MediaBy: Jessica, Hannah, Justine, Abra

Media and SocializationMass media and social media have made dramatic changed

the way humans communicate.  It has created the ability to talk to people around the world with a quick push of a button as well as gather information about anything with out leaving the comfort of your own home.  But in this new world of lighting fast internet and on the go texting what are we exposing our children to?  In this presentation we will explain what types of media children are being exposed to and both the positive and negative effects.   We will also spend extra time examining the effects on television children because it is a media that is so widely use and excepted.  We hope to show that there is no black or white answer when it come to children and media but how it is used and monitored can make all the difference in the world.

What types of media children are being exposed to 

Positive effects of T.V. for children and families Negative effects of T.V. for children and

families How the media is helping children become

social How the media hurts the socialization process

of a child 

Types of media children are being exposed to In just one hundred years, the number of media influences available to children has drastically increased.  In the

early 1900s, children had limited exposure.  The types of media were also limited, including only radio, newspapers, books, film, and records played by a gramophone.  Media was tailored more to adults than to children. Today children have at their fingertips all of the media used early last century plus so much more and with a very different emphasis.  Commercial television premiered in the 1950s and initiated an avalanche of technology innovation and media evolution, especially with regard to children.  In 1952, a Mr. Potato Head toy advertisement was aired on TV and humongous revenue gain was correlated with it.  This incited great change for children’s media.  Soon there was television programming for kids to put between the now abundant television ads aimed at kids.  Early on, it was family and community-centered programming, whereas now it’s everything from music videos of teens dancing half-clothed to cartoons of sea creatures and junk food, though there is no guarantee that children will stay on the channels programmed for kids.  Today children have a plethora of television programming with whole television networks catering solely to their preferences.  Likewise, there is a sea of movies, multitudes of theater productions, huge theme parks, child and teen celebrities, children’s magazines, books, etc., all made just for them.  Of course, all of it comes with a price and at least most of it has advertisements littered throughout. Following in television’s footsteps, personal computers were in most homes by the 1990s, Internet not far behind them.  This brought computer games and tools first and then all the joys of the world online.  Internet access has evolved significantly in the past twenty-something years as well.  Initially, there were a limited number of websites to peruse and some chat and online gaming capabilities.  That grew into an immeasurable sea of websites, interactive online games and communication, and all that goes on within those realms.  There is not limit to what kids can be exposed to online, including chatting with friends or strangers, games that can include appropriate content or drugs, sex, and violence, pornographic websites, shopping websites, advertising of all kinds, news, research, learning activities, music, etc.  Children are technologically savvy and can make good use of media resources for entertainment and learning. Children have every media first made for adults now made for them, including video games, personal computers, handheld devices, cell phones, television, movies, etc.  But throughout all the media exposure children have, there is an underlying thread of exposure throughout of influence.  Children are highly influenced by what they ingest from media as they are less equipped to digest and consider what they are consuming.  Children are more likely to just take what they see or hear at face value, believe it, and adjust to its influence, integrating it in their development on all levels.

types of media children are being exposed to

T.V. commercials Advertisements Internet

Positive effects of TV for children and familiesWhen people talk about television and children it's usually

negative, but there are some positive effects that children get from television.  Many people watch television for entertainment and children find it entertaining as well.  It can open a whole new world for children.  Television can be used for educational purposes and allows children to explore the world without having to go.  It gives them a better idea of culture instead of looking at pictures.  With television you get the movement and sounds which picture cannot provide.  For some families it can be a way of spending time together as well.  There are many parents that work late and at the end of the day its dinner and some T.V. before bed.  Many of us grew up with a T.V.  Many of us are told that T.V. is bad and you shouldn't let your children watch it.  I think as long as the parents monitor what the child watches and monitor the time they spend a day watching T.V. the child will still be healthy, social and active.

