Mass Medias Effect on Childrens Behavior - Essay Example

Mass Media Baby A one-year-old baby, who just learned to walk 2 months ago, is now trying to move his arms and cute legs to the beat of hip-hop music. How about a toddler who says he would like to marry the baby girl in the neighborhood Or a pre-school kid who already knows the latest events in the society, events that are not found in the books Some elderly would often wonder why the mindset of children today is far advanced than they were decades ago. Could it be the genes or the child's social environment Noticeably, children these days are more exposed to various forms of extrafamilial influences that include peers, school, and the mass media. A child's mind can easily adapt to a thing or activity that comes his way; it is called the cognitive development - the "changes that occur in children's mental skills and abilities over the course of their lives" (Shaffer 243; ch. 7). Infants begin to interact with their family. The family sets the child's perception of a social environment; an environment which can later be altered when the child's exposure to mass media begins, or when the child starts going to school. As children develop intelligence, most likely, they tend to imitate the elders. Andrew Meltzoff discovers that as early as 9-month-old, an infant "can imitate very simple acts (for example, button-pressing to activate a noise-making toy) twenty-four hours after observing them" (qtd. in Shaffer 251; ch. 7). Similarly, a child exposed to various forms of mass media imitates whatever is there to see or hear. Mass media takes on different forms: newspaper, magazine, radio, movies, television, and the latest and fast-growing electronic media - the World Wide Web. Newspaper and radio are among the earliest forms of communication media; however, television is one of the most popular today. Almost every household in the world owns a television set. In 2004, a study by Frank N. Magid Associates for the Online Publishers Association, shows that the "Internet and television are the most popular media" (Mack). Of 1,235 respondents, "forty-one percent of them reported using the Web (exclusive for e-mail, instant messenger and chat) between two to five hours a day, while fifty-two percent said they watched television as much" for entertainment and relaxation" (Mack). Ecological systems model and mass media A number of theories on human development and the environmental influences have been published. Many of which cited that mass media have a certain effect on a child at a particular point of development. Shaffer states that Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model of human development is "perhaps the most detailed analysis of environmental influences that has appeared to date" (59; ch. 2). Fig. 1. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model of human development; rpt. in "Overview of Child Development" (32) Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model of human development consists of microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. His innermost environmental structure, or microsystem, consists of the immediate contexts that a child actually experience (qtd. in Shaffer 59). It is the surroundings where the infant is first exposed to; this involves the family, playmates in the neighborhood, and later expands to peers at the day care. Mesosystem refers to the "interrelationships among microsystems" (Shaffer 60; ch. 2). The strong emotional foundation that the family instilled will prepare the child with future relationship with the teachers and other children. Exosystem, on the other hand, consists of "settings that children never experience directly but may still affect their development" (Shaffer 60; ch. 2). This involves the parents' view towards their work. If the parents are no longer happy with their job and they let their offspring see it, the child's emotional growth might be affected. The macrosystem is a "broad, overarching ideology that dictates how children should be treated, what they should be taught, and the goals for which they should strive" (Shaffer 60; ch. 2). In short, macrosystem is the culture and the laws of the government which every citizen should abide. Finally, chronosystem involves the "changes which occur during a child's life, both personally (the birth of a sibling) and culturally (the war in Iraq)" ("Overview of Child Development" 32). In Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems model of human development, three systems include mass media as an influential tool in a child's development. For example, a toddler saw in a television show that a man intentionally stepped on a cat's tail; this image will stay on the child's mind. The child may imitate the violent act or take good care of cats so that no one will harm it - this is exosystem. Macrosystem environment develops a child by inculcating in his mind the dos and don'ts of the society. Mass media also play a vital role in this area of human development. Educational television programs usually teach the child to respect the elders, use courteous words especially when asking a favor, and these programs even discuss the proper way to cross the street. As the child ages, he may or may not welcome the feeling of having another baby in the family apart from him (chronosystem). First, this feelings usually depend on the orientation that the parents give; second, on the idea of the child's peers; and third, on how the mass media depicts similar situation that the child is currently experiencing. Concerns about television and movies A child's first exposure to mass media is television and the movies. Sociologist John Macionis states that "years before children learn to read, watching television has become a regular routine and, as they grow up, young girls and boys spend as many hours in front of a television as they do in school" (137; ch. 5). In 1995, a study by the United States' Bureau of Census shows