ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Hi and welcome back! It’s been a bit longer between episodes than I would have liked, but I have some news, which is that I’m gainfully employed again. This is good news in many ways as the work will be interesting, and it will be good to use some more of my skills as an academic again (I’ll be helping design a new law curriculum for Western Sydney University). But while it’s only fractional, it does mean I need to be a bit more careful with my time. I’m still figuring out what kind of production schedule is realistic, and always keen to hear any thoughts you might have about whether I should go fortnightly, break the episodes up more … honestly, open to any ideas you might have.
Meanwhile I’ll keep in touch as to any developments, of course.
And with that, let’s get on with the show! I really liked the paper that I chose for this week. It complicates the picture we might otherwise have about language acquisition, by pointing out that there are at least three dimensions to screen use: quantity (the first and maybe only one most people think of), quality and age of onset. The study looks at all three and while the results might not be surprising they can definitely open up a variety of strategies that you can consider for yourself and your family.
This is followed up by another movie review, and thanks again to Glenn for contributing it. He and I contradict each other a bit so I should explain: I say it’s recommended for 4 and up, and he says recommended for all ages. This is because CMA doesn’t really recommend any movies for under-4s, thinking hardly any of those children would be able to sit still enough to get much out of long-form entertainment. But in this case the 4+ recommendation could well be interpreted to mean it’s fine for any age, in that there is no potentially harmful content, and of course if you watch it at home you can stop and start it as much as you like. Anyway, Moshi Monsters: The Movie is obviously very cute and inspiring, so definitely one to keep in the back pocket.
The movie is available in Australia only to rent or buy, and sometimes we cover those on the podcast, especially if they’re suitable for very young children, because we know (sometimes from painful experience) that the littlies like to watch the same things over and over and over again. So it might be worth a small investment to get access to it.
Finally, I’m making good on my resolution to get more interviews, by having quizzed Dr Adam Andreotta of Curtin University about his work on informed consent to privacy policies. Adam a philosopher who teaches ethics in the business school there, and he’s recently published a book called Rethinking Informed Consent In The Big Data Age. I hope you’ll agree, he has some pretty interesting ideas - and I for one will be keeping an eye out for things like comic contracts and personal privacy assistants.
Hoping to be back fairly soon this time and hope you can forgive me for any inconvenience on this one - Liz
Show notes
Language acquisition paper: Sheri Madigan, Brae Anne McArthur, Ciana Anhorn, Rachel Eirich and Dimitri A. Christakis, ‘Associations between screen use and child language skills: a systematic review and meta-analysis’ (2020) 174 JAMA Pediatrics 665–75; doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.0327
Moshi Monsters: The Movie review: https://childrenandmedia.org.au/movie-reviews/movies/moshi-monsters-the-movie
Moshi Monsters: The Movie availability in Australia: https://www.flicks.com.au/movie/moshi-monsters-the-movie/
Dr Adam Andreotta in The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/online-privacy-policies-can-be-90-000-words-long-here-are-3-ways-to-simplify-them-247095
Adam’s book: https://www.routledge.com/Rethinking-Informed-Consent-in-the-Big-Data-Age/Andreotta/p/book/9781032625966
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Children and Media Australia (CMA)
You can find the Children and Media Australia Know Before You Go service via this link.
Then, depending what you’re looking for, you can sort the list or search by title alphabetically, by age suitability, by classification or by date added. All of the reviews are prepared by people with training in child development, and they cover every G and PG title released in Australian cinemas since 2002, as well as selected M-rated movies and some pre-2002 ones that are available on streaming services.
Or at this link, you can access Know Before You Load – reviews of game style apps and apps that may appeal to young children. These cover some extra things that are relevant to games, like data collection and gambling-like content.
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