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A Preliminary Evaluation of a School-Based Media Education and Reduction Intervention

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Abstract

While media education and reduction programs have been proposed to prevent adverse health and academic outcomes related to heavy electronic media use among school-aged children, few have been formally piloted and evaluated. We used a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effectiveness of Take the Challenge (TtC), a school-based media education/reduction program for the primary prevention of sleep deprivation, dysfunctional social-emotional behaviors, and poor academic performance. Sixth- to eighth-grade students at a rural Midwestern U.S. middle school received the TtC program, while a similar school in the same district served as the comparison group. Health-related and academic measures were collected from students and teachers at both schools before and after the intervention. The primary outcome measure was student-reported electronic media use (television, video games, Internet). Secondary measures included student health behaviors (student-reported sleep, exercise, and outdoor play) and academic activities (teacher-reported homework and classroom performance). Compared to the comparison group, students receiving TtC slept more and reduced television viewing, background television time, after-school video gaming, and weekend Internet use. Teachers reported increases in the extent to which TtC students completed homework assignments and stayed on task in the classroom. Well-designed school-based programs such as TtC can reduce electronic media use among middle-school children and improve related health and academic outcomes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Kristine Paulsen and Betty LaPointe, for coordinating and conducting data collection and numerous research assistants for their contributions, including Sarah Monson and Jennifer Jocz.

Funding

This work was supported by the United States Department of Education: Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) Grant [Q215F050099]; Delta-Schoolcraft Intermediate School District, and Lt. Colonel David Grossman.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Adolescent Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    David S. Bickham, Yulin Hswen, Ronald G. Slaby & Michael Rich

  2. Center on Media and Child Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    David S. Bickham, Yulin Hswen, Ronald G. Slaby & Michael Rich

  3. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    Yulin Hswen & Michael Rich

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  1. David S. Bickham
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  2. Yulin Hswen
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Correspondence to David S. Bickham.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

Ethical approval for the data management and analyses obtained from the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Institutional Review Board. Individual School and School District approval was obtained for the administration of the evaluation materials.

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Bickham, D.S., Hswen, Y., Slaby, R.G. et al. A Preliminary Evaluation of a School-Based Media Education and Reduction Intervention. J Primary Prevent 39, 229–245 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10935-018-0510-2

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