“Parents Say Media Skills Boost Children’s Learning, Not Cooperation”
U.S. parents say digital-media skills are important to children’s future success, a poll found. But parents are skeptical about whether digital media contribute to the development of their children’s skills in communicating, working with others, and attaining civic responsibility.
Three out of four parents in the online poll of 695 parents agreed that knowing how to use digital media benefits children as much as does reading and math, and 83 percent of parents said that digital media give their children the skills they need to succeed in the 21st century.
But large majorities of parents said they did not think the Web helped teach their children how to communicate, to work with others, and to be responsible in their communities.
The poll was commissioned by two nonprofit groups—San Francisco-based Common Sense Media and the New York City-based Joan Ganz Cooney Research Center—that are studying the effects of digital media on student learning.
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