. In educational settings (for example school), such societal media education should take place, where adults are willing to discuss and organize debates about media criticism, for example regarding violence, sex and even terrorism in the media. The public announcement by the young people of Jokela has been taken seriously at least by media researchers, who wish to study the methods and ethics of the media in this crisis. According to the first results, the journalistic methods were partly questionable in Jokela. Examples of such methods are offering money to get inside the homes of young victims or for mobile phone pictures from inside the school (Raittila, Juntunen, Väliverronen 2008). The complete research report will be published later in 2008. Public Discussion Continues In April 2008, Jokela is again in public discussions. An Internal Security Program has been published, with the aim of making Finland the safest country in Europe. To avoid crises like Jokela, the experts suggest things such as virtual police and channels to online communities for revealing shady materials to authorities. The Central Crime Police have finished their pre-study of Jokela, in which over 400 people were interviewed. The main motives of the young man were loneliness, depression and the fact that he had been bullied at school. Additionally, his strong interest in societal issues since elementary school was named one of several background motives. References Hoikkala, Tommi & Suurpää, Leena (2007) Jokela –ilmiö. Sikermä nuorisotutkijoiden näkökulmia. Helsinki: Nuorisotutkimusverkosto, verkkojulkaisuja 17. www.nuorisotutkimusseura.fi/julkaisuja/jokela.pdf (16.04.2008). Raittila, Pentti & Juntunen, Laura & Väliverronen, Esa (2008) Jokelan jälkipyykkiä lajittelemassa. Presentation, Media-päivät (12.04.2008). Top Media Contents and Media Production Futura Channel in Brazil – Investigation and Dialogue [Media Contents and Media Production] by Mônica Rodrigues Dias Pinto Institutional Development Manager Futura Channel Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Futura was born to become more than a TV channel – it was created with the aim of making a difference in the lives of Brazilians. Therefore, our daily practice always includes survey and assessment. How can we check what we do? How can we correct routes? Improve processes? Celebrate results? Expand our action with quality, contributing effectively toward social transformation in Brazil? Futura Channel, launched in 1997, is a ten-year TV experience, a social communication project carried out on private initiative, in the public interest. With 24-hour daily programming, Futura is watched by 33 million Brazilians and reaches 73 million through different distribution devices. Community Dialogue To overcome the project’s challenge and drive the virtuous cycle of communication for social change, Futura’s operational gears count on the following driving forces: • We promote strategic and operational direction for carrying out Futura's objectives and the feasibility of an original, rational and decentralized educational television model, without large studios, structures, teams, etc. Futura mobilizes, leads and develops people, experts from different areas, and independent producers with a passion for communication for change. • On a national level, a team of social educators works at articulating and connecting different local groups and reference institutions. The purpose of this is to provide our educational content and methodologies to be used in local development projects, develop and expand communication skills in the communities, work in networks connecting partners around common causes, enrich the production of programs, and create a direct channel reflecting the demands and knowledge produced in the different regions of the country. • We articulate and establish institutionally and financially sustainable public-private partnerships and have 13 funding organizations. • Nongovernmental organizations, universities, social movements and national and international agencies (such as UNESCO, UNDP and UNICEF) participate in local co-production for national broadcasting of television content and programs. This community dialogue and collective action have mobilized what is probably the country’s largest social network. Methods of Investigation Through quantitative methods, we aim to examine the habit of watching the channel, the TV viewers’ profile and what the target audiences think of Futura. By means of qualitative methods, we assess the suitability of programs for their target audience. Through in-depth group discussions (focus groups), we verify the communication range of a program, as well as the quality of its language, format and content. We also watch the programs with outskirt communities to closely observe how people react. Finally, we assess the result and impact by performing ethnographic, longitudinal and economic studies about Futura as a whole, and about certain special projects (program production and community outreach actions). Examples of Findings In December 2006 we conducted the eighth Datafolha Survey (1) on Futura Channel. Representing the entire Brazilian population above 16 years of age, the survey showed that Futura continues to grow – from 17 percent of viewers in 2000 to 26 percent six years later. The audience is mostly young people of elementary school age. Another interesting characteristic is that Futura’s audience is more socially engaged, has a greater spirit of entrepreneurship and is less biased than the Brazilian population average. Through surveys and forums, we also know the themes the audience would like to see discussed on an educational channel. In our last survey the most requested themes were: environment, health, professional education, human rights and childhood issues. The 2005 national survey sought to verify the attitudes of Futura’s viewers: 72 percent apply its contents in life, 70 percent recommend the channel to youth, 78 percent think and reflect on certain subjects, and 65 percent seek further information on a subject (many programs present sites, reference institutions and complementary reading or services). In surveys in the