Television as a Medium for Good Behavior - Essay Example

April 27. 2008 Television as a Medium for Good Behavior Today, television programs have been offering various shows that cater for almost every kind of viewers. Sorting from gender, age, and interests, there surely has been a program suitable for each. The most of the delicate viewers that this form of media has are the minors. Children, having a vulnerable and yet susceptible perceptions, most likely be influenced by what has been being exposed to them or what they were able to perceive visually, like watching television. In this manner, it can be assumed that television, as a medium, could be use to convey a method to teach children of good behavior. However, there have been numerous articles and research conducted that shows the negative effects of television on children. It has been stated that “watching a single violent program can increase aggressiveness” in children (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2002). Even cartoons have some form of violence. When we see Tom and Jerry chasing each other and hitting each other on the head with a mallet or a hammer, they normally survive this and children tend to think that its play, that the next person will survive it like Gerry does each time. In reality, when a child hits another child with a mallet or a hammer on the head, or imitate a wrestling move they saw on TV, the repercussions are dangerous if not fatal (Kernshaw 2007). So if violent television shows have this effect on children, would it be possible to say that it can also influence good behavior? “Designated Driver” was a television-based campaign started by the Harvard School of Public Health that targeted young adults about the dangers of driving under the influence. (Harvard) They began the campaign in 1988. By 1998, they estimated that almost 50,000 lives were saved because of the campaign together with the community’s efforts to impose stricter guidelines and penalties. Of course, the target audience for this campaign was young adults. And it worked. The principles are still the same if applied to younger children. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says “children older than 2 should watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming.” The AAP further adds that “children under age 2 should have no "screen time", like TV, DVDs or videotapes, computers, or video games, at all.” (Jordan et al 2006) On the other hand, we have to consider the case to case basis as shown by Ariel Gore in her article “TV can be a Good Parent.” Ariel points out that single mothers have been “helped” by the ‘electronic babysitter’ when they need to take a break. How many single parents are there in America alone? Mercy Tree Ministries (2005) have reported that “there are 11.6 million single mother households with children under 21.” How many single mothers avail of the television as an electronic babysitter in their hour of need? Can we really blame them? Children are impressionable at a young age. They imitate what they see on TV. They imitate what adults do and say. If they continuously see violence on TV, it isn’t impossible to say their behavior towards other children will be aggressive as well. In this manner, it is apparent that if they continuously see good TV shows, then it’s also possible they’ll be good towards other children. It is a matter of filtering what children watch. But parents – couples and single parents – cannot be on hand all the time to filter out what their children watch on TV. Parents cannot guarantee that the nanny they leave with their children will watch only the shows the parents list down as ‘good shows’ because nannies are human beings too and they will watch their favorite soap opera even in full view of the children. Of course, day care centers have a good line up of children shows and an educational list of DVDs to show the children during day care hours. Television, once filtered, has its advantages as well if used for educational purposes. The key word is IF it is used as an educational tool. It is good that stricter guidelines have been set up when it comes to Day Care facilities, that they can only show educational DVDs that range from alphabets to animal knowledge. Even those are screened for violent scenes (wild life). Sesame Street is one show that everyone in our generation grew up with. It was targeted for poor families in the late 60s for parents who were “too poor to send their children to pre-school. Who doesn’t know Big Bird, Ernie and Bert, the Count? We all grew up with Sesame Street. “Sesame Street has won more than seventy Emmys, televisions highest award. It has also been honored by the Smithsonian Museum of American History and New Yorks Museum of Modern Art.” (Business Reference 2008) The show does not have any violent scene or any acts of violence towards any character in the show. The show’s script is guides children into being well behaved, showing good manners, empathy and compassion for other living beings. It also teaches children of pre-school age how to enjoy learning with the use of puppets and animated lectures on alphabets and numbers. These ‘values’ are things parents of this generation would want their children to have when they grow up. With the onslaught of violent shows, reality shows, wrestling shows during primetime, cartoons that are also violent; it would take a huge effort on the media businesses to correct the ratings versus values predicament any television network is up against. It is a never ending tug of war. New York Times’ Bill Carter reported in 2004 that “. . . television shows are far more likely to keep pumping from the deep well of murder, mayhem and sexual transgression than seek diversion along the straight and narrow path.”