that "the average household keeps a television on for seven hours each day" (qtd. in Macionis 137; ch. 5). Since television has become a commodity in every household, critics raised a number of issues on the negative effects of the programs shown on TV. Some of these programs have extreme violent plots, political biases, and discrimination. According to liberal critics, "television shows mirror our society's patterns of inequality and rarely challenge the status quo; TV programs have traditionally portrayed men and women according to cultural stereotypes" (Macionis 138; ch. 5). On the other hand, conservative critics argue that "the television and film industries are dominated by a 'cultural elite' who are far more liberal than the population as a whole" (Macionis 138; ch. 5). As years pass by, television shows have also matured. Racial discrimination is gradually becoming extinct in movies and TV program's plots. A number of Afro-Americans became more popular and in-demand actors than the white Americans. However, there are still some concerns that daunt the parents. Mass media have undoubted influence on the public particularly on the children. Effects of television and movie viewing on children To assess the impact of television viewing to children's development and socialization, experts conduct a comparative study on children who are exposed to this medium and those who do not have access to television. In 1986, a study on Canadian children somehow caused an alarm to parents and authorities. Prior to the coming of television, grade school children in "Notel" tested higher in both reading skills and creativity than did age-mates in other comparable Canadian towns served by television. But two to four years after television broadcasts became available in their village, these youngsters' creativity and reading proficiency scores had declined to the levels shown by children in the other towns. (Corteen & Williams; Harrison & Williams qtd. in Shaffer 642; ch. 16) Apart from this, television shows undesirable effects on children's behavior are also caused by violent shows. Mourin's study on Canadian's perspective on mass media shows that a "Canadian child spends about the same amount of time watching television as he does attending school; by the time a Canadian child reaches 12 years of age, he has seen 12,000 violent deaths on television" ("Mass Media"). Violence in television programs ranges from a simple act of kicking an animal in cartoons to gory and elaborate commission of crime in action movies shown on TV. If there's any value learned from watching violent programs, it could be "survival of the fittest" which could turn a child into a bully, or worse, into a criminal. Although a number of people have argued that "the often-comical violence portrayed in children's television programming is unlikely to affect the behavior of young viewers, both anecdotal and research evidence suggests otherwise" (Shaffer 643; ch. 16). Television shows also affect a child's eating habit. It has been noted that children are more interested and focused during commercial breaks; they are all eyes on the advertisements. Attractive concepts in selling chips and dining at fastfood chains have enormous effect on a child. However, advertisements on vitamins have good results. A child also learns the lesson on stereotyping the roles and attributes of a man and a woman, as well as racial discrimination, in mass media; this is apart from the parents and peers' influence. To counter such negativities, in-charge in television programming designed child-friendly programs. Among these are educational programs such as the long-running Sesame Street where children viewing the program are encouraged to learn the letters, numbers, and geometric forms along with the children and mascots featured in the show. Good values are also taught in educational programs. One major review of the literature found that young children who often watch prosocial programming do indeed become more prosocially inclined (Hearold qtd. in Shaffer 646; ch. 16). Mass media's effects on children's behavior A child's mind is fragile especially during the early years. Anything fed to it will be taken as is. Early exposure to mass media may corrupt the child's perception of reality, particularly in watching television and movies without adult supervision. This is especially true in today's home where both parents work to earn a living. Almost always the child is left with a nanny - a nanny who also has things to attend to other than baby sitting. This set-up could be parent-friendly but it is definitely not child-friendly because when the nanny does other chores the child is left in front of the television watching a violent cartoon program. Or worse, the nanny attends to the child while watching the nanny's favorite soap opera. Television shows a variety of programs - from educational to cartoons, from sports to drama, from news to game shows. Indeed television entertains and increases public awareness. But some programs can develop a child's malicious, humiliating, and violent attitudes. Mass media is just a quarter of the systems and agents that shape a child's personality. It is the family that plays a major role in a child's development. A child will not develop his intellect by merely watching educational shows; he will need his parents' encouragement. Ultimately, a child guided by the parents in watching television shows will definitely develop a positive attitude and a realistic disposition in life. Works Cited Macionis, John. Sociology. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1997. Mack, Ann M. "Web, TV Tops Among Consumers." ADWEEK (2004). 25 March. 2007. . Mourin, Peter. Mass Media: A Canadian Perspective. Prentice-Hall Canada. 25 March. 2007. . Overview of Child Development. Sonoma State University. 25 March. 2007. . Shaffer, David. Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence. CA, USA: Brooks/Cole Publishing, 1996. Read More