regions where we broadcast on the open channel network of universities, Futura ranks high, especially in children’s programming (3rd place). The channel is a great success among children aged 4 to 11 years. Furthermore, we have adopted production procedures to improve the language and content of our programs. Regarding children’s programming, we hire specialized companies to organize focus groups in which children from different ages and social classes watch the programs and then produce drawings and representations of what they saw. This is followed by talks and debates. Our challenge is to breach the gap between what we wish to produce for youths, what we feel they think and desire, and the real context of their needs and interests. The surveys, assessments and direct contact with youths in the young protagonist projects we develop have been vital in the conception, production and reformatting of the programs addressed to this segment. In many productions, youths take part in pre-forums to discuss themes, contents and formats. They are co-producers in some of them, or participate as critical script readers. We have learnt how young people wish to participate and establish interactivity, their search for identity and diversity, and their preference for lighter, bolder and agile esthetics and formats. Forty programs have already been assessed through focus groups, involving over 500 people discussing language, format, content and approach. Communication for Social Change We are also concerned with verifying the result and impact of what we do as a social communication project. For example, Trilheiros is an initiative without comparison in Brazil, combining TV production and pedagogic actions. The project has hitherto been developed in the states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais. In Minas Gerais we worked for two years with youngsters from three NGOs, who were the protagonists of and participated actively in the production of a reality show. Later, the youngsters used the programs in their communities and developed, based on the program’s dynamics, a local cultural gymkhana for other youngsters. We wanted them to highlight and value the culture, environment, history and economy of their region. The project also intends to develop youths’ communication skills so that they can improve their own quality of life. For this project, we ordered an ethnographic assessment from Universidade Federal Fluminense to verify the project’s contribution to changing the youths’ behavior and self-representation, as well as to improve the project design. The fieldwork helped to define the following categories of analysis for the youths’ observations during their activities: body, communicative intelligence, discourse order, cognitive development, ethnicity, visual culture, acts of speech and representation. The study has not yet been concluded, but we notice through the partial reports that the methodology adopted has led to a different way of valuing local culture. The youngsters develop important skills in their interactions, which has opened great perspectives for many of those involved. Note 1. Instituto Datafolha is an institute for national surveys in Brazil. Top Girls and Boys and Television [Media Contents and Media Production] In the recently published issue of the journal Televizion,edited by Dr. Maya Götz (1) the role of gender in children’s television programming is in focus. Among the articles are the results of the most comprehensive international analysis of children’s television to date, analysing the main characters of fictional programmes in 24 countries. The main share is made up of animated shows (84%), programmes not produced domestically and show a clear under-representation and stereotyped depiction of female characters. Only 32% of the main characters in children’s programmes are female, compared to reality where women count for 51% of the world’s population. The study also shows that in most of the countries the reality of ethnic diversity is not represented. Note 1. Head of the International Central Institute of Youth and Educational Television (IZI), Munich, Germany. Source Televizion No. 21/2008/E: “Girls and Boys and Television. The Role of Gender” Top “Bonn Network” – Collaborating on Using Media to Prevent Conflicts [Media Contents and Media Production] by Dr Bent Noerby Bonde Director/Senior Advisor Media Progress Vallby, Denmark It has become increasingly evident that the media can trigger internal and international violent conflicts as well as inter-cultural tensions, but they are also a very crucial factor in conflict prevention and peace-building. The challenge for the international community is to deal with these media rapidly and with a coordinated long-term strategy to remove the root causes of conflict and build sustainable democracies. Following a conference in Bonn in 2007, more than 25 IGOs, NGOs, media and research institutions started the Bonn Network as an informal framework for increased cooperation. The overall objective of the Bonn Network is to increase, develop and pool international knowledge, expertise and best practices in the field of media as a tool in conflict prevention and peace-building to help all actors increase cooperation on the implementation of long-term strategies and to ensure that independent analyses, experts, and technical and financial resources are available for rapid and coordinated interventions in crisis situations. It has been decided to establish the Bonn Network as an AISBL (i.e. NGO), registered in Belgium. It has also been decided to keep the Bonn Network as an open network offering full membership to all organizations working for the common objectives and associate membership for organizations that prefer a looser association to the network. Individual members are also accepted. Children’s programmes have played a great role in media collaboration across enemy borders, because most political leaders consider the genre to be politically neutral. At the same time, all long-term peace-building and conflict prevention efforts must be based on the younger generations if such efforts are to bridge the gaps causing the conflicts. Most members