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INFLUENCE OF TV ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT.
Term Paper ID:17671
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Essay Subject:
Violence & emotions, sex-roles & sex-stereotypes, modeling behaviors, consumption demands.... More...
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8 Pages / 1800 Words
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Paper Abstract:
Violence & emotions, sex-roles & sex-stereotypes, modeling behaviors, consumption demands.
Paper Introduction:
INFLUENCE OF TV ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Television became a technical reality in the United States during the late 1930's. In January of 1948, there were over 100,000 television sets in use and ten years later, four out of five American homes had them. By 1969, the television set had become an integral part of American households, with 95 percent having at least one television set (Lange, Baker, & Ball, 1969). Almost from the beginning, there has been a concern on the part of educators, parents and other professionals, about child development and the effects that television has on children. The recent television landscape continues to be full of drugs, crime, violence, sex role and other stereotypes, as well as an explicit view of sexual matters. This paper deals with violence on TV and its effect on children's emotions and behavior, sex roles and
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Rosenberg, H. 186). But I think a normal person wouldn't get theincentive from TV to go out and commit a violent act" (Borgman, 1979). This has come asa result of the work of such organizations as Action for Children'sTelevision (ACT), parent and professional advocate groups such as theNational Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), religiousgroups such as Christian Leaders for Responsible Television (CLEAR-TV), andindividual parents. population. For instance, Hispanic characters are more often than notpictured as criminals, unskilled workers, drifters and anonymous; whileblacks appear either as superpeople or as nobodies, and over time, haverepresented a much higher percentage of the criminal roles than issupported by the evidence. A recent article in Reader's Digestquotes Fred Hayward, the founder of Men's Rights (MR, Inc.) as saying, "Ifthere's a sleazy character in an ad, 1 percent of them are male. The characteristics ofwomen who appear on television are not typical of the same attributes inthe population at large. It is therefore, upon parents, professionals andothers concerned with the welfare of children to continue their efforts ontheir behalf. Since the197 's, a number of regulations and codes have been developed regardingtelevision advertising that is directed toward children. Mohler, M. Even the experts now admit that television in and of itself is notnecessarily bad for children. Lange, D. Los Angeles Times, 1. Women on television tend to be younger and morehome-bound, with only one-third holding outside jobs. Men have outnumberedwomen; there are three times as many men on television even though womenare more than 5 percent of the total U.S. . (1961). Stereotyping between the sexes does not cut just one way. Age stereotypes reachnot only the old but adolescents as well. Onestudy is that of Robert Liebert in the 197 's in which he set up laboratoryviewing situations where children viewed adults hitting a Bobo clown.Immediately following, the children were provided in their play environmentwith a human clown, which many of the children hit repeatedly (Liebert,1973). How to make TV good foryour kids. L., Baker, R. This connection, however, continues toelude social scientists and researchers. New York: Pergamon Press. The plug-in drug: Television, children and thefamily. According to FBI figures, the number of juveniles arrested forserious and violent crimes increased 16 percent between the years 1952and 1972. The inclusion of blatant sexual scenes is also seemingly on theincrease and attracting more attention. Elgin, IL: David C.Cook. Additionally there is the"trash TV," the tabloid journalism of shows like "Geraldo," and the "MortonDowney Show," which reside in the gray area between news and entertainment("Trash," 1989, pp. The conclusion was that they had become soaccustomed to emotion-arousing events on television that theirsensitivities had become blunted. 22-23). Teenagers, too, have been victims of stereotyping by the televisionmedia. Other studies have found that television watching produces a dullingof sensitivities to violence. (1989, November 1 ). With respect to sugared foods, the 1978 FTC StaffReport on Television Advertising to Children quotes Dr. Donald Kennedy,Commissioner of Food and Drugs: In view of the large amounts of . Borgman in his book, TV: Friend or Foe, quotes one researcher on thetopic of sexual stereotyping, George Gerbner, as saying "Women [on TV]typically represent romantic or family interest, close human contact, love. New York: Viking Press.