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TV'S IMPACT ON YOUTH.
Term Paper ID:17242
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Harmful effects of TV in its roles as parent, teacher, hero-provider & peer of children, emphasizing relational vacuum, low values & morals, commercialism, entertainment, violence.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Harmful effects of TV in its roles as parent, teacher, hero-provider & peer of children, emphasizing relational vacuum, low values & morals, commercialism, entertainment, violence.
Paper Introduction:
TELEVISION'S INFLUENCE ON YOUTH VALUES
"As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."
Proverbs 27:19
Men embody the values which they hold. These values develop most intensively during early childhood. The first nine years of life are thus in one sense the most significant period in a person's life, because during this time children acquire the values which form their character. Parental influence develops a child's first impressions of the manner in which humans are to relate to one another. This influence continues, teaching children basic values, morals, and social patterns. Teachers begin to instill in children the value of education, knowledge, and hard work. Children choose early heroes and role models which define their hopes and dreams. Also during this period,
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It offers, however, a contrasting message to that offered by thetraditional teacher. Very young children cannot tell reality from fantasy; therefore they are influenced as much by TV as they are by all the new things around them (Brown 259). Even the young peopleentering college today - supposedly the most well-developed young people -carry the marks of television. Statistics overwhelmingly show that children adopt values andlifestyles similar to those of their parents. Schools primarily depend on print andexposition of text as the medium of teaching, and the school teacher's roleis to develop children with appropriate respect for, understanding of, anddesire for knowledge through print. As long as television remains an entertaining alternative to school,children will prefer television's model of truth and knowledge over that ofprint, because it is entertaining and prepackaged, and it requires littleeffort. The values, and thus the character, of today's youth are declining.Drugs are on the rise, becoming a problem even in grammar schools. These values develop mostintensively during early childhood. Thechild enters into a parasocial interaction with the character, where thechild predicts how the character will act in certain situations (Noble 32). Because of the prevalence oftelevision role models, children tend to define their play roles in termsof TV characters. The form of this process affects children's thinking skillsand capacity and desire for knowledge. if bad people try to kill you, call your mother and she will get a gun and kill him" (Noble 85-6). I"m Popeye the Sailor Man." He flexed his arms, spread his legs, tilted his head forward and stalked ahead in a rolling gait. Womencomprise only one-fourth of all TV characters (Liebert, et al. Social interaction betweenchildren is significantly decreased by the magnitude of time spent viewingtelevision (Liebert, Neale, and Davidson 11). Neale, and Emily S. Works CitedBrown, Ray. (Every lesson must stand on its own, a pre-packaged entity). Networks attempt to broadcast helpful children'seducational programming. Principal playtime today is no longerwith other children, but in front of the TV. The networks thus stuff the facts of news into the package ofentertainment, and those who watch learn that serious facts are short,novel, and entertaining. New York: Penguin, 1985.----------------------- 16 Televisionhas its strongest effect on children during their earliest development(before they reach age 9-1 and begin to develop a more complexunderstanding of reality and identity). An example dialogue shows the role of televisioncharacter in both role-modeling and peer interaction: Glenn: "I bought a book, a Popeye book. Television heroes have a certain measure of status simplybecause they are televised: they are watched and admired by millions ofviewers on a daily basis. London: Oxford UP, 1958.Hodge, Robert and David Tripp. Overall, parents define for children the realities of society, values andrelationships. Gangviolence has increased rapidly in small towns as well as large. Thou shalt avoid exposition like the ten plagues visited upon Egypt. In America, it is common that two-year-olds toddle over to theTV and turn it on, and by age three or four the average American child is aregular TV watcher (Liebert, Neal, and Davidson x). Children and Television: a Semiotic Approach. Many of the most serious issues in our culture are primarilyaddressed through TV. . Thequality of public education has declined to the point of national concern.We must ask why this mental and moral decline is happening, and how youngpeople in our culture have developed their values. And