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Over the past few years, media use among children and teens has become more prevalent than ever. With the launch of the iPod, the explosion in instant messaging, the birth of mobile video and YouTube, and the advent of social networking sites like MySpace, young people are rarely out of contact, or out of reach of the media. Meanwhile, policymakers continue to be concerned about the impact of media on young people. The Federal Communications Commission is issuing record-breaking fines for indecency and inadequate educational content, and sent Congress a major report recommending regulation of media violence. The Parents Television Council reports that violence and gruesome content on TV are on the rise; and many experts are expressing concern about TV and its possible links to obesity, attention deficit disorder, or sexual activity among young people. In the summer of 2006, the television industry launched a large promotional campaign to educate parents about the TV ratings and the V-Chip. In the context of all this activity and attention, the Kaiser Family Foundation is issuing this report to explore how parents view the role of media in their children's lives--what they see that is positive and negative about media, and how they monitor their children's use of media, from television to video games to the Internet. The results presented here are based on a national random digit dial telephone survey of 1,008 parents of children ages 2-17, along with a series of six focus groups held with parents across the country. All quantitative findings are based on the results of the national survey; focus group findings are always presented separately. The survey was designed and analyzed by staff at the Kaiser Family Foundation, in collaboration with Princeton Survey Research Associates International (PSRAI); fieldwork was conducted by PSRAI. The survey was conducted from October 2-27, 2006. The margin of error from sampling is plus or minus 4 percentage points. Trend data are from surveys conducted by the Foundation in August 2004 and in April 1998. Focus groups were held in Irvine, California; Dallas, Texas; and Chicago, Illinois. Two groups were held in each city: one with mothers of children ages 9-11, and one with mothers of children ages 12-14. Participants were recruited for the groups by independent research firms, and the conversations were moderated by Foundation staff. Additional focus groups were held in Washington, D.C. for the purpose of making a videotape of parent comments. A copy of the Parents, Children & Media Survey is included. (Contains 18 charts.)