In the article, there have been a number of key issues that
have been raised concerning the attitudes of children and parents towards the
media. One of the key issues addressed by Ofcom was that there has been a
notable increase in access to and ownership of tablet computers by children of
all ages. As a result of this, it has a consequence on impact of consumption;
time is taken when children consume all their time on the tablet either playing
games or on the internet. Children are also replacing their TV and console
devices with smartphones and tablet in their bedrooms. In addition to this,
children have the freedom of watching and viewing content on their choice when
they are alone. The use of internet has risen as well due to the increase of
tablets and phone. Furthermore, to this issue almost twice as many children
aged 5-15 are going online via a tablet than in 2013. The Quantitative research that was applied in
this research was exhibited in statistics (graphs and charts). Statistics show
that the use of tablets has increased from 2013 by 20% in 2014, this could be a
result the different things and apps that children can access. Four in ten
children aged 5-15 years olds go online using a tablet computer, almost twice
as many as in 2013 (42% vs 23), while two in ten children aged 3-4 go online
using a tablet (20% vs 12% in 2013). The use of quantitative data is a lot and
therefore makes the information reliable and valid for people to believe it and
also is backed up by the qualitative data
Another issue raised by Ofcom was that older children spend
more time online and prefer mobile phones for social activities. Children aged
12-15 spend more time going online than watching television in a typical week
(17.2 vs 15.7 hours) and say they prefer to socialise online rather than watch
TV (33% vs 20%). As children are spending more time online and on their mobile
phones, they are neglecting their families and school work for socialising with
their friends and strangers. The impact of consumption for TV will decrease as
result of children not watching their favourite shows, which will decrease the
ratings of the show. However, the impact of production for the mobile phone
will increase because once a social media network is booming then they will try
to create another social media site where children will then use that as well
to socialise. The phone is the most favoured device for assembling meet ups for
children (71%) and this is how quantitative research is expressed. Moreover,
the effect of using phones more will impact the other devices, for example: the
use of internet on PC and laptop is gradually going down and the use of the
tablet computer for each aged is rising. The cultivation theory ties in with
effecting children’s attitudes, children are very obsessed with their phones
that if parents confiscate them they throw tantrums. Having a phone and going
on social media will effect the attitudes of children in the way they talk and
act. They are influenced by their friends. 12-15 year old are twice as likely
to say they would miss their mobile phone than the TV, say they spend more time
going online than watching television in a typical week.
The Ofcom report used qualitative tracking surveys, they
collected their data using in-home surveys asking children questions with the
accompaniment of parents. The interviews may have been biased and misleading
because with the accompaniment of the parents, children wouldn’t state their
real minds and lie just to make their parents feel good. Quantitative
statistics overhauls qualitative research and this makes the report reliable
due to statistics and also the number of children they surveyed.
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