Rich and Bar-on discovered that only 58 of the 204 responding programs offered education on one or more medium. Television was the medium most often discussed as having effects on children and adolescents. Am J Dis Child. Program directors identified not having trained faculty and lack of curricular materials as the two main barriers to having curricular units devoted to media and media education. Program directors who participated in media education training sessions, were significantly more likely to include media as part of the residency curriculum than those who did not.
Residents develop lifelong habits during residency.
The committee believes including curricular information on media may be a resource-effective means of improving health for children growing up in a media saturated environment. The committee has published six statements on the effects of media on children. Reprinted with permission. American Academy of Pediatrics, AAP News , January 2001.