The Affect of Media (Internet) in Children - Essay Example

Module The Effect of Media (Internet) on Children OUTLINE (a) Introduction- History of the influence of elements of the mass media on children (b) Advertising and Obesity The effect of early exposure to commercials and internet entertainment (c) The Process of Reaching Children through the Internet -How learning takes place in children exposed to the internet (d) Different Internet Avenues for Advertising -Avenues of influencing the younger demographics (e) Conclusion The Effect of Media (Internet) on Children INTRODUCTION All elements of the mass media have a deep influence in the choices that people make. Moreover, they influence children in deeper ways than they do adults because children may not have acquired the understanding that all advertisements have biased reasoning. In past decades, the television has been more influential on children than any other element of the mass media. There are many children who had the television effectively ‘baby-sit’ them while their parents catered to other responsibilities with the minimum of disturbance (Schmitt, Woolf, and Anderson 93). In the present generation, however, it is the internet that is having a bigger effect on the choices that children make. This is particularly evident where the subject of the choice of products to purchase is concerned. In the recent past, many nations have passed regulations that stop advertisers from using television to appeal to children’s instincts. This has caused many fast food manufacturers to turn to the internet in an effort to influence children in an arena that is not strictly regulated. The wildly successful advertising of junk food to children shows just how big an effect the internet has on children. Advertising and Obesity According to Moss, the reason why so many children prefer junk food to healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables is not mainly because of its appealing taste, but also because of the incessant intelligent advertising that children are exposed to on the internet (Moss 67). It is estimated that junk food companies that specialize in pizzas, hamburgers, and sweet foods spend billions of dollars every year in creating clever and attractive advertising gimmicks that will be aimed at children in the unregulated arena of the internet. The extent to which children are then attracted to the offerings of which promote foods that are saturated with salt, sugar, and fat shows the influence of the internet on children. From the alarming increase in the rate of obesity among increasingly younger children, it can be safely concluded that the ban against junk food advertising is not enough to stop children from being influenced by unscrupulous marketers. According to Moss, the number of children who are obese has dramatically increased in the U. S. since the mid 1980’s when television was the main media instrument in the majority of American homes and fast foods were still advertised there regularly (Moss 69). According to Wartella, early exposure to entertainment elements in the form of commercials is related to the incidence of low academic achievement and poor cognitive development (Wartella 102). Essentially, the “busyness” of the internet, as is the case with television, results in a sensory bombardment for very young children that brings about orienting responses that get in the way of the processes of reflection and cognition (Schmitt, Woolf, and Anderson, 94). The Process of Reaching Children through the Internet Learning, for children, can take place through tools that can improve learning in human interactions, or even the simulated forums that are generated through intelligent artificial agents such as exist in commercials in the internet (Richey 166). Due to the fact that interactive media such as the internet can incorporate and stimulate a child's actions, the internet has an edge over more conventional media types such as television in customizing messages for their intended clients. An interactive medium such as exists in the internet is “smart” and can take into account a learner's base of knowledge and adjust the message accordingly. On the internet, advertisers can communicate the intended message successfully by responding plainly to the user's knowledge base and developmental level. This fact is a distinct advantage when junk food manufacturers are trying to convince an adolescent or younger child to purchase a product, particularly given the different knowledge bases that make up the childhood years. The junk food advertisements on the internet also fascinate children because most of them include celebrated sportsmen and show celebrities who endorse the products. Children immediately get attracted when this kind of marketing is used because they do not comprehend that this is a simple marketing gimmick. Due to the fact that there is not a lot of research around the subject, many establishments that actively campaigned for junk food advertisers to stop marketing to children do not fully realize that the internet is used to reach children with junk food products. With the passing of laws, in many nations, which limit junk food advertisements on television, the internet has become the most recent field being used to reach children. Different Internet Avenues for Advertising Companies that manufacture products high in salt, fat and sugar are still using tried and tested methods to promote junk food to children through ‘backdoor’ advertising routes such as the internet in order to circumnavigate the official regulators. On the internet, the marketers use traditional techniques such as celebrity endorsements, cartoons, and film tie-ins to reach younger demographics. They have also started to advertise through sponsored mobile phone contests that allow the winners to be rewarded with prizes and gaming websites. There are numerous junk food manufacturers that also use text messaging, internet chat-rooms, social media sites, and ‘advergames’ on websites to advertise non-healthy and starch filled foods. Other facilities that are commonly used for advertising include free downloads, interactive games, chatterbots, and blogs. With so many avenues available to marketers, it is no wonder that even after junk food advertising was severely restricted on television, the rates of obesity actually skyrocketed in many states. Television only avails one method of reaching selected viewers with information; moreover, the internet provides different avenues through a singular media. CONCLUSION Internet advertising is quite difficult to curtail because the internet is not regulated. The only way that the influence of the internet on children can be curtailed is by restricting the amount of time that they spend online. Parents and educators can also seek to teach children early on about the dangers of the internet and the true nature of the marketer who constantly seek to get their attention. Parents and teachers could also seek to involve children in extra – curricular activities that will draw their interest away from always wanting to surf the internet Works Cited Moss, Michael. Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us. New York: Random House, 2013. Schmitt, Kelly, Kimberly Woolf, and Daniel Anderson. “Viewing the Viewers: Viewing Behaviors by Children and Adults during Television Programs and Commercials.” Journal of Communication 53.2 (2003): 265–81. Richey, Brooks. Does This News Make Me Look Fat? How America's Junk Food Diet Makes Us Mentally Obese. And The Diet Plan For Fitness. New York: Omena Publishing, 2012. Wartella, Ellen. Children Communicating: Media and Development of Thought, Speech, Understanding, Volume 224. New York: SAGE Publications, 1979. Read More