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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Author James Steyer

Aired May 25, 2002 - 12:43   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: We want to focus now on media and our kids. There's long been criticism that many children are being raised in front of the television set. The book, "The Other Parent," takes a provocative look at the media's impact on our families and society. And joining us live is author James Steyer, and he teaches civil rights and civil liberties at Stanford University. And one of his pupils just happened to be the former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton, who also wrote an afterward in your book.

Thanks very much for joining us.

JAMES STEYER, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: Good morning.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, the focus of your book, to help guide parents through how to manage television watching, movie watching and your children's time, and at the same time also parents spend time with their kids.

STEYER: That's right. The average American child today spends approximately 40 hours per week with various forms of media -- television, music, video games, films. Maybe about 17 hours per week with their parents, and about 30 hours per week in school. So you tell me who's the parent in this picture.

WHITFIELD: So what should the recommended formula be?

STEYER: Well, I think that there are a number of things that parents can do. First and foremost, to know their kids' media, and to be involved in their consumption of media, in a sense. So talk and listen with your kids, know what they're watching and listening to and surfing. And then most of all, tell them what you like and don't like and why. So that's one thing.

I think also you have to set a clear media diet for your kids, a healthy media diet, where you put clear limits on things and talk to them about what they're allowed to watch or listen to and what we're not.

And then I think another very simple thing that all parents can do is what I call location, location, location, which is: Take the TV set out of the bedroom. Don't put a computer with Internet access in the bedroom. Two out of three kids who are 8 and older in America today have a TV set in their bedroom. That's just shouldn't be the case. So there are pretty simple solutions. WHITFIELD: So you said there has to be a good media diet for your kids. One of the people who said she had a pretty good media diet thanks to her parents was the author of your afterward, Chelsea Clinton. She happened to be a student of yours. How did you rope her into being involved in your book?

STEYER: Well, actually, Fredricka, she was a student of mine in several classes on civil rights. And then I actually had told in my seminar, I told the students that I was going to be writing a book about the impact of media on kids. And she was really one of the most outstanding students I've had in the past 10 years. She is a really smart cookie. And she did the research on the commercialism and violence chapters for the book, and she did a terrific job.

WHITFIELD: And in the afterward, she writes that, you know, her parents would watch television with her, it was in a very limited form in which she was allowed to watch television during the weekdays and only on weekends. And then when it came to movies, she and her parents would watch movies together and discuss them. How important is it that parents have that connection? Is she speaking as one who really is a model kid in terms of the perfect balance of media time and play time?

STEYER: I certainly think that is really the most important thing. You know, I'm the parent of three kids, and I think experiencing media with your children and watching and listening with them and then talking to them about it, about the messages, about the images, is critically important, particularly as kids get older. You know, media today is pretty much of a taboo-free zone. So kids are exposed to an extraordinary amount of messages and images, many of which parents like myself are uncomfortable with, about sexuality, violence, commercialism. So I think you have to watch and listen with your kids and talk to them about it, and help them process those messages.

WHITFIELD: Now, let's talk a little bit more about Chelsea Clinton. We really are starting to see a more public Chelsea Clinton. Now she's studying at Oxford, and she's also a lot more public in terms of coming out. We've seen her at fashion shows, Versace, we've seen her with Madonna, and even, you know, rubbing shoulders with Gwyneth Paltrow.

STEYER: Well, you know, she's her own person. I was Chelsea's professor, and I'm very fond of her and she was an outstanding student. But I think she lives her life in a fish bowl like some very famous people do, and I think her real focus in my experience is to be focused on being a student and trying to be a normal 22-year-old person. So she was an outstanding student. And again, the book was really an opportunity to speak to parents around this country and say, here's how media can have a huge impact on your kids' lives and here's how you can be a better parent.

WHITFIELD: You think we're going to be seeing a lot more of Chelsea Clinton?

STEYER: You know, you'd have to ask her that question. I think she wants to be a private student and focus on her studies at Oxford. She's a pretty remarkable young woman, as I said, one of the best students I've had in the last 10 years at Stanford, and I actually think she just wants to be known for the smart and substantive young woman that she is.

WHITFIELD: OK. James Steyer, the book is "The Other Parent." Thank you very much.

STEYER: Thank you.

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