(Carter 2004) Simply because the “straight and narrow path” shows were not being viewed by a majority of the viewers per county. It is still a numbers game. Advertisers will pay top-dollar to be aired during the time of high-ranking shows. The more advertisers there are, the more networks will make money. The more shows that generate advertisers, networks might be faced with choosing between highest earning shows over shows with moral and educational values, possibly easing out even the educational shows being showed during the day. But being so, it does not defeat the purpose of actually putting television to good use to influence good behavior on the part of its viewers especially the children. Parents will just have to continue monitoring what their children watch on TV and put their foot down on violent shows like wrestling, crime shows, violent reality shows. It will be hard but it has to begin from home. Television inside children’s bedrooms is also discouraged. (Jordan et al 2006) I agree with that because one the door is closed, parents can never tell what shows our children are watching. All the research and studies on the impact of Television on children’s behavior can be published and read by parents – both couples and single parents. But it will still be their decision whether to heed it, understand the consequences, and if they will decide to comply with it. It will also be up to the parents to explain their decisions to their children. What about networks and advertisers? They have to make money, employees to support and they need to expand their business. These “giants” wouldn’t prioritize a move that would defeat their purpose of making money and win in the ‘ratings’ game. But this should not be the case. They will have to find a balance somewhere. The statement “a child’s care was communal” in Ariel Gore’s article hit a nerve. It does take a community to raise a child, not just the parents, not just the school, not just the relative businesses proximate to the child – it is the combination and mix, cooperation and mutual goals of everyone surrounding that child. Everyone should be a responsible participant in the upbringing of a child. It is a matter of being aware of each and everyone’s social responsibility to a child. The television is just the medium but the messages and the kind of messages aired via the television is placed there by human beings. It is decided upon by humans basing their decisions more on ratings than the values of quality broadcasting. It is a mindset that needs to be changed. Even the United Nations recognize this need. In the UN’s Convention (1990) on the rights of a Child, Article 17 states that: Article 17: States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. (United Nations 1990) It’s just a matter of corporate social responsibility on the part of networks and advertisers. They are the source and viewers are the end users. Adult viewers can always ignore or ‘filter-out’ any show they dislike seeing. But children – out of curiosity – will always fall victims to shows they think are ‘fun’ or ‘play’ and without proper parental guidance, they will imitate life as they see it – aggressive, believing that if they hit a playmate with a hammer, their playmate will just recover like Tom and Jerry. Parents are already overwhelmed with that they need to do in order for a family to survive and have food on the table. At the end of the day, it is a normal habit to let the children sit in front of the television while they rest, put their feet up or prepare dinner; which is why parents also need to change their mind set when it comes to programs they let their children watch. Networks need to reorganize children-safe shows and air them when children watch TV the most. And if it means losing a few advertisers, they’ll just have to look for other advertisers who share the same principles and goals. It has to begin somewhere. At the same time, television shows should also begin studying their story lines and decide if their story lines are beneficial to the moral values of the community as whole and not just on focused groups like children. Because parents who watch good family shows with good values, will let their children watch with them and eventually, let the children watch it on their own. If these businesses really pushed hard on their social responsibility towards their viewers and end users, then maybe Television, if properly filtered, if used as a tool to educate; if it were properly monitored; can be used as a medium for good behavior. Conclusion. Just as how the Sesame Street srated with their humanitarian aim to produce a show that complies with the educational needs of the children, TV programs can be an effective instrument to promote morality and significant education for minors. In fact, there are numerous shows that are safe for the children’s viewing that continuously being aired, and continuously developed to trail along the growth of information and social awareness. Works Cited “Children and TV Violence”. Facts for Families. American Academy of child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Nov 2002. 01 May 2002 < http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Children+and+TV+Violence§ion=Facts+for+Families> “Convention on the Rights of the Child.” United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights. General Assembly resolution 44/25 in accordance to Article 40. 2 Sep 1990. 31 Apr 2008 < http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm> “Sesame Workshop”. Sesame Street Forum. Business Reference. 2008. 31 Apr 2008 < http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/businesses/M-Z/Sesame- Workshop.html> “Single Parent Statistics”. Mercy Tree Ministries. 2005. 01 May 2008 < http://www.mercytree.org/mercytree/index.cfm?fuseaction=content.home&grp=3&sub=71> Carter, Bill. Many Who Voted for Values still like their Television Sin. The New York Times. 22 Nov 2004. 02 May 2008 < http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/22/business/media/22tube.html?_r=1&oref=slogin> Gore, Ariel. TV Can be Good Parent. Mothers Who think. 16 Aug 1999. 01 May < http://www.salon.com/mwt/hot/1999/08/16/tvrant/index.html> Jordan, Amy B., Hersey, James C. McDivitt, Judith A., Heitzler, Carrie D. Reducing Children’s Television-Viewing Time: A Qualitative study of Parents and Their Children. American Academy of Pediatrics. Pediatrics Vol. 118. No. 5. 01 Nov 2006 Kernshaw, John. Two Teens Kill 7-Year Old Girl with Supposed Mortal Kombat Moves. Ripten. 20 Dec 2007. 02 May 2008 Read More