Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Mass Media

By Junly Chroy

Socialization [soh-shuh-luh-zey-shuhn]- the process of learning the norms of your social position.

Mass media is one of our first encounters of society. This part of socialization influences children through shows, cartoons and most importantly commercials. Socialization that comes through the form of media interpretive the children’s behaviors such as characters, images and words. Media as an agent of socialization acts upon our children but supposedly only strives to entertain. Today in society children spend more time in front of the TV rather interacting with friends and family. Media is full of powerful and seductive messages ultimately influencing values When a parent tells their children to do something and in return receives a negative outburst is it because the media contradicts what their parent's are attempting to teach their children? The power of media remains strong. Everything that is important is weakening.
 
Mass Media includes:
  • Television
  • Radio
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Books, magazines,etc
  • Internet
  
My Opinion



When children observe messages some will behave differently but most likely they will be confused. This sends a bad message to our children. Plus it is very sad because it is made in the U.S.A.
 


The a cartoon show Ni Hao Kai-Lan is watched by my niece regularly. It is a very cute, innocent and colorful show but I have experienced my niece picking up bad habits from the cartoon show. For example, my neice has learned how to throw tantrums and cry according to the main character in the cartoon. My sister and I were initially lost to where she was picking up this behavior until one day when we noticed similarities in the tantrum thrown by my niece and the character from the cartoon.  My niece has adapted the behaviors of Ni Hao Kai- Lan when she gets frustrated. Since then, my niece was forbidden from watching the show and as a result her behavior has improved.




Sponge bob is another children’s show but ironically it has a lot of sexual references.

 



Tom and Jerry too much violence.

Media is a very complex medium of dissimulating information. It has the potential to do good but also means that it can also can cause harm. In the case of my niece and her tantrums, it illustrates the tacitly we as adults must exercise when we expose kids to what might we may consider to be seemingly harmless programming. We as adults have to be careful of what we let our children watch in the media.



6 comments:

  1. Uliser Galdamez CorkeryMay 25, 2011 at 7:35 PM

    Hey Junly i like the blog that you posted for socialazation. I have two children and i understand what your talking adout, but i also think that perents has some faault in this aswell. For example children should be adsorve by their parents or adults 24/7. Another thing that cant prevent children learnig negetive behavior, would be by limmiting time they spend in front of the TV. If perents read to their children and do more activities with them can help alot with their childens behavior. I realy like how you express your feeling tour medea. "Awesome job"

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  2. this is my first blog i am commenting, and i really like all the detail,this is definite true about children and media, because my kids acting the same way. one day my daughter came from school,and i hear her saying, the F word. and i was really surprise, and them i ask her, and she started laughing. and it all because of the media. so now she don't watch too much television. all your information is good, but you forgot to add video.

    EMMANUEL KOLLIE

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  3. I was a young child in the 60's & all of the cartoons were more violent than they are today but I honestly don't feel they effected me negatively growing up. I knew Tom & Jerry bonking each other on the head was just a funny cartoon. I knew the Road Runner outsmarting the Coyote was just a cartoon or Popeye beating up the bad guys was just a cartoon.

    I have a young daughter & I like to expose her to different things like these as well as many different themes & ideas because it gives me a point for dialog with her. We actively discuss what we see on TV & what we see in the movies as well as what's pumped into our lives in the form of false advertising.

    I do feel it's a parents responsibility to monitor what kids see & hear but I try not to censor it too heavily. i want to use all of it as an educational tool. It not only helps my daughter & I bond when we share feelings & ideas over issues that are important but I feel i can help her prepare for a sometimes violent & ambiguous world in a better educated way.

    I was fairly outraged when the mass consensus was that Ernie & Bert shouldn't live together because it was promoting gay culture... i was like WHAT ?!?! I'm not gay & don't care one way or the other but I never ever gave it a moments thought as a 6 year old kid that anything weird was going on. To me it was just two good friends always clowning around. i think people read too much into cartoons.

    If there's a subject that's concerning you then communicate with your kids. Bond with them & share ideas of right & wrong, actions & consequences. It's one of the many great pleasures of parenting.

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  4. Hi Junly. You did a very good job mentioning the effects of media on children. Going with your point I want add some more things to it. Mass media affects children as well as adults too. Media hijacked our society and almost every society around the world. Media has a great influence over the people especially those people or societies who trust on media too much. Media has both sociological and biological effects on individuals and society as a whole. For example, showing sexuality and violence without showing their side effects can cause serious problems in the society. Media also has a lot of biological problems.For example if you are watching your favorite show at late night and you are going to work in the early morning. so you can,t sleep well. so it can effect your health.

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  5. This was a very interesting post because it touched on important issues that we see everyday right in front our eyes and display to our future generation. I don’t have a child but I remember growing up and television influenced most of my actions. It’s almost like as a child you try to re act what you not only see on television but, in your discourse community at home. However, children will have to learn right from wrong and as they become older it will become easier to distinguish a cartoon from real life situations. Good Post!

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  6. I agree with you on all counts. A four year old will not understand the sexual references in Sponge Bob but he or she is likely to mirror the statements made in the dialog - my nephew does it all the time. Parents can't blame the media for putting out garbage. I'm a strong advocate for parents teaching their children about why some people may find things in the media offensive.

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