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Aug. 6, 2004 The 1st Annual Conference of the Japanese Society of Child Science Makoto Kinoshita, The Japanese Society of Child Science

The Japanese Society of Child Science, inaugurated last year, will hold its first conference on September 4 and 5, 2004. Called "The Conference on Child Science," it will be held on an annual basis, and welcomes the participation of the general public in addition to that of Society members. This year's conference will take as its main theme "Today's Media Society and Children" to focus on important issues related to children and the media as a formative environment for children today. In Symposium 1 "Media Exposure: Good or Bad for Infants?" Dr. Masumi Sugawara and four other panelists will discuss the effect of media exposure on infant development based on research data gathered in Japan and abroad. In Symposium 2, "Thinking about the Future of Children and the Media," discussants will include professionals involved in the creative aspects of media production, including Mr. Toru Iwatani, the game designer of Pac-Man, and Ms. Hiromi Seki, producer of TV animation, for an exchange of ideas on the optimal media environment for children. Since the first TV broadcast in 1953, the media has come to play a prominent role in the everyday life of children. Beginning around 1995 with the use of video games, videos, DVDs, PCs, the Internet, cell phones and other media devices, children spend increasingly more time viewing and using media. Recently, a tragic incident brought renewed attention to the relationship between children and the media when chat room messages on the internet were found to be the motive in the killing of a girl student by a classmate in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture. This incident has aroused much heated debate and condemnation of the harmful effects of the media, which is charged with causing many problems involving children today. As an organization that aims to establish Child Science as a discipline, the Japanese Society of Child Science, however, believes it is necessary to clearly distinguish between singular and general cases, and in every instance, to verify facts based on research data to prevent unnecessary anxiety and concern among people directly involved in childcare. We should resist alarming sensationalism and instead turn our attention to a careful examination of the home and child-rearing environments. Taking into consideration the views of media designers and producers, we need to propose realistic measures for improvement. In the Special Lecture entitled "Wild Gorillas and Wild Children" prominent primatologist Professor Juichi Yamagiwa (Kyoto University) will share his fascinating experiences living with gorillas in the jungle, an environment that is the polar opposite of our media society today. Professor Kenji Kiyonaga, (Japan Women's College), a criminal sociologist, will speak on "Safety Measures to Prevent Delinquency in Children" with specific proposals on what can be done in schools. Professor Kaname Yanagisawa (Chiba University) will deliver a lecture on "Architectural Design for Children" that will introduce examples of room design in pediatric wards and school architecture in the United States that have evolved amid discussion with those concerned with child care in the community. Let us hear your comment at Let's Talk!

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