of the Bonn Network have worked, in relation to one conflict or the other, with content that targets children and youth. Hopefully, the future activities of network members will help increase and coordinate work with the media as an important tool in conflict prevention and peace-building. Top Agora EEIG is Established [Media Contents and Media Production] by Vic Sutton Development Director Thornburg Center for Space Exploration Washington, DC, USA From the mid 90s and onwards, Agora, organized by the European Children’s Television Centre, was held every year, mostly in Greece. Agora was an opportunity for key players in the international children’s audio-visual field to gather in order to exchange information and to explore the needs of the area, to plan specific media productions, research projects and media literacy education initiatives. The Agora has now been re-established as a European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG), a body with participants from various countries of the European Union that can be recognized by the European Commission. The Agora EEIG is an informal grouping of people working in the field of the media and children. The decision to establish the Agora EEIG was taken at a meeting held in Paestum, Italy last November 2007, at the invitation of Raffaele Picardi of the Rodari Club, Naples. The meeting was briefed by Athina Rikaki about plans for the 2007 Kids for Kids festival, which was held in Italy from 29 November-2 December. 50 children were involved in the festival, from as many countries. It was agreed that the Kids for Kids project could perhaps be included in the Agora media literacy project, and presented to the European Parliament. The 2008 edition will likely be organized in Athens or Hydra, Greece. The Agora EEIG also agreed an initiative to support the World Summit on Media for Children, which would take place in Karlstad, Sweden in June 2010. An Agora-supported preparatory meeting would be organized in 2009, with a focus on media literacy and with good participation from the countries of eastern Europe. Agora EEIG members resolved to study the possibility of organizing a meeting of media educators as part of the 2008 Exposcuola event in Italy. The next meeting of the Agora EEIG is expected be held at the end of August/beginning of September 2008 in Hydra, Greece, side by side with the Kids for Kids festival. The Paestum assembly elected a Board of Directors with the following members: Francisco Veres Machado as President, Vic Sutton as Secretary General, Raffaele Picardi as Treasurer and Karl-Gunnar Lidström and Michalis Maniatis as Vice Presidents, with Olga Linne and Bonnie Bracey Sutton as members, appointed for their expertise in media literacy and new technologies, respectively. Commenting on the new set-up, Francisco Veres Machao explained “The Agora will remain an open forum, and we will welcome participation in its initiatives from all who are committed to its goals, whether members or not. However, the new set-up will give us a proper legal framework and should help us mobilise the resources we need for an ambitious programme of work.” Readers interested in joining future meetings of the Agora can contact vsutton@hotmail.co.uk Top Measures and Regulations The German Tug-of-War on Killerspiele [Measures and Regulations] by Dr. Estrid Sørensen, Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany www.materiality-in-action.de On 20 November 2006, an 18-year-old man armed with firearms and pipe bombs entered his former secondary school in the German town of Emsdetten. He shot and injured 37 people before killing himself. Only a few hours later the first voices started calling for a ban of what in Germany is known as Killerspiele – “Killing games”. This introduced a lengthy debate on a large number of topics concerning youth protection and computer games. The definition of Killerspiele was the red thread running through these discussions. Germany has the world’s oldest–and probably most complicated–system of computer game regulation. Two institutions are central: The self-regulation agency of the game industry USK (Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle Link), founded in 1994, and the BPjM,(Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons Link). In 2003 ratings for computer games were made requisite by law, and today nearly all computer game releases in Germany carry a USK label (2807 titles in 2007). Publishers have to submit a game for rating by the USK before releasing it on the Germany market. Even though the notion of Killerspiele is not used in the USK ratings, violence is a central criterion of the rating system. The USK may either allow a game to be released from a certain age, or it may refuse to label it. The latter happens when the USK on basis of their assessment believe the game will be classified as “youth-endangering” by the BPjM–most often due to excess of violence. This happened to Microsoft’s Gears of War (Read more). Lacking a USK label the game could still be published in Germany, but it would be illegal to sell it to minors. However, according to Microsoft’s politics–similar to other game distributors’–games without an age-label are not published in Germany at all. As expected by the USK the game was later classified youth-endangering by the BPjM, and if Microsoft had not already withdrawn the game from the German market, the game distributor would now have had to stop advertising the game, stop displaying it on shop shelves and refrain from handing it over to minors in any other way. In 2007 BPjM classified 43 computer games as youth-endangering. Ban on Killerspiele The 2003 Protection of Young People law reform followed a school shooting in Erfurt in 2002, and the Emsdetten school shooting consequently also came to be associated with legislation on Killerspiele. In January 2007 the Christian-Social Union (CSU) passed an amendment to the Criminal Code in the Bavarian Parliament to ban Killerspiele. The amendment was put on the Bundesrat (Upper House) agenda for the 16th of the following month. The existing Criminal Code §131 bans media that “describe cruel or otherwise inhumane acts of violence against human