Children & media today

1. Children & media today The effects of media today on our children

2. Effects of TV, Video Games, & Music • Children between the ages of 6 and 12 still have a lot of development to go through. Is the media around them affecting them more than we think? • Children today are influenced by so many different things. What are the positive influences and what are the negative influences? • What is all the buzz about music, video games, and television?

3. Development that may be affected • Motor development- the acquisition of skills involving movement. (1) • Physical development- body proportions. • Neurological development- changes that are going on in their brains. • Cognitive development- their ability to reason change over time. (1) • Moral development- how does their background affect them. • Language development- speech • Social development- interaction • Sex-role development- learning about their gender.

4. Let’s start with television! • Television can influence our children in many ways. • These ways can be both positive and negative. • Our children these days watch on average 25 hours per week or 3 ½ hours a day (2). • This much television can affect children’s ideas about body image and gender identity. • Reading comprehension and child obesity are affected. • Are we adding to the outrageous statistics of child obesity if we allow this to happen? • What can we do to prevent this?

5. Effects of Television Positive Negative • Watching a carefully constructed educational TV show that is age appropriate helps school age children in pre-reading skills.(2) • Today’s children create an image of what they think their bodies should look like from what is on television. • This contributes to teen girls being dissatisfied with their looks.

6. Television • “South Park,” and “Beavis and Butthead” are just a few programs that have bad messages. (3) • MTV has several additional programs that have been under fire. Music videos, filled with misogyny, violence, sex and drugs, are frequently cited in cases where children perform parallel acts.(3)

7. Television • AACAP.org (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry) point out some good points about television and violence. • Extensive viewing of television violence causes greater aggressiveness.  • Sometimes, watching a single violent program can increase aggressiveness.  • Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see.  • Children with emotional, behavioral, learning or impulse control problems may be more easily influenced by TV violence. • The impact of TV violence may be immediately evident in the child's behavior or may surface years later. • Young people can even be affected when the family atmosphere shows no tendency toward violence. (4)

8. Music is next • So let’s move on to music. How is music affecting our children? • Music is a way to inform the masses. • Music has evolved from relaxing to more of a negative nature. • We use music to influence our dress, dancing, and talk. • Technology was evolved, it’s very rare to not see children with their MP3 players, Ipods, or cell phones. • Music is a part of their everyday life. • What is the message they are getting and is it what we really want them to be listening to?

9. Music Positive effects Negative effects • Music introduces all different kinds of cultures to our children. • Music gives children a way to express their emotions and feelings. • Music helps children cope with daily stresses and helps them deal with stresses from peers. • Music teaches them about history that involved music. • It gives children a calmness that lets them dream and have hopes. • According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry the troublesome lyrics of some teen music: • Advocate and glamorize the abuse of drugs or alcohol • Present suicide as a "solution" • Display graphic violence • Dwell on the occult with Satanism and human sacrifice • Describe harmful sexual practices, incest, and a devaluing of women (2)

10. Music- ways to prevent the effects • Expose children to a broad range of music from an early age. • Be knowledgeable about the lyrics of your children's music. • Younger children, be explicit about your family's values and what you will and will not allow your child to listen to. • Older children, keep lines of communication open; ask why they enjoy this music. Set limits on where they can play it. • Heavy metal music is not in itself cause for alarm, but if other isolating and risk factors emerge in your child's life, seek professional help. • Encourage use of earplugs at rock concerts. Explain the effects of loud music on hearing. (2)

11. How Video games affect our kids • Video games are just another form of media that affects our children today. • It started out that video games were cute cartoon characters. • With the technology evolving they have turned into very graphic games. • This is what draws the children in. Every year it seems that they come out with a system that has even better graphics then the one before it. • The games also have become more hostile and disrespectful then ever.

12. Video games Positives Negatives • Video game playing introduces children to computer technology. • Games can give practice in following directions. • Some games provide practice in problem solving and logic. • Games can provide practice in use of fine motor and spatial skills. • Games can provide occasions for parent and child to play together. • Players are introduced to information technology. • Some games have therapeutic applications with patients. • Games are entertaining and fun (2) • Over-dependence on video games could foster social isolation, as they are often played alone. • Practicing violent acts may contribute more to aggressive behavior than passive television watching. Studies do find a relationship between violent television watching and behavior. • Women are often portrayed as weaker characters that are helpless or sexually provocative. • Game environments are often based on plots of violence, aggression and gender bias. • Many games only offer an arena of weapons, killings, kicking, stabbing and shooting(2).

13. Ways to monitor Video game effects • Make sure you limit the time your children are playing video games. • Make sure they are playing age appropriate games. • Read the labels on the games from the advisory board. • Keep an open relationship with your kids so you know what they are playing.

14. Conclusion • In today’s society there is a lot of different types of media that effect our children both positively and negatively. It is our jobs as parents and adults to regulate and make sure that the negative influences are not the ones to prevail. We need to help our children develop both physically and mentally in a way that gives them the best possible chance at a bright future. Media is only going to keep evolving and targeting our children. We need to keep ourselves updated on all the new technologies so we can help our children make good decisions. • “ We are living in an • advertising-saturated, • media intense • environment. I think • it’s fair to say that • we are conducting • a big experiment on • our kids except that • parents have not • given their consent.” • Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton

15. Resources • For more information you can check out these websites. • Morris, Charles. Understanding Psychology. 8th. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 2008. • http://www.aap.org/advocacy/OKeefeMediaViolence.htm • http://www.preteenagerstoday.com/resources/articles/tv.htm • Hofschire, L. J., and Greenberg, B. S. (2002). Media's impact on adolescents' body dissatisfaction. In J. D. Brown, J. R. Steele, and K. Walsh-Childers (Eds.) Sexual Teens, Sexual Media. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. • http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Children+and+TV+Violence&section=Facts+for+Families • http://www.freeessays.tv/d11699.htm • http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0705/ijse/music.htm