The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media's Effect on Our Children

"If another adult spent five or six hours a day with your kids, regularly exposing them to sex, violence, and rampantly commercial values, you would probably forbid that person to have any further contact with them. Yet most of us passively allow the media to expose our kids routinely to these values...and do virtually nothing about it." - James P. Steyer in "The Other Parent"James Steyer does a fabulous job examining how sex, violence, and commercialism in the media affect children; why the media is full of these things; and what can be done about it. Steyer, a parent, child advocate, and Stanford professor of constitutional law and civil liberties/head of a children's media company, is well qualified to address these issues. His data comes from studies, personal interviews with key media figures and politicians, personal experience in the media industry, and parenting 3 children.Many of Steyer's points really made me think. Here are just a few:* Over the past 30 years, more than 1,000 studies by reputable sources which Steyer names, have concluded that media violence impacts children in four ways, specified on p. 72.* PG-13 rated movies have a lot of sexual content, foul language and violence, that would have been restricted to R rated movies prior to 1984. p. 57 * Children who play with media action figures "are bypassing their own imaginations, substituting prepackaged commercial characters and story lines for their own creative efforts." p. 105.Steyer's solution to protecting children from harmful effects of media, begins at home with his 10 steps for parents, whom he calls the "first line of defense." Children I know, who are brought up in homes where parents follow most of these steps, are more engaged in activities other than TV and video games, and pester their parents less frequently for toys and junk food advertised to kids. An earlier review complains that one of these steps, "teach media literacy in school and at home" fails to provide specifics on how to do this. This is true, but Steyer explains that these techniques are well documented in other books which he names. He also provides 10 steps each for the media industry and citizen activists.After reading this book, I feel a lot more knowledgeable about what goes on the other side of the TV and other media. I learned more about how to protect children from harmful media effects, and felt supported in what I do know. I highly recommend this book to all adults who have an influence in a child's life.

If you're a parent then you know the answer to be YES! Mr. Steyer reveals what's really behind the methodology of the media industry -money of course - however they just don't know when to stop and our kids are their biggest and easiest target for their big purse strings through their constant manipulation and exploitation of airwaves with commercialism, sex and violence. As a parent you need to take responsibility to ensure that your children are not over-exposed to the media and to really evaluate family priorities. Well worth the read and advice that Mr. Steyer gives.

Steyer not only outlines the negative impact of the media on all of us and children in particular; he offers a workable solution, one that concerned individuals can and should begin to impliment and fast!

The book discusses the damaging influences of the the media of the market economy. Television, radio, advertisements, video games etc., they all about making money fast in the most irresponsible way. This can only happen, because we let it happen. Us, parents trust the media, maybe because we watched TVback then, and turned out to be OK adults (at least so many of us think).The author though warns us: the generation we are raising is being exposed to the media a whole lot more agressively and heavily than we were 15-20 years ago. Many families have poor interaction because each member has its own TV set. This fact might contribute to isolation, loneliness even within the family.This book should be read by every parent or future parent, so we can raise children who are not the victims of the greed the media is all about.

James P. Steyer's exceptional diatribe on the media is a wake-up call for all families concerned about the media's influence on our kids and our society. We have seen this sort of thing before, but this is the first time from an insider's point of view and from a law professor whose expertise is first ammendment and civil rights. James P. Steyer is a well-known liberal and a champion of children's rights. This is a clarion call for all families to take a stand against big media's influence; and with James P. Steyer leading the charge, it is surely winable.