Negative Effects of Media on Children - Book Report/Review Example

Children are the prime audiences of the media that is full of sex and violence. Children vary in their interaction with media depending upon their personality traits, intellectual level and social class (Moyer-Guse and Riddle, 2009). TV shows frighten the girls more than boys. Media affects the cognitive development and academic performance of children. Media shows sex, stereotypes racial and ethnic groups, and shows violence. Media is responsible for 10 to 20 per cent of all cases of real violence.

Normal children are affected by the violence shown in the media. It makes the children immune to violence, fearful of the world and more aggressive. A study done in 2005 found a twofold increase in the sex scenes in TV programs since 1998 (Richard, 2011). Media frequently publishes photos of nude children. An art gallery in Paddington, Sydney displayed images of child pornography. Photos of nude children published by media without hiding their faces reach the audience everywhere and the children’s image is tarnished forever (protectionists.org, 2008).

Gay marriages make an important element of the popular culture (Robinson, 2008). They have been openly shown in the media. There have been milestones in the way of overt expression of homosexuality in the media first from 1972 to 1999 and later from 2000 to date. With the passage of time, homosexuality has become more and more acceptable. Anderson, Fakhfakh, and Kondylis (1999) have explored the attitudes of public towards the way homosexual people are portrayed in the media. Media gains public perceptions through research and polls and projects its own through shows.

Gay community has gained increased representation in the talk shows in media. People rate homosexuality portrayed in media based on their religious beliefs. Obesity and overweight have become global issues over the last decade. Today, 20 million or more children below 5 years of age are overweight (News Medical, 2011). Obesity and overweight have many negative consequences upon health and economics. According to news.com.au (2010), children become lazy, overweight and obese by watching TV and their academic performance is lowered.

A Canadian study found that children aged 29 months view TV for 8.82 hours a week while those aged 53 months watch the TV for 14.85 hours a week. The time in which they can do activities to enhance their cognitive and behavioral development is wasted. Hope (2007) said that media has made children “mini-couch potatoes”. Their physical activity is very limited and they have become very lazy. Fat children have doubled in number in the last decade and 25 per cent children between 11 and 15 years of age have become obese.

Consequently, they are getting chronic health illnesses. In the past, children spent prudently. Today, they spend lavishly. After the World War II, there occurred a baby boom. As those children reached the age of 12, their spending made a significant proportion of the total spending. Today, children are targeted by the retailers. Advertising focused on children has reached the worth of $100 million (McNeal, 2011). Media affects the academic performance of children, and impacts their competencies and behaviors.

Children imitate the unsafe stunts of the TV characters and are caught in accidents. TV teaches children sex and violence and tells them that to be rude and irresponsible is normal (Tuberose.com, n.d.). According to