Impact of Media on Socialization - Research Paper Example

? Running Head: Impact of Media on Socialization Shella Awanchir Joel O.Ojelade The role of media on the society and the process of socialization have been found to be large. The society of today perceives media to have impact over the world in the future. This results in them promoting the access to media and its numerous applications. It is a socially accepted view that for one to have social economical and political involvement in the modern society, they must have competence in using contemporary media tools and also should have unlimited access to the media. It is this demand that urges the older generation to provide support for the newer generation so as to acquire adequate skills in accessing media resources (Trotter, 1998) .A number of surveys have corroborated this positive thought of parents to allow maximum possible access to children to educational, informative and entertaining contents. In a number surveys I has been confirmed that most parents and children perceive media tools like computers and the Internet as a positively contributing element. These perceptions are found to be significantly dominant over the concerns about the quality of the media content. (NSBF,2000). “Most parents believe that the Internet can help children with their homework and allow them to discover fascinating, useful things, and that children without access are disadvantaged compared to those with in access” (Turow, J.1999,p.14). With this point of view there is a steady increase in parents ensuring the access of their children to media by providing them access to the appropriate resources. However the indiscriminate use and dependency on media by the society is raising concerns over many long term consequences. When exposure to media becomes excessive and unmonitored, it can adversely affect the physical, social and psychological development of individuals. While media open up the window of access to enormous information, eventually it may expose people to inappropriate and immoral information as well. The objective of this essay is to review the impact of media on socialization Media & Social Structure Media in its various forms have substantially influenced every stream of the society. The impact that the media have made on the personal attributes and social relationships of people is substantial. Influence of media contents has abilities to shape one’s social interactions and the overall social structure as such. It has been reported that a commendable influence in the relationships of the children within the house is caused by the exposure to various media. An obvious change in the traditional parent-child relationship has been reported to have happened due to the influence of media tools. When a computer savvy child talks with parents and people of higher authority, it is found that the child play a role of a teacher to the parent. (Kiesler, Lundmark, Zdaniuk, et al. 1998.) Though the technological gap among generations may be the reason behind this happening, this is an obvious proof for the capacity building process of children imparted through new age media. The new age media options provide equality in access. This helps the restructuring of the societal authority structures. For instance, equal access to latest information through media can result in lesser acceptance of hierarchical relations as in the case of parents and children. This is an evidence of media affecting the societal structure and resultantly affecting the socialization process. Media spaces like online chat rooms provide people the possibility of building a big network of friends. Communication is an easy process in these chat rooms and comparatively an inexpensive deal as well. Facilities like emailing and memberships in online communities would give access to communicate with people of similar age group across the globe. As the limitations of time and distance have been nullified by the latest media technologies, people can develop friendships with other people from different cultures and countries. This gives them a global perspective and let them understand deeply the value of different cultures. A respect for fellow human whether they are of any caste, creed or race would develop as they utilise the possibilities of communicating across the globe. This would create large changes in the understanding of people on societal structures. Media and Social Relations Media content can also strongly influence inter- personal skills of children. A study involving 20 families who had quite new access to computer based media and moderately used them, found that it promoted the possibility of bringing the family members together as they shared ideas and had more interesting interactions (Mitchell, 1985). However while turning the coin to the other side, the disadvantages of indiscriminate media content and applications in terms of the ways in which it affects the social behavior of people is a real concern. Excessive exposure to media content can have rigorous impact on the behaviour of children. Children who are extensively exposed to content containing high violence can exhibit aggression and negative attitude while being in a society. This statement is corroborated by the fact by the widely accepted behavioural principle that an imbalance of time spent on any particular leisure activity while negotiating on the time required for other activities would hamper social and educational development of individuals. It was reported that children who excessively played video games believed that their perceived control over their lives were lesser in relation with others. (Wiggins, 1985). It has also been confirmed that continuous exposure to violent media content can result in their desensitization towards violence (Provenzo, 1991). An interesting observation is that people exposed to aggressive media content demonstrates Furthermore, it has been found that ‘children who have a preference for and play aggressive computer games demonstrate less pro-social behavior (Chambers & Ascione,1987) The tendency of people limiting themselves to the social media community of friends is another alarming concern. This would result in hindrances in the development of interpersonal skills as personal interactions are importance in achieving social competence (Griffiths, 1997). Researchers have strongly proved that real time relationships with people and the rest of the natural world are critical not just for young children but for older people as well. Health, Media and the Society A major impact