beings or [human-like creatures] (1) in a manner which expresses a glorification or rendering harmless of such acts of violence or which represents the cruel or inhumane aspects of the event in a manner which injures human dignity”. The Bavarians found these formulations too vague, and proposed to add a §131a banning computer games that “…enable the player to participate in such acts of violence” Three days prior to the bill being heard in the Bundesrat, the Federal Family Minister (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) presented a Sofortprogramm (Immediate Action Programme) intended to intensify the regulation of computer games by changing the Protection of Young Persons Act and not the Criminal Code. The 2003 Protection of Young Persons Act §15 classifies media as youth-endangering if they present “people in a disgraceful manner who are dying or are exposed to severe physical or psychic suffering or violating human dignity by presenting actual facts and developments, although there is no justifiable public interest in such mode of reporting”. To this section would be added games that were “violence dominated”. By the end of the week the Bundesrat found the Bavarian bill objectionable enough to transfer it to the Committee for New Media for further debate. The latter did not find more support for it in their meeting in April 2007. Apart from criticism of its content, one of the reasons for reservations towards the bill was a wish to await the ongoing evaluation of the 2003 Protection of Young Persons Act which was to be released by the Hans Bredow Institute in June 2007. Link Sharpened Legislation Debated The conclusions of the evaluation report only partially supported the proposed initiatives. The report found no need to sharpen the legislation and emphasised that a change in the Criminal Code was likely to violate the Basic Law, according to which computer games are protected by the right to freedom of expression. A total ban would also violate industry rights. It however did emphasise that the definition of violence in the Criminal Code is widely contested, just as the definition of violent games in the Protection of Young Persons Act was described as “concepts in need of interpretation” (p. 102). The debate cooled down and the Family Ministry prepared an amendment to the Protection of Young People Act based on the Sofortprogramm and the evaluation report, and presented it for the Bundesrat in January 2008. This parliamentary assembly supported the general idea of the amendment, and in May 2008 it passed through the Bundestag (Lower House) supported by the Social Democrats and the CDU/CSU. Consequently, Germany has extended its definition of “youth-endangering” – and thus classified – games. These now also embrace any game (and movie) whose “course of events is dominated by exceptionally realistic, cruel or lurid displays of violence for its own sake”. Furthermore, with the amendment media are classified as “highly youth-endangering” – and thus automatically subjected to the restrictions of youth-endangering media – in which “acts of violence such as scenes of murder or slaughtering are presented for their own sake and in detail, or in which vigilantism is suggested to be the only trustworthy means for the implementation of the supposed justice.” As an example of such games the Family Minister mentions games in which “clearly visualised use of violence is rewarded by ‘collecting lives’ or by reaching a higher level”. The game industry association Bitkom (Link) has criticized the proposed classification criteria for being “too open for interpretation and coined by highly subjective conceptualisation”. It is however clear that no regulation of violent computer games is possible if no definition is suggested, and up till now neither the industry nor other parties have been able to formulate an unambiguous definition of Killerspiele. Note 1. This translation is the official translation from the German Federal Family Ministry. I have added the brackets since the German version mentions not only humans but also human-like creatures–“menschenähnliche Wesen”. Top Dignity, Security and Privacy of Children on the Internet [Measures and Regulations] In February 2008, the Declaration of the Committee of Ministers on protecting the dignity, security and privacy of children on the Internet was adopted within the Council of Europe. There is a concern that the enduring presence of content created by children may be damaging or challenging to their dignity, security, privacy and honour now as well as in their adult future. In the declaration, the traceability of children’s Internet activities is mentioned as a risk of exposure to criminal activities such as “grooming” of children for sexual purposes, stalking or other forms of harassment. Another concern is the retention of children’s personal data for commercial purposes and, according to the declaration, an emerging tendency of, e.g., educational institutions or prospective employers to seek information about the child/young person when deciding on important issues that may affect their lives. Longlasting Online Content The document also stresses the need to inform children about the enduring presence of online content and the risks associated with creating it, as well as the necessity to develop and promote children’s information literacy skills to empower them in this new information and communication environment. The declaration invites the 47 member states to explore the feasibility of removing or deleting content created by children and its traces within a reasonably short period of time in order to protect the young. Source The Council of Europe: www.coe.int Declaration in full text: Click here Top New Rules in Australia for Age-restricted Internet and Mobile Content [Measures and Regulations] The Australian Communications and Media Authority, ACMA, has determined new rules that for the first time implement a uniform approach for restricting access to MA15+ and R18+ content accessed through the Internet or by mobile phones. By the new Restricted Access Systems Declaration, all content service providers are obligated to check that individuals accessing