----------------------- 1 The portrayal of race in television programming and in advertisinggenerally reflects America's commonly held stereotypes of nonwhitecharacters. The best way seems to be through direct interactionwith sponsors of television programs. Asked whythey objected to the programs, these parents replied: (1) the programstend to frighten the children; (2) children tend to dwell on and dreamabout them; (3) some children tend to re-enact some of the dramatic scenes;and (4) a fear that such programs might induce delinquency. For TV, crime is drug of choice. They occur on severallevels: those having to do with sex, age, and race. Almost two-thirds answered they would wantto get rid of programs dealing in crime, violence and horror. Children's reports of their own experience would support thesefindings. In January of 1948, there were over 1 , television setsin use and ten years later, four out of five American homes had them. Winn, M. Christianity Today, 33(11), (1989, August), 47. 1). For some time there hasbeen a concern about the way that television advertising approaches thechildren's market. TheLos Angeles Times, Calendar Section, recently featured an article entitled"For TV, Crime is Drug of Choice," in which the author reviewed twotelevision movies based on actual crimes: "Manhunt: Search for the NightStalker," a dramatization of the Southern California convicted massmurderer, and "Small Sacrifices," the story of an Oregon mother who shother three children (Rosenberg, 1989, p. By1969, the television set had become an integral part of Americanhouseholds, with 95 percent having at least one television set (Lange,Baker, & Ball, 1969). J. WilburSchramm and his associates asked a sample of parents if they could preventtheir children from seeing certain TV programs, what kind of programmingwould they want to eliminate. One seventh-grade girl, without knowledge of research findingsin this area, said "I think TV violence has some effect on how you feel -how you think - because you become a little calloused, probably, to thingshappening in the world. Since this is the same period during which television reachedits peak, and since many of the programs children watch are thosecontaining large doses of violence, it seems reasonable that there would bea link between the two factors. As a matter of fact, therange of female occupations on television is much narrower than it is formales (Schwarz, 1982). References Borgman, Dr. P. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. It is interesting that as violence has increased on television, sotoo, has crime involving juveniles been on the increase in the UnitedStates. The young see themselves as supporting players whose main functionis to bolster adult starring roles, or they are portrayed as the victims ofgrave psychological and social problems. (1969, November). INFLUENCE OF TV ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT Television became a technical reality in the United States during thelate 193 's. Liebert, R. Massmedia and violence, vol. (1977). & Rosen, M. Advertisers and thepublic have become more sensitive to women's issues because they knowthey'll "set off the feminist emergency-broadcast system." Men, however,are still fair game (Goldberg, 1989, p. Not surprisingly, most seminars, studiesand articles on the effects of television on children have focused on thissingle issue of violence (Winn, 1977). XI. The organization believes manynegative attitudes and prejudices toward the elderly are a direct cause ofthe negative view that is presented on television. The recenttelevision landscape continues to be full of drugs, crime, violence, sexrole and other stereotypes, as well as an explicit view of sexual matters.This paper deals with violence on TV and its effect on children's emotionsand behavior, sex roles and stereotypes, how children model behavior theyhave seen on TV, and how their consumption demands are affected byadvertising. D. television advertising that are directed to children urging them to consume a seemingly endless variety of sugared products and the substantial likelihood that children will be unable to appreciate the long-term risks to dental health that consumption of these products will create, I strongly support action by the Federal Trade Commission to regulate the advertising of these products directed to children.This same report noted that the Council on Dental Health of the AmericanDental Associated has also recommended the elimination of advertising ofsugar-rich products on children's television (FTC, 1978). An interestingimplication of the study is that the parents' wish to insulate theirchildren from the programming and the fear of the harmful effects of theprogramming did not seem to be accompanied by a conviction that they couldactually eliminate these programs from their children's television viewingdiet (Schramm, Lyle, & Parker, 1961, pp. Sweeps month serves as testimony to the influence ofadvertising; the big winners on number and percentage of viewers duringthese times are the ones who will be able to set the highest prices forcommercial time. In addition tofictionalized programs such as McGyver, Miami Vice, Tour of Duty, ChinaBeach, just to mention a few, the recent advent of dramatized versions ofactual incidents, such as A Current Affair, Rescue 911, and America's MostWanted, has taken violence on television to a new level of realism. K., & Ball, S. They are either played forlaughs, kept subordinate to adult roles, or cast as victims - three statesthey are anxious to avoid in their own lives. (1989, September 8). Children, even more than adults, appear to be influencedby television advertising. He used aphysiograph (an elaborate lie detector) to test the reactions to graphicviolence of five to 14-year-old boys who watched very little television, ascompared to those who watched an average of 42 hours per week for at leasttwo years. The Gray