 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
New Study from Harvard Researchers at the Center for Media and Child Health Report Connect with Kids Improves Student Behavior & Parent/Child Communication
Harvard research scientists from The Center on Media and Child Health (CMCH) report that when adults and children watch Connect with Kids videos together, communication and behavior improve.
After conducting a nine-month study involving parents, teachers, and children in Fairfax County Public Schools and District of Columbia Charter Schools, teachers reported that students involved in the program were more respectful, more responsible and less physically and verbally aggressive than students not involved in the program. Harvard researchers also report that communication between adults and children also improved.
The CMCH study is an extension of an earlier independent research study which demonstrated that the Connect with Kids classroom program improves student behavior in significant ways, including decreases in bullying, fighting, lying and cheating, and increases in respect, tolerance and academic perseverance. Based on this research, Connect with Kids has been selected by the U.S. Department of Education’s coveted What Works Clearinghouse as an evidence-based program.
This latest CMCH study revealed the Connect with Kids comprehensive model works to improve youth behavior and communication between parents, children and teachers in a community wide context. The study revealed the following compelling results:
- The Connect with Kids model, which includes classroom and community outreach strategies, significantly improves youth behavior and communication between parents and their children.
- Connect with Kids television programs serve as powerful teaching tools and help to facilitate conversations between parents and children around important topics.
- Parents see the Connect with Kids programs as providing a valuable viewing experience and covering topics that are often difficult to discuss with their children.
- Many parents reported that viewing the video with their child opened lines of communication that would not have otherwise been available.
- Parents believed that the videos allowed for in-depth discussions and processing that would not have been possible in an unaided dialogue.
- After watching a Connect with Kids program, 75% of parents in the DC Metro area study reported, “I feel better equipped to discuss sex with my child.”
- 91% of parent respondents in the DC Metro area study reported that “This program, Silent Witness, encouraged me and my child to discuss the topics addressed in the show.”
- 99% of respondents in the DC Metro area study reported that they enjoyed watching Silent Witness.
- 91% of parents reported in the DC Metro Area study that they had a useful discussion with their child after watching Silent Witness.
- 82% of respondents in the DC Metro area study reported that “Watching Silent Witness with my child increased my ability to discuss this issue with him/her.”
- 75% of respondents in the DC Metro area study reported that “After watching Silent Witness, my child and I are more likely to discuss important issues together in the future.”
Students who participated in the study and were exposed to the comprehensive model exhibited the following significant outcomes:
- Increases in teacher reported respectful behaviors.
- Increases in teacher reported responsible behaviors.
- Decreases in their selection of physical aggression as a behavior choice while students in the control group actually exhibited an increase in this behavior.
- Decreases in their selection of verbal aggression as a behavioral choice while students in the control group actually exhibited an increase in this behavior.
The Center on Media and Child Health at Children's Hospital Boston is committed to improving the understanding of the effects of communications and entertainment media on children and coordinating national and international research on the medical and public health implications of media use. Center researchers study the media as a force that powerfully affects child health. For more information about the Center visit: www.childrenshospital.org/cmch.
