Topic: MEDIA'S IMPACT ON CHILDREN
Issues relating
Media and Children
Media’s
presence in children’s lives is totally ubiquitous. Today, American children
spend almost six hours a day with media. The potentially negative consequences
of children’s media consumption receive a lot of attention. Yet media’s unique
power and reach can also be used to educate children and enrich their lives.
Children
spend more time with media than any other activity, except for sleeping.
Television,
which once dominated children’s media consumption habits, is now joined by
computers, video game players, cell phones and other connected devices. The
result is that children today are completely immersed in media experiences from
a very young age. Regulating the impact these experiences are having on our
children has become very challenging, for parents and policymakers.
TELEVISION
Television has the potential to generate both positive
and negative effects, and many studies have looked at the impact of television
on society, particularly on children and adolescents. An individual child’s
developmental level is a critical factor in determining whether the medium will
have positive or negative effects. Not all television programs are bad, but
data showing the negative effects of exposure to violence, inappropriate
sexuality and offensive language are convincing.
MUSIC VIDEOS
Music videos may have a significant behavioral
impact by desensitizing viewers to violence and making teenagers more likely to
approve of premarital sex. Up to 75% of videos contain sexually explicit
material, and more than half contain violence that is often committed against
women. Women are portrayed frequently in a condescending manner that affects
children’s attitudes about sex roles.
Attractive role models are the aggressors in more
than 80% of music video violence. Males are more than three times as likely to
be the aggressors; blacks were overrepresented and whites underrepresented.
Music videos may reinforce false stereotypes. A detailed analysis of music
videos raised concerns about its effects on adolescents’ normative expectations
about conflict resolution, race and male-female relationships.
Music lyrics have become increasingly explicit,
particularly with references to sex, drugs and violence. Research linking a
cause-and-effect relationship between explicit lyrics and adverse behavioral
effects is still in progress at this time.
VIDEO GAMES
Some video games may help the development of fine
motor skills and coordination, but many of the concerns about the negative
effects of television also apply to excessive exposure to video games. Violent
video games should be discouraged because they have harmful effects on
children’s mental development. Parents should be advised to familiarize
themselves with various rating systems for video games and use this knowledge
to make their decisions.
The effect of violent video games on children has
been a public health concern for many years. No quantitative analysis of video
game contents for games rated as suitable for all audiences was made until
2001. The study concluded that many video games rated as suitable for all
audiences contained significant amounts of violence (64% contained intentional
violence and 60% rewarded players for injuring a character). Therefore, current
ratings of video games leave much room for improvement.
INTERNET
The amount of time spent watching television and
sitting in front of computers can affect a child’s postural development.
Excessive amounts of time at a computer can contribute to obesity, undeveloped
social skills and a form of addictive behavior. Although rare, some children
with seizure disorders are more prone to attacks brought on by a flickering
television or computer screen. No data suggest that television viewing causes
weakness of the eyes. It may be different when a child is closely exposed to a
computer screen for long periods, although there are no definitive references
to support this.
Other concerns include pedophiles who use the
Internet to lure young people into relationships. There is also the potential
for children to be exposed to pornographic material. Parents can use technology
that blocks access to pornography and sex talk on the Internet, but must be
aware that this technology does not replace their supervision or guidance.
No comments:
Post a Comment