Panthers receive many complaints about the way older peopleare treated in television programming. In July, 1989, CLEAR-TV announced aone-year boycott of two large corporations because of their sponsorship ofprogramming containing violence, sex and profanity (Christianity, 1989, p.47). Ifthere's an incompetent character, 1 percent of them are male." Thearticle goes on to cite a number of television commercials: one portraysthe woman as perky, the man as jerky because he is not smart enough to eatthe right cereal. Ladies Home Journal, CVI(4). Other minority groups such as Asians and NativeAmericans, are almost totally excluded from television programming. The boys, both of whom lost fingers in the incident,indicated they had gotten the idea and the know-how to make the bomb fromwatching an episode of ABC's "McGyver." The producers of the show deniedany wrongdoing and insisted that there was never anything of such aninstructional nature on the show. R. Since many children in today'ssociety have limited contact with the elderly, the influence of televisionportrayals is even more powerful. Men arealso victims of this two-edged sword. Despite these concerns and research findings to support them, crimeand violence is on the increase in television programming. 23-24). Violence, stereotyping and strident advertising on television are notgoing to disappear. (1989, April). (1978,February). TV: Friend or foe. The early window: Affects of television onchildren and youth. Reader's Digest, 186. Of the fivevolume Surgeon General's Report on Television and Social Behavior publishedin 1972, four volumes were devoted to studies on the effects of viewingviolent television programming. (1979). Washington DC: U.S. Television in thelives of our children. The boys who watched the most television were significantlyless aroused by what they saw. Another is a razor commercial in which the woman slaps aman across the face indicating that he needs a shave. More so than other media, advertising is the life blood oftelevision. Some social scientists have foundthat TV violence may cause aggressive behavior in the normal child. A recent example of how one parent can make a difference gained front-page coverage when a Michigan mother of three single-handedly persuaded thesponsors of "Married With Children" to review or cancel their sponsorshipof the program. Peggy Charren, President of Action forChildren's Television, says that "the major problem is that kids watch toomuch of it." She also recommends that parents watch the shows theirchildren watch and if they find a show to be inappropriate that they simplysay no to that particular show. Television advertising for children is directedlargely toward the sale of sugared foods and toys. (1973). (1989, June). Asa result of their intervention when a segment of "All in the Family"represented older people in a demeaning and insulting way, the show laterhired a consultant who viewed segments of programs before they were airedto remove any objectionable stereotyping (Schwarz, 1982). B. While most television production companies deny the pervasiveness ofviolence in their programming, content analysis of TV programming shows asteady diet of crime shows containing repeated acts of violence. Although women inthe last decade have attained a larger number of major roles, the disparitybetween male and female roles has not changed. As a result, Congressionalstudies on the subject were carried out beginning in 1954. One such study was conducted by Dr. VictorCline at the University of Utah Laboratories (Winn, 1977). The success of these groups shows (contrary to the thinking of manyparents as cited in previous studies) that television programming can, infact, be influenced. FTC staff report on television advertising to children. Television programming is full of stereotypes. . A recent item however, on NBC's Entertainment Tonight tells of twoyoung boys from the Midwest who were injured as a result of making a pipebomb which exploded. In terms of thosewho do work outside the home, women are underrepresented in higher statusprofessions such as business, medicine and law. Schramm, W., Lyle, J., & Parker, E. The Gray Panthers have been successfulin having some effect on TV programming as it relates to older people. Trash TV: News or noise. Washington, DC: National Commission on theCauses and Prevention of Violence. Scholastic Update,122(1), 23-24. Almost from the beginning, there has been a concernon the part of educators, parents and other professionals, about childdevelopment and the effects that television has on children. Males can act in nearly any role, but rare is the female part that doesnot involve at least the suggestion of sex." Borgman goes on to suggestthat it is hard to imagine how our children can grow up without thinking ofwomen as sex objects if they are always portrayed that way on television. Federal Trade Commission. Fox Television's popular show,"Married With Children," is one which has been criticized for its treatmentof sex, as well as it's negative stereotypes not only of women, but men andthe whole blue collar class. Using studies and recent news reports it will look at thechanging view of these concerns and will cite actual items noted in themedia. Since the earliest days of television, violence has played aprominent role in television on Westerns, police shows, and war dramas, notto mention cartoons and children's programming. Goldberg, B.
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