The Impact of Media on the Behaviour of Teenagers - Essay Example

Module Group] Skills for Study 3 Individual Essay Evaluate the Impact of Media such as Video Games, Film and TV on the Behaviour of Teenagers [Tutor Name] [Student ID] [Submission Date] Word Count: 1583 Media offers a plethora of information but all the information provided by different kinds of media is not useful. This is particularly a matter of concern when it comes to the teenagers, because studies show that screen time among teens is much higher than screen time among adults. In addition to this, teenagers are in the age of transition where they see every glittering object as gold. Everything that is there on the media and/or social media and is popular among their peers attracts them. Films and TV are full of glamour and video games are, most of the time, based on adverse behaviour like fighting and violence; given this, it is much likely that teenagers end up adopting the same behaviours. This makes it important to study deeply the influence of media on behaviours of teenagers. There is a lot of research in this field where some studies conclude its negative effects and some conclude presenting the pluses. Most of the studies suggest that the more the teens spent time in front of screen more likely it is that they get exposed to the information that is not useful. Spending more time viewing TV is also harmful to the health of teens as it is known to lead to sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy eat and sleep patterns, and obesity (Council on Communications and Media 2011). Besides the effects on health, over-exposure to media is also known to affect the behaviors of the teenagers. This essay explores the effect of media on the behavior of teens. Starting with discussion on the adverse effects of media on teens, the essay will outline the positive aspects, that is, the counter-argument and refutation to each counter-argument before presenting conclusions. There are several studies that suggest negative effects of media on behaviors of teenagers. Anderson et al (2003) stated that it is now a proven fact that media violence results in transmitting aggressive and violent behavior in youth in both short as well as long term contexts. Researchers concluded that being exposed to media that is full of violent attitudes and behaviors is sure to lead adolescents adopt similar behaviors. This also leads to bullying weak students in school and trying to involve in activities that are considered ‘cool’ among a group. Teens usually adopt such behavior for social acceptance and media has a very important role of play in this classification of social acceptance and ‘cool dude’ attitude. In another study, Huesmann and Taylor (2006) suggested similar findings; they also found that media violence contributes to violent and aggressive behaviors among young viewers. They regarded media violence as a ‘known threat to public health’. In a study, Dave and Dave (2011) concluded that media exposure adversely affect health, academic achievement and neurodevelopment of a child. This finding is quite logical because in the time when a child and/or adolescent is passing through the developmental stages of body and mind any outer source, whether positive or negative, is sure to influence their developmental patterns. Positive factors definitely affect adolescents positively and vice versa; however negative effects can easily attract attention of teenagers because it has more glamour and style in it. Watching adults in media involved in violence, assaults, sex and drug usage, teenagers think it as an acceptable behaviour and try to adopt similar patterns. Negative aspects highlighted in media not only effect health and academic performance of the teenagers but is also prone to unnecessarily expose them to sexual behaviour at an early age. In their study, L’Engle, Brown and Kenneavy (2006) found that mass media plays a vital role in providing a context for ‘adolescents’ sexual socialization’. Researchers concluded that adolescents who are more exposed to sexual content in media are more likely to engage in sexual activities early. One of the reasons why adolescents are attracted to sexual displays at media is because they are passing from an age where not only their body but their minds are also developing. Besides, they are going through issues of identity, peer pressures, academic demands and independence / restrictions (Cicchetti & Rogosch 2002). They are restricted from doing things that are inappropriate for their age; this makes them more interested to try things that they are commanded not to do (Shedler & Block 1990). In such situation, when they see similar things at media they find it attractive and compelled to try it. Other influences of media on behaviours of teens include imitative suicidal attempts (Huesmann & Taylor 2006), eating disorders in teen girls due to distorted self-image imposed by the media (Becker 2002), physical assaults (Anderson et al 2003), stubborn buying patterns among female adolescents (Kotwal, Gupta & Devi 2008), and alcohol usage at an early age (Moreno et