restricted content provided in Australia are either at least 15 years of age or 18 years of age depending on the classification. Following the new rules, after receiving a complaint, the ACMA may require the content service provider to remove or place the content behind specific access restrictions. The new rules came into effect on 20 January 2008. Source http://www.acma.gov.au/ Top Internet, Computer Games, NICT The Byron Review [Internet, Computer Games, NICT] In March 2008, British psychologist Dr. Tanya Byron delivered a 200-page report on children and new technology. Safer Children in a Digital World. The Report of the Byron Review was written in response to a request by the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to look at the risks faced by children who are exposed to potentially harmful or inappropriate content. The objectives were to review the evidence on the risks of exposure to potentially harmful or inappropriate content on the Internet and in video games in relation to children’s safety and well-being, and to assess the effectiveness and adequacy of existing measures to prevent children from being exposed to such material. Views and evidence for the review have been collected primarily from children, but also from parents and a range of stakeholders from industry, civil society, etc. Risktaking Part of Development In the report, Dr. Byron points out that risk-taking is an important step in development, but that it needs to be appropriate to the child’s age and stage of development and that adults must be prepared to offer support in managing these risks. Our concerns, and response to those concerns, must also be proportional. Dr. Byron further calls attention to the existence of a generational digital divide. Many adults use the Internet for seeking information and shopping (“Web 1.0 Generation”), while the young use it to create and upload their own material (“Web 2.0 Generation”). Knowledge of this gap often makes adults feel less confident, as they are less familiar with, and have less experience, understanding and knowledge of the new technology, both its perils and possibilities. Some choose to over-control their child’s behaviour, while others choose not to get involved. The review aims to help parents understand and manage the risks and is concluded with recommendations for improvements and further action concerning how to support children and parents in this task. Dr. Byron also believes that the safety of children should be a central concern for society as a whole and that along with new technology there is a need for a new culture of responsibility. As Dr. Byron sums up the situation in her Executive Summary: “At a public swimming pool we have gates, put up signs, have lifeguards and shallow ends, but we also teach children how to swim.” (p. 2) Source Safer Children in a Digital World. The Report of the Byron Review www.dfes.gov.uk/byronreview/ Top Israeli Children Go Online [Internet, Computer Games, NICT] Professor Dafna Lemish and Dr. Rivka Ribak, Israel, designed a parallel project to the (now completed) “UK Children Go Online project” (1) directed by Sonia Livingstone. The sample consisted of 532 children (9- to 18-year-olds) – 80 per cent Jews, 20 per cent others, mostly Arabs. Findings were presented to the EU Kids Online network in November 2007. PowerPoint slides are available on the website: www.eukidsonline.net A Few Findings The survey found many Israeli children to be willing to give out personal information – in fact, more willing to do so as they grew older. As children grow older, risk-taking increases generally, and it does not appear that they become more cautious because they are more aware. In the in-depth interviews they explained why they gave out information – they were trying to make friends of own age, to make romantic contacts, etc. Findings regarding content-related risks showed that pornography is the main concern in Israel, and that the internet is where children are most likely to encounter porn. Exposure to pornography increases with age, and is more common among boys. However, for many Israeli parents ‘internet safety’ means ‘political safety’ – they were concerned about the internet being used by terrorists (more than paedophiles) to contact their children. Seventy per cent of the children reported being exposed to media stories about dangers on the Internet and many could say what they had heard. There was an event five years ago when a boy talking to women in a forum had been lured to his death by terrorists. 10- and 11-year-olds could still report this, showing it to be a formative story in their experience. Children said they were exposed to various forms of problematic contact more than their parents reported. Parents claimed to check what children saw, but children said they do not. Turning to the benefits, the findings showed that the internet is a major source of help for homework – more than books and parents. Parents thought it was good for teaching English. Overall there was considerable appreciation of the internet. Many visited news sites – notable since in Israel, news is related to everyday survival. The major surfing language was Hebrew but others also surf in their native language – e.g., Russian; usually they did not surf in English. In the UK parents mainly wanted legislation to make the internet safer but in Israel legislation is low on list. First, Israeli parents wanted better teaching, better guidance in schools. Second they wanted more information for parents, since the parents thought it was their responsibility to supervise children. Note 1. www.lse.ac.uk/collections/children-go-online Source The 4th Alert from EU Kids Online, www.eukidsonline.net see ‘Current newsletter’ Top Internet Use on Mobile Phone in Japan [Internet, Computer Games, NICT] In October 2006, the “Time Use Survey in the IT Age” was conducted in Japan (Nakano & Watanabe 2008) to determine internet use via personal computer or mobile phone along with other activities in daily life. Nearly 2,500 persons aged 10-69 from all parts of Japan participated in the study. A similar study took place in 2001. For mobile phones the survey examined use of three functions: “calling”, “e-mail” and “web browsing”. Compared to 2001, the rate for “e-mail” on the mobile had doubled and become more frequent than “calling”. When analysing gender and age groups it turned out that this was mainly due to the frequent habit of e-mailing via the mobile phone among young people, i.e., teens and people in their 20s (and women in their 30s and 40s). For example, female teens and females in their 20s spent almost one hour a day on mobile e-mail (average time for all respondents). In general, “e-mailing” on the phone was most frequent in the evenings and with friends. The most common simultaneous activity was watching television. In 2001, “web browsing” on the mobile was not widely used at all. In 2006, it had increased somewhat, mainly among the young. When comparing the four internet use modes “web browsing” and “e-mail” via the mobile phone and the computer, respectively, the by far longest average time among teens and people in their 20s was spent on “e-mail by mobile phone”. This was followed by “web browsing on computer”. However, when the youngest age group, the teens, were “web browsing” they did so for almost as long time on the mobile phone as on the computer. In sum, young people in Japan use the internet more on mobile phones than on computers. Television, computer and mobile phone – a multi-screen relationship In another Japanese study, Suzuki et al. (2008) underlines that in addition to standard communication functions on the mobile – making phone calls and sending e-mail – other functions have become the focus of increasing attention among mobile phone users, such as web searches, music downloading, cameras, games, calendars, calculators, 1seg (one-segment; mobile digital terrestrial television broadcasting service) reception, video reception, and electronic payments for internet shopping. This shift has, of course, become more pronounced with the spread of 3G (third generation) mobile phones, which make possible high-speed and high-volume data transmission. As such, mobile phones have increasingly become “multiple information terminals” used in every imaginable situation in daily life. As seen above, e-mailing is at present the most used internet function on the mobile phone in Japan. People using the other internet functions via the mobile are still a relative minority, but younger users lead. Previous Japanese research has shown that the simultaneous use of television and computer is common, e.g., in particular young people watch television while using their computers. They also use the internet to conduct further research on the information they get from watching television, and exchange e-mails about television programs they are interested in. Now it seems that the mobile phone has inserted itself into this relationship between the television and the computer and become a fixture. This “multi-screen” relationship means that simultaneous combinations of using these three “screens” are becoming more and more varied. Sources Yuji Suzuki, Ritsu Yonekura, Sachiko Nakano & Noriko Nishimura (2008) “Mobile Phones as Multiple Information Terminals: From the Research Project ‘People and Media Usage in Japan’ ”, NHK Broadcasting Studies. An International Annual of Broadcasting Science, No. 6 (Chief Editor: Sachiko I. Kodaira), pp. 151-173 Sachiko Nakano & Yoko Watanabe (2008) “Rapid Growth of Internet Use: From the ‘Time Use Survey in the IT Age’ 2006” NHK Broadcasting Studies. An International Annual of Broadcasting Science, No. 6 (Chief Editor: Sachiko I. Kodaira), pp. 175-203 Top More Children Across Europe are being Exposed to Risks Online [Internet, Computer Games, NICT] Evidence that more children across Europe are being exposed to risks online and are increasingly distressed by them is revealed by EU Kids Online according to a press release sent out to mark Safer Internet Day, February 12, 2008: Social networking spread like wildfire across Europe last year, to the delight of many teenagers. In Norway, for example, 93% of 12-17 year olds use social networking sites. And even in countries where the internet arrived more recently, social networking is popular – more than two thirds of high school students in Estonia, for instance. Despite the many benefits of social networking, there is also evidence of risk to teenagers’ privacy and well-being. The findings revealed here have been collated from recent research published in the different countries. EU Kids Online is collecting and comparing these findings, in preparation for a report to be published in June. This press release includes selected findings. The EU Kids Online network finds that many of these young people are giving out their personal information online. (Note that as the survey findings were published by different research teams in different countries, the exact age groups or question phrasing varies from country to country.) Across 21 countries, the highest figures are reported in three countries: • In the Czech Republic, most online teenagers have given out personal information to a stranger – 91% email address, 79% their picture, 72% phone number • In Ireland, social networking sites have led to many more children disclosing personal info – from 28% 9-16 year olds giving out names or 27% emails in 2006 rising to 79% (of 10-20 year olds), 49% date of birth, 12% mobile number and 8% home address last year • In Poland, 64% gave an online contact their phone number, 42% gave their address, 44% gave their photo There is also growing evidence of risk to teens online: • In the Czech Republic, an online survey found that 65% 12-17 year olds have met online contacts offline – a figure considerably above the 1 in 12 more commonly found in European countries, and pointing to the need for greater safety awareness here • In Ireland, despite high figures for disclosure of personal information, risk figures for a range of risks are generally similar to those for other European countries, although there has been a rise from 19% to 27% of 9-16 year olds who have been asked for personal info from an online stranger. In other words, it seems that safety awareness is greater in Ireland. • Poland, however, stands out as a high risk country