that media has on the society is on the physical wellbeing of the society. Excessive use and dependency of media can cause negative physical impacts. When individuals spend excessive time with media resources, they automatically avert themselves from other physically exerting activities like games, outdoor hobbies and other socializing activities. When people used to prefer playing outdoor games in the past which involved enough physical exertion, media resources of these days including television and internet are persuading people to stay indoors, leaving literally no room for proper exercise. This creates the risk of them developing obesity. Obesity refers to a condition of abnormal increase in body weight. This condition usually occurs due the accumulation of excess fat in the body. This accumulation process in turn happens due to the excess intake of calories coupled with lack of physical exertion. Obesity further leads to health problems. More than that obesity to a higher extend affects ones personality and his mobility as well. This in turn affects the socialization skills of the individual. The fact that there is a notable decrease in the physical activities of children due to increased use of computers is averred as Magarey, Daniels and Boulton (2001) has suggested an increase in cases of obesity especially among children and adolescents in the recent past. The increased use of media tools like television and computers can harmfully affect wrists eyes, and back (Alliance of Childhood,2000). Though not a direct impact, by reducing the chances for exercising, extensive use of media would indirectly reduce the scope of aversion of a number of other diseases like cardiovascular diseases, back pain, osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes and even certain kinds of carcinogenic diseases. Media & Time The socialization process demands time from individuals to engage in different social activities. However the increased time spent by people on media is a matter of major concern in this context. This must be read together with the fact that the healthy physical, psychological and social development of a society requires the active involvement of its people in a variety of socially oriented activities. This fact has been averred by Benson (1997) as he has stated that for the people to be healthy, happy, and productive, the integration of their social indulgence, physical excretion and the care offered to them by a caring society is a necessity. The misbalance in between the time expenditure on media and the time spent for the social and physical activities are found to be alarming. It is often observed that media is eating up a disproportionate amount of their day. A national survey done in the United States (Woodward, & Gridina, 2000,p.11) in the year 2000 indicated that children of an age group in between two years and seventeen years spent on an average about thirty four minutes per day in front of the computer machine. The time of use was found to increase subsequently with age. This would resultantly decrease their chances to spend time with nature, parents, relatives and friends, time to have hands on experience of life’s realities and most importantly the time for the kids to play. Conclusion Though the scope and advantages of media are immense in terms of chances of communication, the extremity of the dependency should be monitored and controlled. People should be encouraged to participate in social activities and it should be ensured that they do not limit their interaction to a virtual media space. Schools can play vital role in this by constantly and continuously enquiring on the sociability of each student. People must be effectively trained on the ideal use of media allied technologies and tools so as to maximize the boons and to minimize the banes. If a timetabling process of media exposure can be initiated as a habit in children it would ensure that children won’t get addicted to media related activities and on the other side they would optimize the utilization of the opportunities offered by the media. The over dependency on media would only build a virtual world around the people and won’t help them to build long term relationships. However only realistic relationships can help the people to be socially responsible and thus prepare them to work for the betterment of the world and its people. References Alliance for Childhood (2000). Fool’s gold: A critical look at children and computers. College Park, MD: Alliance for Childhood Benson, P.L.(1997) All kids are our kids: What communities must do to raise caring and responsible children and adolescents. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 32 Chambers, J.H.& Ascione, F.R.(1987). The effects of pro-social and aggressive videogames on children’s donating and helping. Journal of Genetic Psychology ,148:499–505 Griffiths, M.D (1997).Friendship and social development in children and adolescents: The impact of electronic technology. Educational and Child Psychology, 14:25–37 National School Boards Foundation. (2000). Safe and smart: Research and guidelines for children’s use of the Internet, Alexandria: VA Kiesler, S. Lundmark, V. Zdaniuk, B.,et al. (1998).Troubles with the Internet: The dynamics of help at home. Unpublished manuscript. Carnegie Mellon University Magarey,A.M. Daniels, L.A & Boulton, T.J (2001). Prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian children and adolescents: reassessment of 1985 and 1995 data against new standard international definitions. Medical Journal of Australia,174, 561-564 Mitchell, E. (1985).The dynamics of family interaction around home video games. Special issue: Personal computers and the family. Marriage and Family Review, 8:121– 135. Provenzo, E.F.(1991) .Jr. Video kids: Making sense of Nintendo. Cambridge: Harvard University Press Trotter, A. (1998) Question of effectiveness. Education Week: Technology counts, 98 (8),.6–9. Turow, J. (1999). The Internet and the family: The view from parents, the view from the press. Philadelphia: Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, 14-25. Wiggins, J.D.(1985).Measured self-esteem and locus of control of students related to video game, home computer, and television viewing involvement: Final report- AACD Foundation Research Project. Alexandria, VA: American Association of Counseling and Human Development Foundation. Woodward, E.H. & Gridina (2000) Media in the home 2000: The fifth annual survey of parents and children. Philadelphia: Annenberg Public Policy Center, University of Pennsylvania, 11. Read More