Positive effects of TV for children and familiesWays of families to spend time together Let’s children experience culture more

through the T.V. compared to a picture Entertainment

Negative effects of TV for children and families Children who watch more than two hours of television per day have displayed

faltering academic abilities, attention and attitude problems, difficulties in language comprehension and are at a higher risk for becoming overweight or obese.  All of the fast paced images from TV watching keeps the brain from learning how to pay attention, and this type of stimulus does not develop the part of the brain responsible for language, so children who choose to watch TV instead of reading a book or conversing with other kids, may have trouble paying attention and listening comprehensively. Children who watch an excess of television are also more likely to act violently in tough situations. TV violence is thought to be responsible for 10% of all real-life violence.   A child who watches more than two hours of TV a day is also are more likely to become overweight or obese.  For many kids, television watching replaces physical activity, and the increased exposure to advertisements for fatty foods leads to poor food choices. The average child views about 20,000 commercials each year. Sugary cereals, which are strongly marketed to children, make up 34% of all commercials during children’s programming. Also, a recent study found that increased television viewing during meals is associated with an increased consumption of foods high in fat and sugar. Due to all of these concerns, it is very important for parents to take an active role in how much TV their children watch, the types of programs they watch, and also make sure that their children balance their sedentary activity, like TV watching, with physical activity.

Negative effects of TV for children and familiesFaltering academic abilities Difficulties in language comprehensionHigher risk of obesity and inactivity Tend to act more violently

How media helps the socialization of a childStudies show that children can benefit from media by games on the

internet. There is a game called  club penguin that children ages 6-14 play and children from 5 different countries are registered.  It can allow children to communicate with other children from different parts of the world.  Parents need to monitor the Internet use for their children but it can allow them to build some sort of social and identity development.  It also helps shy children. It helps them to reach out to people in a way they are not able to in person.  If the shyness is severe it is considered social phobia.  For children that have social phobia, it can really help them to start becoming social over the internet and gradually become social in person.  I know many people find it easier to be social over the internet.  Some children are just too scared to be themselves and afraid of getting made fun of, that they are not beautiful, not "cool" or any other reason and the internet allows them to become who they want to be without the pressure of someone sitting right in front of them and them feeling judged.

How media helps the socialization of a childShy children can become more socialChildren are able to communicate with other

children from differenet countries As long as parents monitor their child’s

internet use it is a great way to communicate with other children, stay in contact with children that move away or stay in contact with family

How media hurts the socialization of a child Although media does provided entertainment it is not a interactive agent so it

does not provide the face to face interaction and real life situation that children need.   Children learn better when they are interacting with other people because they are being exposed to the many layers of human contact and relations.  These devices can also become addicting.  Today's children spend more time in front of a screen then doing any other activate then sleeping.  This is time that children should be interacting with the world around them and getting the physical activities that their bodies need.  In addition the whole time children are interacting with media they are being bombarded social stereotypes, violence and adds promoting consumerism.  Children are extra susceptible to these messages and it has been shown that children under the age of eight do not understand the persuasiveness of media and take it as accurate and unbiased information.  This relates to the idea that media is a passive interaction because children are not able to ask questions back to the TV, computer and or video game to gain understanding to the messages being sent to them.  The child is left to make their own decision about what they are seeing.  If there is a person  around to help explain then this can help the child understand but many times there is no one there to ask.  Media is a passive and often negative waste of time for children not a interactive social learning tool. 

How media hurts the socialization of a childLimits social interactions Teaches stereotypesPromotes violence Passive interaction

Conclusion As we look around it is clear that media has become a part of our world and is not

going any where soon.  What changes will come and what advances will be made because of our technological world, we don't know.  This being said we do have control over how we interact and how we teach our children to interact with media and technology.  In this presentation we have shown that media has both negative and positive effects on children.  To finish our report we want to leave you with some helpful ways to increase the positive ways our child and we can use and interact with media.  To begin, monitor your children's time spent in time of media devices.  It is also important to monitor what your children and seeing and hearing.  Use parental controls to block channels or pages on the internet if you can't be around.  Try to spend time with your children when they use different types of media.  When you are with them create conversation about what you and your child is watching so that it become interactive instead of passive entertainment.  Finally, make sure that your children can talk to you about any thing that they might see or hear that makes them feel uncomfortable or if anyone is trying to 'chat' with them online.  Online bulling and online child predators have become a major problem and needs to be stopped.  If we learn to teach our children to use media in positive ways then it can a helpful and fun way to interact with each other.  We just have to make sure that our children are safe, healthily, and happy.

Monitor your children’s use of media Interact with your children when using media Create open conversation about what they

see and hear