I'm gonna sock you." He made a fist and hit Cary. Conclusion Through the roles of parent, teacher, hero, and peer, televisiondominates the relational life of today's youth. Children tend to choose role models who are high in status andolder than themselves. The effect of television, however,is more pervasive than specific situations. . New York: Russel Sage Foundation, 1975.Himmelweit, H.T., A.N. It is natural to looktoward television to answer this question, since television is perhaps themost consistent influence on young people today. Consequencesof violence are under-represented for protagonists on television; the abovementioned study of four-year-olds' reactions to TV violence revealed thefollowing children's perspectives: ". As the amount of televisionviewing has increased in the American home, many other activities havedecreased. The impressions which children gain from their heroes become realityin the child's mind. Television saturates the lives of Americanchildren. have at least one TV, and the average viewerspends 2 -25 hours per week watching TV (children average more than thisaverage) (Hodge 1). 11). He says that the networks operate by these principles (147-148): I. Television, on the other hand,presents an alternative to print. Robert Macneil,executive editor and co-anchor of the "Macneil-Lehrer News-hour," writes ofthe intention of a typical news-program: The idea is to keep everything brief, not to strain the attention of anyone but instead to provide constant stimulation through variety, novelty, action, and movement. All televised publicdiscourse fits into TV's paradigm of entertainment. Teachersdirect the process by which children experience issues of knowledge, truth,and learning. Jamie hit Jimmy. In one field experiment regarding televisionaggression, sociologists attempted to form a control group of children whowatched only nonaggressive television. Jimmy leapt out of the wagon andbegan to hit Jamie. Davidson. Parents see television as a convenient method of harmlessly occupyingor entertaining children. Television is a natural arena in which children may find heroes.Children search for the person they would most like to imitate, and usuallyfind a person older than themselves of high status, who is associated withhigh rewards. . They then become much like their role models: ". The Early Window: Effects of Television on Children and Youth. 35).Television is a medium of entertainment, controlled by a profit motive.Values which follow naturally from this are glamour and excitement(entertainment) and commercialism (profit). Many parents claim that their own influence is much more powerfulthan that of television. Jamie and Glenn (singing aloud): "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man, toot-toot, I'm Popeye the Sailor Man, toot-toot." (Theycame up to Cary who was pulling Jimmy and Billy in a wagon.) Jamie: "I'm Popeye the Sailor Man." Billy: "Who?" Jamie: "Popeye, Popeye. Our children are thusaddicted to television in their most impressionable stage. Neil Postman, inreaction to children's educational television, says: As a TV show, and a good one, 'Sesame Street' does not encouragechildren to love school or anything about school. The amount of time which children spend watching television drasticallyaffects children's peer experience. Peers comprise thesocial environment in which a child's values are refined by peer pressure.Values are merely theories until they are practiced - and peers practicetheir developing values on one another. Statistically, on television the primary, correct and normalway to obtain success includes violence (Liebert, et al. Television fulfills the role of parent to today's children becauseparents expose their children to television at an early age. They are more conscious of money and careerthan ever before because they believe that these are the paths tohappiness. to pay attention to no concept, no character, and no problem for more than a few seconds at a time (Postman 1 5). Parents are the earliestmodels to their children of all that the world comprises. These valuesare primarily commercialism and entertainment. Children, a very trend-conscioussubculture, are dependent upon television to identify what is "in" or"out." This dependence extends beyond products; children look to TV tomodel the personality and values which are currently most popular.Television is therefore a popular arena from which children may chooseheroes. Television is an excellent source of social information for children;it exposes them to society more completely and more quickly than could aparent. Professionalsand protectors of the law are common to the television world, as well ascriminals, while the working-class is systematically ignored. Televised lessons must be visual and exciting). All these activities would otherwise significantly add tothe depth and breadth of a child's development. Its influence is cumulative:the more than 14, hours of television viewed by the average 18-year-old(Hodge and Tripp 74) comprises the single most consistent and time-consuming activity (besides sleep) in life.In effect, television has come to replace human relationships in developingAmerican children's values; it acts as parent, teacher, hero, and peer totoday's youth.The Parental Role The parental role traditionally wields the most influence in a child'sdevelopment. Children depend on their earlyteachers for encouragement toward a healthy understanding of an appetitefor knowledge. Teacher isgonna read it." Jamie: "I'm Popeye. It gives children the opportunity to beginunderstanding the nature of knowledge, truth, and learning. Since television is presented primarily to entertain adults(Liebert, Neale, and Davidson x), it shows adults of high status andattractiveness. . . Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1986.Liebert, Robert M., John M. Jamie got a blow under hiseye. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1976.Cater, Douglass and Stephen Strickland. He began to scream. Parentalinfluence develops a child's first impressions of the manner in whichhumans are to relate to one another. TV and the Child: An Empirical Study of the Effect of TV on the Young. Television threatens this crucial teaching role in the lives ofAmerican youth. TELEVISION'S INFLUENCE ON YOUTH VALUES "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man." Proverbs 27:19 Men embody the values which they hold. It is in direct conflict with formal education; the twobattle over the time, and thus the mind and heart, of today's youth.Television is winning the battle, as children spend, on the average, muchmore time watching television than attending school, and television viewingis voluntary while school is compulsory (Hodge 74). What values do they learn from television? Primarily, they develop anunderstanding of social roles. A child thuslearns from television a powerful model of biased, stereotyped socialroles. This group of children, however,reacted strongly and aggressively to the possibility of not being allowedto watch "Batman" (Liebert, Neale, and Davidson 118)! TV Violence and theChild: TheEvolution and Fate of the Surgeon General's Report. Notice the repetition of the name and role of Popeye. Although many factual lessons may beattained from television, the issue of medium remains. Since the largest market fortelevision is with those aging from 18 to 49 (Liebert, Neale, and Davidson15), most programs target this same age group, and thus depict a world ofadults. It offers short, predigested ideas inthe form of entertainment, and thereby trains children to associateknowledge with entertainment. They are increasingly less well-read than previous students.Their rhetorical skills are generally lower than ever, and relationalskills are also on the decline. The sheer magnitude and regularity of input whichchildren receive from television is striking. As long as television characters act as rolemodels, children will live with unrealistic and confused values.The Role of Peer Peers function differently in child development than do parents,teachers, and heroes. . Television has thus come to carry this prophetic role: people look toTV to find what is and will be popular. When young children choose heroes from television, they develop binary,"black-and-white" conceptions of good and bad relating to their heroes; ina study of fifty-six four-year-olds, the following common reactions totelevision were recorded: "All the good people have to kill the bad people; you can't really talk to a bad guy - you must shoot him; all the heroes kill only the bad guys; a gun means you are strong . (Television is an alternative to print and exposition. They receiveconsistent and powerful messages over the small screen from a very youngage. Adults are more influential inmodeling social roles to children because adults are high status models(Liebert, et al. In order to stop these trends, the students who are now experiencingthem must begin to see their own predicament. The peer group is the environment in which childrenpractice the social values which they are gaining. He always hits" (Noble 88). Primary education is much more than children learning toread, write and add. One can only hope that tomorrow's adults will not be too busywatching TV to recognize their problems and do something for theirchildren. Thou shalt induce no perplexity. Television transfers itsown values to the impressionable who view it. bad people bleed but not good people . This influence continues, teachingchildren basic values, morals, and social patterns. TV actively sells itself as a source of heroes and role models. Perhaps the most striking way in which television plays the role of aparent is its omnipresence. . . Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1975.Postman, Neil. young people are likely to have strong sentiments towards those they use as models, and . Television glorifies and over-represents violence as a meansof success. It is atragedy that television is more fully parenting many young children thanare human parents.The Role of Teacher The teacher fulfills a very important role in child development byguiding children through experiences, toward an understanding ofepistemology. Children in front of the Small Screen. 