Effect Of Aggressive Media On Development Of Children - Research Paper Example

?Topic Effect of aggressive media on development of children Today, it is a known fact that the media is filled with aggression and violence to a great extent. In current times, television is a main medium of entertainment for everyone and it has a large influence on the general population of America. It would not be a surprising fact, to know that the children are the main enjoyers of television. Children even from the toddler stage get s impressed by television and spend most of their time watching and reacting to television programs. Unfortunately, the television programs of today, conveys lot of aggression and violence in its contents. Apart from these, internet, newspaper, movies are also filled with aggressive information and virtual representations which impacts negatively on children. According to (Hitti,2005) “When violence appears on TV, in a movie, or on computer screens, it can color the thoughts, emotions, and behavior of the kids who see it”. A baby who is at an age of two or more is mainly influenced by television as he has only access to that. The aggressive media can totally brain wash the infants as they are being exposed to the loud noise and violence shown in cartoons and other animated movies perpetually .For example, the famous cartoons Tom and Jerry can motivate the toddlers to imitate fighting like the characters in the cartoons. As per (Weber) “We now have data indicating the media viewing habits of infants and toddlers, what factors influence these media viewing habits and the effects of such early viewing on the development of cognitive and social/emotional skills” The developing process of a child is gradual and complicated. Around the years one and two, it is just the motor skill of the child which develops. It is after one year, the television can have a major impact on the developing child. Because this is the age when a child imbibes actions and sounds and reflects it in their behavior while interacting with someone. A child around one year pays attention to the matters in television like sound, character and video contents. Usually around 18 months a toddler can locate the sound of the television and watch it by swaying, singing and clapping hands. As per (Tompkins,2003)“The Academy of Pediatrics says “More than one thousand scientific studies and reviews conclude that significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior in certain children”. It is obvious that the sounds produced by television are aggressive and this affects the bodily movements of a young child. The infants up to four years are mainly affected by television, as they have no access to internet, newspaper and video games. According to (Wilson,2008, pg. 87-110)“In fact, children under the age of six spend more time watching television than they do playing outdoors”. So the aggressive imagery in television spurs the emotional behavior of the child and induces them to react in the same way towards its social environment and people around them. Children in this age absorbs everything around them and as these toddlers are spending more time in front of television , their motor skill and cognitive skill work according to the nature of visual and audio effects reflected from the television. As per (Kirsch,2006,pg.6) “ Movie theatres were viewed as training ground for criminals, offering children opportunities to watch acts of degradation and learn invaluable thoughts not taught in church or homes”. When we consider developing children, their cognitive skill is extremely at a vulnerable stage and has the tendency to pick up all the information they are fed with. The children in this media centered world are consistently exposed to aggressive and violent filled movies, videogames and music videos. As a reaction to this, the small children reacts in an aggressive manner to their parents and outside world .Moreover the young children who watch “ superman” and “Batman” is seen to be more violent in real life than others. According to (Freidman,2003 ,pg.15) “ It is found that the youngsters who watched the batman and superman cartoons were more likely to hit their playmates, start arguments, disobey the teachers and be more impatient”. The children who are above 6 years are not only connected to television, but to radio, internet, videogames and movie theatre. It is nearly apparent that risky behavior found among young children and adolescent can be attached with the violence and aggressive behavior displayed by social media. These children opened to aggressive media have hostile behavior, weakened emotional response and has the tendency to imitate the visuals shown by aggressive media. Discussion If we discuss about the aggressive media and its effect on the development of children, we can focus on certain factors like ignorance from parents, lack of action from the part of government and profit making motive of mass media .when we consider the factor ignorance from parents, we can understand that many parents leave their toddlers with nannies and they leave the babies to watch television. This continuous exposure of infants to television turns them to get tuned to the aggressive media. In his article (Bush,2006)mentions that “Human and primate young have an innate tendency to imitate whomever they observe.10,11 Neuroscientists have discovered “mirror neurons” in primates that seem to promote such processing”. But why can’t parents be more alert when it is the question of the health of their children? Parents need to restrict the access of television when the nannies are at home looking after their child. But why the government is not imposing laws against the media for its unethical and moralistically wrong display of programs and video contents. Here we can clearly understand that the aim of government is to let loose the media, so that the former can gain profits and other additional benefits from it. On the other hand, the media is mushrooming as they portray visuals contents which are welcoming to young children and teenagers of entertaining and aggressive nature. According to (Paige,2008) “It is found that children who watch a lot of media violence can become desensitized to violence in real life”. Why media portray such aggressive content ? it simply because they understand children desire to watch aggressive and violent acts as it is adventurous and pleasure giving. Bibliography Bushman,, B. J. (2006). Short-term and Long-term Effects of Violent Media. American Medical Association, 160, 348-352 Freedman, J. L. (2003). Media Violence and Its Effect on Aggression: Assessing the Scientific Evidence (2ndnd ed., p. 15). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. Hitti, M. (2005, February 17). Media Violence Spurs Fear, Aggression in Kids. In webmd.com. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://www.webmd.com/parenting/news/20050217/media-violence-spurs-fear-aggression-in-kids Kirsch, S. J. (2006). Children, Adolescents, and Media Violence: A Critical Look at the Research (p. 6). California: Sage Publication Inc. Paige, N. C. (2008, February 29). More Protection . In sheknows.com. Retrieved November 14, 2012, from http://www.sheknows.com/parenting/articles/802821/connections-between-media-violence-and-aggressive-children Tompkins, A. (2003, December 14). The Psychological Effects of Violent Media on Children. AllPsych. Weber, D. S. Media Use by Infants and Toddlers: A Potential for Play. In udel.edu. Retrieved November 13, 2012, from http://udel.edu/~roberta/play/Weber.pdf Wilson, B. J. (2008). Media and Children’s Aggression, Fear, and Altruism. Future of Children organisation, 18(1), 87-110. Read More