How Digital Media Affects Kids

I really found the reading/video about Digital Media and Body Image to be very insightful. I feel like this topic is kind of close to my heart, because I have a little brother and little sister that are 7 years old. I have seen how the media affects both of them, especially my little sister. There have been several times that I have heard her say things like "I am starting to get fat", which is completely untrue. She is very thin and is very active. But, I feel that she gets the ideas from watching television and seeing how everyone on Disney Channel shows look and act. She is at a very influential age, and if the media is only going to tear children down, and force them to have distorted ideas about body image, then I don't want either of my siblings to see that kind of stuff.

Although my little brother isn't so much worried about his body image, I do see that digital media affects him as well. He watches a lot of television and plays a lot of video games, and I feel like with all the technology that he is surrounded with, he has somewhat become disconnected with the outside world. He has no interest in doing anything outside of watching television or playing video games. I find that to be rather sad. Don't get me wrong, I find digital media to be fascinating and I love it myself, but there comes a point when it has taken over your life, and it is hard for you to disconnect from that world even for a little while, I think at that point it's gone a little too far. I just don't want either of my siblings to have a childhood where all they remember doing is watching television and playing video games, or constantly comparing themselves to actors and actresses on t.v. They also need to be spending time outside of the digital media world, playing dolls, and games, or going outdoors. I feel like in today's society, kids have really lost touch with those simple things in life, because they have grown up around technology their whole lives.