Does the media distort children's perceptions of reality or validate them - Essay Example

?Topic: Does the media distort children's perceptions of reality or vali them? Children are affected by everything around them, and it is common knowledge that the pre-teen years of a child are his/her most learning years. Therefore, everything around them affects the in some way, and it is vital that steps are taken to ensure that their surrounding stimuli do not affect them adversely. The media is perhaps the most dominant factor that has a colossal impact on children. If children view violent television, it might make them violent in nature, or they might develop fears due to the trauma the experience. Similarly, veral or explicit content that is everywhere in both the electronic and print media might have a very harmful impact on the child’s mental and physical growth. In a recent survey it was discovered that children between the ages of two and eighteen spend an average of five-and-a-half hours a day at home watching television, playing video games, surfing the Web or using some other form of media.1 With such a large amount of exposure to the media, it is difficult not to be influenced by it. The media of today offers us colossal amounts of information, the validity of which can often be questioned in terms of its real life implication. Hollywood movies for example might offer a lot in terms of glitz and glitter; however, very few of us have fairy-tale endings. Films are also the one medium that evoke strong emotions inside us and their impact can be substantial.2 Children are most vulnerable to such emotions andf these can have an impact on them forever. For example, the movie on huge gigantic scary spiders, Arachnophobia, had an impact on many people, and it made a large number very scared of spiders, however, in reality, spiders are not so scary creatures. The impact, which adversely affected many children, was a false one. Science-Fiction movies in Hollywood also contribute in distorting children’s perception of reality. Although they boost their imagination to think of the unachievable, they can make then day-dream and spend a large amount of time on thinking about a parallel world that does not even exist. The Star Wars mania left many children addicted to it back in the 70’s, however, the movies were anything but close to reality. They did however encourage a whole generation to become fans of something that did not even exist in reality, and even if it did not affect their perception of reality, the franchise left an impact that affected ‘reality’ itself. Horror movies also are another genre of movies that distort children’s perceptions of reality. Children often fear the presence of scary monsters lurking in dark corners and many of them are affected so badly that they are deterred from going anywhere, or even sleeping alone at night. Watching horror movies distorts children’s perception of reality so badly that many often commit violent acts.3 Current research agrees with the individuals who argue that violent media is associated with aggressive behavior.  Risky behavior by children and young adults includes violence against others and even a lack of remorse for consequences.  Such faulty thinking often creates stress in children which can lead to a large number of psychological conditions.  Therefore, children who view media violence frequently are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, reduced emotional response to violence exhibited in front of them, and injuries that result from the initiation of violent behavior. Cartoons too distort how children view reality, since they too, like fiction movies, make us believe that the impossible can be possible, and that a lot of characters many never die. However, since cartoons are depicted as animated colorful motion images, their effect is minimal, in fact even positive, since children never perceive them to be real, given their animated form. Daffy duck, for example, might fall from top of a building several times, and be squashed by a bus on the road, and still jump up, inflate itself and start quacking. This cannot be perceived as real by children, however, this might, in some very rare cases of very young children, also lead to a bad outcome, with children trying to jump off high buildings, believing themselves to be superman. Children often absorb things they view that affect them the most. This form of selective perception affects how they view reality.4 When individuals seek an intentional approach to entertainment, they often start believing what they watch, and this affects how they function. This is certainly true for children, since they are most impressionable and would believe anything they are told, or what they watch on the television. Research shows that our perceptions of reality created by entertainment media are reinforced in a manner that we start believing in events, which our cognitive senses believe they have ‘viewed’ however in reality, we have never really experienced something like it. Someone watching a love story might feel nostalgic, without ever having fallen in love. Similarly children might be convinced of having experienced something they’ve never really seen. T.V shows are another medium that distort children’s perception of reality. Children watch dozens of episodes believing what is happening is real. However, reality is much different from what is depicted. Our homes are not as clean as shown in these soap operas, people around us are also not physically that appealing, and most of us lock our cars when we leave them in order to visit a shopping mall or enter a building. If children start believing the world or soap operas is real, they would never cleans their houses, since nobody ever does it on TV, and they might painfully be reminded that car doors have to be locked when they grow up, and that people who die do not come back to life. And of course, that Santa Clause isn’t real, but that’s one thing children are supposed to believe really exists. A lot of people believe today that perception has become more important than reality today.5 People sit inside their homes and watch the world in high definition, which offers them a good replication of reality. Children too are affected by such perception, and believe what they see to be real. The impact is so strong that they believe what they see to be real and this distorts their perception. The media shows things with viewer entertainment in mind and reality is a lot different from what is depicted on screen. It is a known fact that children who consistently spend many hours of the day watching television are more likely to be overweight. Also, kids who view violent acts are more likely to show aggressive behavior and develop a fear that the world is scary and that something bad will happen to them. Children are also quite likely to be affected by characters shown on television indulging in risky behaviors, such as smoking and drinking, and also reinforce racial stereotypes. All of these factors come into effect as a result of media changing how the young generation’s perception is distorted by media. However, television when watched in moderation, can be a good thing. Preschoolers can get help learning the alphabet on shows like Sesame Street. Others can learn about wildlife on nature shows, and parents can keep up with current events on the evening news. There is no doubt about the fact that television can be an excellent educator and entertainer, when used right. Educational programs like “Sesame Street” or “Blue Clues” were created with the intention of helping young children learn. Much research and effort has been put into such shows and it has shown that those that grew up watching it as a young child end up doing better in school. The responsibility therefore falls on how parents regulate the number o hours their children watch television, instead of using it as their baby-sitting equipment. Having an objective and unbiased view of reality is a basic human right, and children might be deprived of it if parents don’t caution them about the harmful effects of media. List of citations A. Clay, Rebecca. “Unraveling New Media's Effects on Children.” American Psychological Association. Pg 40. Print. 2003 Barnet, Laura. “When disaster films come too close to reality.” The Telegraph. Film Blog. Print. 2011. Tompkins, Aimee. “The Psychological Effects of Violent Movies on Children.” ALLPsych Journal. Allpsych.com. Web. 2003 Vorder, Peter and Bryant, Jennings. The Psychology of Entertainment. Lawrence Erlbrum Associates. Pg 12. Print. 2006. New Jersey Jennings, Frank. “Perception vs. Reality. Discovering Purpose. Discoveringpurpose.co.uk. Web. 2010 Read More