[ti:The effects of using entertainment media] [ar:] [al:Education Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00] This is the Education Report in Special English. [00:04.41] Common Sense Media is a non-profit group in the United [00:10.03] States that studies children's use of media and technology. [00:15.04] The group has done a survey asking teachers about the [00:19.99] effects of their students¡¯ use of entertainment media. [00:24.07] Entertainment media was defined as the TV shows, music, [00:30.16] video games, texting, social networks, apps and other [00:35.66] technology that students use for fun. [00:38.84] Many teachers said they believe media use has hurt academic [00:45.44] performance which in some cases was already not very strong. [00:50.20] Vicky Rideout wrote the report for Common Sense Media. [00:55.14] "We have merely four at tenth in students feel a poor at [00:59.76] reading, at verbal communication, at math, and at science, [01:03.62] and more than that thing the students wrongly fear report writing. [01:08.10] So we need to make sure that everything kids are doing is [01:12.37] helping to accelerate progress and not impeding it." [01:15.60] The survey involved 685 teachers around the country in [01:21.06] kindergarten through twelfth grade. [01:23.19] They included both new and experience teachers and teachers [01:28.95] in high and low income areas. [01:31.88] 71% of the teachers said they believe students¡¯ use of [01:38.05] entertainment media has reduced their ability to pay attention in class. [01:44.21] And almost 60% said it has hurt their writing skills. [01:49.55] Many teachers said they believe their students' media use [01:54.26] has also hurt their social development. [01:57.91] The report says the biggest problem that teachers identified [02:02.76] in the survey was the impact on students' sexualization. [02:07.96] Many teachers think media use has negatively affected [02:12.63] students' ideas about relationships between boys and girls, [02:17.06] as well as their attitudes toward parents and teachers. [02:21.17] Many also believe media use encourages aggression and [02:26.23] anti-social behavior. [02:28.28] Teachers who describe themselves as uncomfortable with new [02:33.66] technologies will more likely than other teachers to see [02:38.01] harmful effects of media use on social development. [02:41.86] But not all effects of media use were seen as bad. [02:47.71] Almost two thirds of teachers said it is helped the [02:52.33] students¡¯ ability to find information quickly and efficiently. [02:57.05] And one third said using entertainment media has helped [03:02.23] their students to multitask effectively. [03:05.64] Only 25% said it has hurt them. [03:10.75] Teachers who consider themselves "tech savvy" [03:14.35] were more likely than others to see a benefit to students' [03:19.52] creativity from the use of entertainment media. [03:22.59] Vicky Rideout says teachers accept that the way students [03:28.23] spend their time and how they like to learn has changed. [03:33.55] "It's not to say that we are against the new media, that we [03:36.78] shouldn't pursue it vigorously and embrace it. [03:39.52] But that we should do it consciously and mindfully, so that [03:43.58] we are, we are ,we might begin it up, what we might be [03:47.09] sacrificing certain things in exchange for the benefits that [03:50.24] the new media are bringing us." [03:51.45] Go to 51voa.com for more...