18). Children by nature look for models which they can emulate. TV suppresses in children the value of exposition andreading by offering more entertaining, less demanding alternatives.Children lack the judgement to refuse this offer, and therefore they adoptthe values of television when given the opportunity.The Role of Hero Heroes and role models play an important role in developing children'svalues. The heroes portrayed are typically unrealistic characterswho do not deal with common life; for example, only 6 percent oftelevision characters are engaged in some occupational activity - and theseare almost always in the upper middle class (Liebert, Neale, and Davidson118). Because of TV's saturationof our homes, children are becoming one-dimensional, television-parentedkids. This recognition is a child's sense that he has gotten to knowthis character as a friend or acquaintance (Noble 63-4). They lack the social training and experience of a peergroup, and are consequently drawn further into the comfortable,entertaining, familiar interaction with television. Occurrences of violence have consistentlyincreased on campuses everywhere. The social roles which television teaches include strongstereotypes regarding sex, race, and occupation. Children with high exposure totelevision will thus often choose role models from television. Television is thus aself-perpetuating, harmful social (or antisocial) habit for children. On the cutting edge of popularity,television does not merely show that which people have demonstrated aliking for; rather, it projects and predicts what people will be attractedto. They learn these roles form programmingwhich is written and produced for adults. . Recognition then plays a very significant role in peer interaction. . As television takes its toll on peer interaction between children, thechildren suffer. These include book reading, sleep, social gatherings, familyleisure activities, conversation, and household care (Liebert, Neal, andDavidson 11). Entertainment teaches that life is to beobserved rather than participated in, that knowledge is given in short,simple, exciting units, that violence is the pathway to success, and thatheroes never lose and always win. Sober issues such as politics, news, religion, andeducation are handled regularly by the networks. They define the notions of success and happiness by whicha child may operate, and roles of human relationships which he may emulate. In all three programs, violentand illegal behavior was shown to bring success (Liebert, et al. . One primary manner in which televisioncharacters differ from other (parental) models is this: on television,violence is primarily the correct and normal way to gain success (Liebert,Neale, and Davidson 35). You are required . The televisioncharacter especially dominates Jamie's ideas, actions, and interactions. Television, through parenting, clearly carries a significant role indeveloping the values of today's children. Commercialism teaches thechild that money and fashion are superhighways to happiness, and that noother paths exist to that end. Theirexposure to television, then, is very significant in their development ofvalues. Television thus takes the role of the teacher in developing Americanyouth. Glenn followedimmediately behind, imitating every gesture that Jamie made. The first nine years of life are thusin one sense the most significant period in a person's life, because duringthis time children acquire the values which form their character. The values which televisioncreates are harmful to children and to society. By showing models with all the status, reward,and comfort one may desire, television advocates the unrestrained pursuitof these values. Teacher: "Jamie, why did you hit Cary?" Jamie: (sobbed quietly, then stopped.) "Cause, cause I'm Popeye and Popeye hits the people." Teacher: "Oh, does he?" Jamie: "Well, Popeye always hits and knocks Bluto up to the sky. . New York: Pergammon P, 1973.Noble, Grant. The average child graduating from high school today will havespent many more hours before the TV set than in school (Hodge 74).Television is by far the most prevalent voluntary activity in children'slives; they spend their evenings, weekends, and summers sitting by choicebefore the screen. . Its values primarily consistof entertainment and commercialism. (All difficulty should be avoided, because difficulty is unpopular). The role which parentsfulfill in child development is multivarious. As children repeatedly watch television characters, "recognition"develops. They teachchildren physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and social realities.Parents provide a relational source of trust and consistency which gives achild security. Social psychologists, however, disagree: Entertainment fare necessarily does more than merely entertain us and our child; it communicates information about the social structure and it shapes attitudes about ourselves, others, and the world at large (Liebert, et al. . By consistentlyinfluencing children through all of the above roles, television has becomethe single most influential force in their social and moral development.It harmfully affects their lives in several ways. The curriculum offeredby television is qualitatively different from that offered in the schools.This qualitative difference lies not in the subjects taught, but in themedium by which they are presented. 