The Frequency of Media Usage among Preschool Children and their Parents

Istraživanje provedeno u vrtiću Grigor Vitez u Zagrebu, metodom fokus grupe nad djecom predškolske dobi i metodom ankete među njihovim roditeljima, pokazalo je da su mediji važan dio života i odrastanja djece. Potvrđene su hipoteze da djeca na televizijskom programu najčešće gledaju crtane filmove, u prosjeku dva sata na dan – vikendom i dulje te da su snažno vezani za omiljene junake u kojima vide idole koje često imitiraju oblačenjem i igrom. Djeca najčešće gledaju crtane filmove ujutro ili navečer, kanale mijenjaju sami, ali sve je to pod kontrolom roditelja. Televizija je, kao što je i pretpostavljeno, najzastupljeniji medij kod djece predškolske dobi. Pametne telefone nema nijedno dijete, tablet tek neki. Internetom se većina djece predškolske dobi još ne zna služiti jer su premaleni, kako smatraju roditelji. Djeca su prilično dobro upoznata sa ograničenjima televizijskog programa. U istraživanju je detaljno objašnjeno s koliko godina djeca počinju koristiti određeni medij i koliko im je on važan i dio svakodnevice. Čitanje slikovnice je i dalje jedna od omiljenih aktivnosti djece. Iako su na pitanje o tome što najviše vole raditi u slobodno vrijeme, u najviše odgovora bili nabrajani crtani filmovi, slikovnice nijednom, na pitanje što im je draže gledanje crtanih filmova, igranje igrica ili čitanje slikovnice. Roditelji svom djetetu omogućavaju korištenje medija jer smatraju kako su korisni za učenje i igru i kako bi utjecali na informatičku pismenost djece od najranije životne dobi. Roditelji su suglasni i u tome da živimo u modernom dobu te da bi dijete trebalo odrastati sukladno tome.The research conducted in the Grigor Vitez kindergarten in Zagreb, with a focus group approach for pre-school children and a questionnaire for their parents, showed that media is an important part of childrens' life and growing up. Confirmed hypothesis is that children on the television program usually watch cartoons, on average two hours a day - on weekends even longer, that they are strongly related to their favorite heroes in which they see idols that they often imitate by dressing and playing. Parents confirmed the existence of an idol as each of the examined parents bought a child's toy or clothes with their favorite cartoon or series character. Children usually watch cartoons in the morning or in the evening, change channels by themselves, but everything is under the control of their parents in a hundred percent of cases, at least they have expressed that way in the surveys. Television, as it is presumed, is the most prevalent media among preschoolers. Neither one child owns a smart phones but some of them have tablets. Most children of pre-school age are not yet able to use the Internet because they are too young, as their parents think. Children are pretty well acquainted with TV program restrictions. The research has explained in details in which age children are using a particular media and how important it is for them in everyday life. Interestingly, reading a picture book by their parents is still strong at the top of children's favourite activities and all the children who participated in the research confirmed it. Although when they were asked what they like doing mostly in leisure time, the answers were mostly cartoons, picture books not even once but when questioned if they prefer to watch cartoons, play games or read a picture book - reading a picture book won without competition. Parents allow their children to use the media because they feel they it is useful for learning and playing and that their children are from the early age educated how to use computer and Internet. Parents agree that we live in the modern age and that the child should grow up accordingly to that. So, with the media but with some limitations