al 2011). Earles et al (2002, p. 797) stated that “the portrayal of violence, sex, and drugs/alcohol in the media has been known to adversely affect the behaviour of children and adolescents”. But then there are positive effects of media as well; not all forms of media are bad and not all of them give messages surrounding anti-social behavior. Hastings et al (2009), in their research found that educational video games results in positive educational outcomes and are positively related to academic achievement. Jackson et al (2006) also found that internet use in moderation and for educational purposes lead to higher GPAs and those children with high internet usage scored higher in standardized test and reading tests as compared to those who used it less. Different authors have pinpointed positive effects of media on adolescents; Hogan and Strasburger (2008) and Fisch and Truglio (2001) stated that media is a powerful educational tool; besides it also induce pro-social behavior in adolescents which means adults are not into adopting violent attitudes. Authors elaborated that media encourage youth to learn empathy, anti-violent behavior, respecting elders, and tolerance towards different cultures. Gentile et al (2009) explained positive effects of video games and explained how these can be beneficial for adolescents. In their research, Valkenberg and Peter (2009) elaborated that online communication can help adolescents learn the skill of social connectedness and hence can play a vital role in adolescents’ wellbeing. Countering this finding, Bessier et al (2008) and Wells and Mitchell (2008) found that internet communication technologies can only be helpful if adolescents keep friends with those they know; connecting with strangers via public chat rooms can be potentially dangerous. In addition to this, those favoring media argues that if students are given proper sex and drug education in schools they may not be inclined to these displays on media. Another argument that goes in favor of media is that parents can always supervise their children’s screen activity and can control the channels which they do not want their child to watch by using ‘channel lock’ (Psalidas 2008). This limits the exposure to sex displays and drug usage shown on media. All these counter-arguments are valid up to a certain extent because the fact that negativity is more powerful than the positive cannot be denied. Hence it is always a presumption that the impact of violent attitude is stronger than effect of pro-social behaviour. For the counter-argument that parents can monitor their child is valid but there is always a chance that children may go unnoticed by the parents. It is not easy to monitor a child constantly in this busy life. Besides, even if parents lock certain TV channels, there is a need to keep on monitoring to ensure lock has not been broken by the child (Psalidas 2008). Furthermore, sex and drug education is not common in all schools. This makes it clear that it is not always easy to manage the negative side of media. Above discussion reveals that there are both positive and negative effects of media on teenagers; how one will benefit from media depends upon the frequency and nature of the use of media. There are some aspects that can work as regulators for the use of media by teenagers so that they can get maximum benefit from positive aspects of media while affecting less from the negative side. These factors are selective exposure to TV, age-appropriate programs/games, focus on educational media, and parental supervision to guide the use of media by teenagers. Selective exposure to media implies that programs watched and games played by the teenagers must be of educational nature. They must watch age-appropriate programs and of course this is the responsibility of parents to guide them and teach them logically why age-appropriate programs are important for them and why they cannot watch the content inappropriate for their age. It is always good to play games that are educational and fun as studies also show that positive video games are known to have good impact on academic performance of the teens. Parental support and guidance is important at every step and they must feel responsible to guide their child as to what is right and wrong for them. Hence it can be concluded that media is not all good or all bad. It depends upon the frequency and nature of use of media. But given the fact that adolescents are in an age of transition they need guidance on how they can get maximum benefit of media content. It is natural that they get attracted to things not meant for them, and definitely that will affect their behaviors and personalities too. It is therefore important to ensure proper supervision is there to guide teenagers on media content, its usefulness and its negative aspects. References Anderson, C A, Berkowitz, L, Donnerstein, E, Huesmann, L R, Johnson, J D, Linz, D L, Malamuth, N M & Wartella, E 2003, The Influence of Media Violence on Youth, Psychological Science in the Public Interest 4 (3), pp. 81-110. 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