19), andnational and ethnic groups are similarly under-represented. These values pervade thesocial roles and stereotypes (discussed earlier) which television promotes. Cary ducked the first time butJamie swung again and Cary was hit. these sentiments are likely to become sentiments for what the people believe in or stand for" (Brown 168). the job of the cowboy is to kill the Indians . A primary subject which television distorts to the harm of childrenis violence. Also during this period, children acquire a peer group in which toexperiment with language and relationships, developing a relationalidentity. This attention - a commodity which childrencrave - may also be considered a reward. Amusing Ourselves to Death. It isin effect an advertising medium (Liebert, Neale, and Davidson 12 -121),selling the newest trends and fashions. Children and Television. Replacing humanrelationships, it leaves in children a relational vacuum, which is in turnfilled with the values and morals of the television medium. Many elements undoubtedly add tothese trends, but their common connection to television must not beignored. This is clearly the norm in our society. Many studies haveexamined television's effect on youth, mostly addressing the influence oftelevised aggression on young viewers. . The stereotypes arestrongly biased toward the young, white, middle-class American male. . Over 98percent of homes in the U.S. This world of adults provides children with a highly attractiveand influential model of social roles. Children become very emotionally attached to theirtelevision heroes. These are absurd perspectives, but they follow naturally fromtelevision programming. . II. A child can cometo believe that he knows this character as well or better than human peers. 35). settling quarrels with a gun was neither good or bad - it was just how everybody did it . Television heroes are harmful to children because they are unrealisticand unrestrained models. Oppenheim, and Pamela Vince. The child also compares and identifies the character with real friends.Recognition of television characters reduces genuine social interactionbetween children, and confuses the interaction that does occur. Postman summarizes thismessage in his "three great commandments" concerning educationaltelevision. A child's choice of role model is obviously very significant in thechild's development of values. Theyhave a ravenous appetite for the values and ideas of those whom theyrespect. Young children are essentially as responsive to television's modelingof social roles and values as they are to parental instruction. ." (Noble 85). Again, social psychologists disagree: Young children believe what they see, since throughout time the evidence before their eyes has been the most reliable source of information, especially with regard to the learning of future social roles (Noble 88-89). 43), and tend to be more affirming (Brown 243) than dopeers. In an investigation of three programs - one adultprogram, one children's program, and one mixed (both children and adults)program - experimenters found that in all three, violence was the solutionmost frequently used for goal attainment. If today's emerging adultgeneration can look back upon its own development and recognize thedeficiencies and hindrances which television has created, then there may behope for a break in the steady decline of children's moral and socialvalues. The primary values of television compare unfavorably to the primary valueswhich most parents would desire to instill in their young children(kindness, discipline, patience, and hard work, to mention a few). It encourages themto love television (144). . so the younger the child, the greater his vulnerability to the influence of a model (Brown 261). More than 78 percent of parentstoday use television as an "electronic baby-sitter" by trusting theirchildren to entertain themselves with TV while the parent is away (Liebert,et al. Racism isrampant among these gangs, and is constantly becoming more prevalent. These programs, regardless of the curriculum theyteach, always carry the message of television. The prevalence of TV has resulted in a youth generation marked by thedistinctives of its own television-development. Teachers begin toinstill in children the value of education, knowledge, and hard work.Children choose early heroes and role models which define their hopes anddreams. Moral complacency has increased oncampuses as students are less willing to take a stand for a cause and moreconcerned with entertainment and success. III. Thou shalt have no prerequisites.
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