for teens online across a range of risks, with 56% of teenage girls online being subject to unwanted sexual conversation, and 52% 12-17 year olds being invited to meet an online contact offline – of those, 44% went to meeting and few told an adult. Moreover, the evidence shows that children and young people are not just experiencing online risks but also they are distressed by them: • 17% in Belgium (9-12 year olds) felt threatened online • 19% in Estonia (6-14 year olds) were disturbed by a stranger online • 44% girls/30% boys in Germany (12-19 year olds) had unpleasant experiences in chat rooms • 16% in Iceland had received emails/messages which made them worried or frightened Conclusions • Advice and guidance to teenagers online is sorely needed, especially in some countries new to the internet or where teenagers’ experiences are ‘ahead’ of their ability to cope • Giving out personal information online does not always result in greater risk, but it may – care is needed in targeting advice depending on cultural and individual circumstances • Social networking sites could do more to advise teenagers regarding their privacy or ensure they understand the implications of disclosing their personal details Professor Sonia Livingstone, director of EU Kids Online, based at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), said: “Although children and young people are delighted with the opportunities open to them on the internet – especially for social networking – many of them are giving out personal information without realising who might see it. As a result, our research has found substantial amounts of bullying, harassment and unwanted sexual messages, which is very distressing for some.” Dr Leslie Haddon, co-director of EU Kids Online at LSE, said: “It is important for those involved in awareness raising programmes to be kept updated about the latest research findings in order to target their effort.” Background information EU Kids Online is the first systematic European comparison of research findings from 21 countries on children and young people’s experience of the Internet and online technologies. Now in its second year, the network is funded by the EC Safer Internet Plus Programme. • EU Kids Online is at www.eukidsonline.net. Countries included are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands and The United Kingdom. • EU Kids Online published 3 new reports in 2007 – one identifying the availability of research findings and the key gaps in the evidence; one comparing Portugal, Poland and the UK for contextual factors accounting for differences in children’s experiences of the internet; one analysing the methodological challenges of researching children in relation to the internet in cross-national perspective. All may be freely downloaded from www.eukidsonline.net • European Commission’s Safer Internet Plus Programme, Read more • Safer Internet Day and the European Internet Safety portal, are at www.saferinternet.org • The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre Read more Contact Leslie Haddon (L.G.Haddon@lse.ac.uk) Source Pressrelease from EU Kids Online research project, www.eukidsonline.net, February 12, 2008 Top Living in World of Warcraft [Internet, Computer Games, NICT] The online game World of Warcraft and its effect on the lives of young players was in focus in a Swedish study published in 2007. The report, Living in World of Warcraft, commissioned by the Swedish Media Council, has now been translated into English and made available online. The game is a so-called MMORPG, (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), and attracts about nine million players around the world. One of the most fundamental rules of the game is that time invested will result in progress. In the report, based on interviews, ten young people living in Sweden share their experiences playing the game and describe problems they have encountered, both online and offline, in dedicating a considerable amount of their time to it. When studying new forms of media, we often compare it with the familiar. In the report’s introduction the two researchers behind it, Jonas Linderoth and Ulrika Bennerstedt, of the University of Gothenburg, stress the productiveness in seeking understanding of this new media phenomenon on its own terms. Thus, with this report, although it is based on a limited number of interviews, the researchers want to contribute to a more in-depth understanding of problems resulting from extensive playing. The report is available in full text (PDF format) at the web site of the Swedish Media Council: Read more Top ISFE Report on Video Gamers in Europe [Internet, Computer Games, NICT] According to a recent study 37% of the population in the United Kingdom, aged between 16 and 49 describe themselves as 'active gamers'. To compare, in Spain and Finland the share of active gamers is 28%. Among gamers in Europe who are parents to children under 16 years of age, 81% play video games with their children. The survey, commissioned by the Interactive Software Federation of Europe (ISFE) examines attitudes and usage of video games in fifteen European countries. The purpose of the study is to provide insight into the usage of video games, placing them within the wider context of other media, e.g. television and cinema, and leisure activities. The report is available in full text (in PDF-format) on the ISFE web site. Source www.isfe.eu Top In Brief Results from the Clearinghouse’s User Survey [In Brief] In the end of 2007, the Clearinghouse distributed a questionnaire to our newsletter readers. First of all, we would like to express our gratitude to all of you who took the time to fill in and return the form – your opinions and comments are most valuable to us. Although the number of replies we received was modest, we did obtain opinions from twenty-five different countries. The majority of respondents are researchers, followed by media professionals and representatives of interest organizations and NGOs. This response profile reflects the previous knowledge we have of user groups participating in the Clearinghouse network. When the Clearinghouse website is visited it is mainly used to look for