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Political Socialization. What does it mean?. Political Socialization- is a concept concerning the “study of the developmental processes by which children and adolescents acquire political cognition, attitudes and behaviors”
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What does it mean? • Political Socialization- is a concept concerning the “study of the developmental processes by which children and adolescents acquire political cognition, attitudes and behaviors” • It is a lifelong process by which people are influenced to form political ideas.
How does it affect children? • Political opinions are formed during childhood. • What children see and hear at a young age transforms what they know as they grow and are influenced by numerous factors. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHSYSIX4s7I
Influential Factors • Family • Media • Friends • Teachers • Religion • Gender • Age • Geography
Parental Control • Do Parents control what political party a child supports from a young age? • A survey in Cambridge, Massachusetts at a private college was taken in 2004 and out of 200 college students whose both parents were supportive of the same party, 176 of the 200 followed the same political party. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0HJAUMRne94
Theories on Political Socialization • Social/observational learning theory by Bandura and Walters postulates that children imitate the behavior of characters they see on television. • Cultivation theory developed by George Gerbner explores the idea that more time viewers spend watching television, the more likely they will change their conceptions of the world to reflect what they see.
Media’s role in Political Socialization • What children see on television or the internet may influence their political views and they use that information and create conversations amongst themselves. • Children get their information from the media and find out what “change” the country needs and they make their opinions from what they’ve seen. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1BVO1FHRj4
Discussion • Should children be exposed to politics at a young age? • Do you believe that parents, friends, and media determine where you stand politically? • Were you as a child affected by political socialization?