information about publications or to read the newsletter. Another estimated feature is the search function which allows visitors to search our databases for information on literature or on organizations and networks. Coming Events and the archive of publications and articles sorted by theme, “Special Themes”, are equally popular. Most respondents find our website easy to access and navigate. Still we have received a few comments on difficulties in finding certain material, e.g. many users did not know about the page with electronic publishing, a fact we will consider when modifying our website. A few respondents commented that the website and newsletter lack pictures and photos, which would give the site more “life”. Not including photos is actually a deliberate decision, as many of our readers have poor Internet connections, something that was also commented on by survey respondents. In response to our questions about the content, respondents felt that both the website and newsletter were useful in their professional work. The newsletter also seems to be of interest to readers, as most responses indicated that the content is found to be varied, interesting and easy to read. To conclude, we asked for and received suggestions for improvement, for example regarding issues to cover. We will definitely consider these comments in our future efforts. Finally, thanks once again to all of you who responded to our survey. We are grateful for your helpful comments. Please remember that you are always welcome to send us your suggestions and feedback on our activities at any time. Top Call for Papers: Booklet on Media and Preschoolers [In Brief] We live in world whose stability is paradoxically founded in permanent changes. Many of these changes are the result of a technological revolution that is not only affecting spheres like work, but also the private and domestic spheres where young children are primarily socialized, making technology much more familiar for the new generations. Many things have been said about the emergence of new groups like “tweens” in information society, but this recognition didn’t get to preschoolers. Preschoolers or “toons”, are considerably different from what they used to be in the past. There is research evidence on their growing autonomy, individuality and influence on the family, especially in countries with a traditional authority structure (1), such as some of the developing world. Other changes point out to the toons’ technological interest, that –among other things- reverse the genre differences found fifteen (2) years ago between girls and boys. Still, only a few are aware of the enormous potential of toons in relation to television and NTICs. There is little investment in conducting research and developing quality television and other audiovisual content. In most countries children are viewing television programs for elder children or even adults. Too often, this is due to the scarce programming offer of television channels –especially to younger children-. Such is the case in Chile (3) and many latinamerican countries where children with access to paid TV, get a great deal of television channels all day long -many from the USA- whereas children’s programming on open to air television amounts less than 12% from the total programming of Chilean channels. The offer to the younger ones is very low. The importance of research in this field is grounded not only in the strong consumption of this age group (4) or the effect of heavy exposure to media messages that have been largely described in scientific literature, but also because media are now part of preschooler’s social environment. It’s important to understand that mass media are now more than a source of cultural experience that allows them to give sense and meaning to the world. This is why it is important to understand the different uses and programming offers of television from a cross-cultural viewpoint. Building this knowledge about preschool children and media will allow us to go deeper into the influence of culture and media uses in childhood, adding up to the very relevant data that has been gathered recently (5). The International Clearinghouse on Children, Youth and Media, at Nordicom, University of Gothenburg, Sweden is now asking contributions for a booklet about preschool children and media, focusing on television. Maria Dolores Souza and Patricio Cabello would edit such work, focusing on the following: - Media literacy and preschoolers; - Preschoolers and social inclusion: ethnicity, gender, low income. Overall Framework Abstract: - Between 300 and 450 words. Full Paper: - Language: English. - Original text or with previous publications on a language different to English. - Extension: between 1000-2000 words. - Abstract of 100 words - 5 keywords - Text type: original research paper, essays, interviews with experts, reviews, systematization of experiences. -Bibliography: APA structure. Time Schedule - Deadline for submission of abstract: September 12th, 2008 - Notification of acceptance: September 16th, 2008 - Deadline for submission of full paper: November 7th, 2008 Please contact the editors for further information. María Dolores Souza. Psychologist. Head of the Research Department of the National Television Council of Chile, msouza@cntv.cl Patricio Cabello. Psychologist. Research Department of National Television Council of Chile, pcabello@cntv.cl Notes 1. See: CNTV (2007) “Chilean TOONs”. Research Department, National Television Council of Chile (English version in preparation) 2. See: Cristina Lasagni’s work about boys being prone to use technology such as computers and video games, leaving girls behind in this type of knowledge and ability. 3. The broadcasters considered paid TV sample where: ETC, Discovery Kids, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, Jetix, Disney, and the open-to-air TV where: C13, CHV, MEGA, TVN (state TV), UCV, RED, Telecanal. 4. In Chile, children between 2 and 5 years old of all SES, spend an average of 3.5 hours a day watching television. 5. See the journal Televizion (IZI, Germany) and the work of Maya Goetz in Europe, especially Goetz, M. (ed.)“TV for beginners”, IZI, Germany, 2007. Top