Television as a Positive Contributor to the Socialization of Children
Related literature on the area of the positive contribution of television viewing to the socialization of children are really very few. This has resulted in an extensive research for literature that are relevant in this particular areas of study and can account for the limitation in number of literature used in this study.
In past times, researches done have gone a long way towards pointing out the bad effects of television viewing on children and their socialization process.
This concentration on the negative aspects has led many subsequent researcher to dwell on the same thing.
Very few have looked at the other side of the matter. A leading proponent of this cultural pessimism is Neil postman. Postman (1982) argues that because information in print is harder to jain access to and involves learning from to read, children in the past were protected from known ledge about behavior, which is assumed to be bad for them. He believes that prnt made children possible because it made audit information and skills two different for children to obtain until they had the requisite literacy.
Another author, Maric winn, sees if from an almost opposite direction from postman’s she holds the opinion that the content of television is completely irrelevant watching adult sexually behavior and adult violence she believes is not different from watching sesanic street or “takes by moonlight” and this presumable cannot be corrupting in the way post man fears.
She observes that “certain specific physiological mechanisms of the eyes, ears and brain respond to the stimuli emanating from the television screen regardless of the cognitive contents of the programmes”
Winn believe that television is a drug that children get addicted to and this is responsible for parent steady loss of control as they gradually withdraw from an active role in their children’s upbringing.
Wijns views as stated above, are aimed at making television the sole culprit for difficulties that are endemic to the hard labor of looking after children.
And this can be dangerous as it leads one to ignore all the other causes of marital dishonesty, economic difficulties etc. Winn therefore is saying that life would really be easy without television and this of course would be given to be really false.
In 1962, a man named Leonard, postulated that not only do children learn from the media but that aggressive behavior has a high probability of being countered that view as they schramm have countered that view as the are often the opinion “That learning new aggressive techniques is different from applying that learning to a life situation” Hence they believes that there is a possibility that the mere viewing of aggression will arouse impulses and habits, but impulses and baits have apparently existed before the children tuned to the screen.
Looking at the united state of American for instance, a great deal of research has shown that most of the research for children and television violence come from America where there is both a higher level of violence in the society as a while, a whole lot provide violence on television.
Mallony Wober (1994) deputy head of research at the IBA has pointed out that “Japanese television has a great deal of crime and violence in yet it research show that children in Japan are less aggressive than children in other countries.” This can only mean that other factors apart from television, influence the level at which children in different societies behave aggressive or not.
It should be borne in mind however, that just as these children are capable and susceptible to picking up bad morals, good ones ca also be learnt and bad one replaced with good ones.
Daniel Anderson and Elisabeth Larch in 1983 conducted studies that go to indicate that children learn to play attention to “salient” aspect of television and children’s awareness of realism and plausibility increase with age.
Accordingly, research by television reactions to various television programmes are different from that adults. Many communication experts believed that communication messages do not have direct powerful effect on its audience, both intellectually and socially, television will have most impact when it is reinforced or modified by experiences in the child’s own world. Moreover, the child is likely to learn best from television if it is integrated with and related to other areas of life.
According to Davies (1989) children develop according to a biological “Blue – Print” which is very broadly similar for children every where. But this patter unfolds in a social and cultural context, not in isolation and this will vary from place to place and from time to time. It also varies from child to child because every child is generally and experimentally unique.
Television, say Davies is a part of whole network of experiences and relationship. Television impact depends on how the medium is used or not used or abused, in the child’s family and it also depends on the individual child and the state he or she has reached and the sort of person he or she is.
According to some experts “Children are affected by mass media just as they are affected in some way be other events in their lives. They give time and attention to the media, they respond emotionally to the media, learn from the media but they are not by any stretch of imagination, sponges indiscriminately soaking up any thing they see or her. Nor are they all affected by the same things or in the same way.
Apart from the television, there are other sources of information. How then can we clearly prove that the apparent socialization negative tendencies exhibited by one child came about as a result of an exposure to television viewing? Such other sources of information like the homes Video. Which is owned by every families out of ten, expose children to violence sex and drug through video films because they have neglected the Nigerian television programmmes which they consider to be of poor quality and the parents as a result have no way of controlling and monitoring the viewing habits of their children
Other extraneous factors have also revealed that in area where there are no television as a result of lack of adequate funds, children are still known to exhibits violence and all other negative and juvenile delinquent behaviors. A child born for instance and behaviors. A child for instance and promptly taken at birth to reside with monkeys in a forest would only emerge 18 years later in a civilized world and carry out what he consider to be natural behaviors, but would only be liar-raising and blood curdling violent tendencies to the civilized humans. In a situation like this, the bottom line that makes the difference is socialization. The contribution of the television along other agents of socialization, cannot be under estimated. Television however, is not all powerful, it can provide example of some of life possibilities for children. It can give ideas for play and satisfies some of their curiosity for know ledge but it cannot play for them.
Similarly, it can show them how other people behave, but it cannot bring them up to be nice or nasty people. Only families and communities can do that. Television works best in partnership with other interested adults who can help children to follow up what they have seen and heard on programmes. This information and examples of skills provided by television need to be reinforced by experience if they are to be ant use to the children.
SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW
In all the related text and worked used in the course of this research, are arguing in favor of the positive contribution of television to the socialization of children, a jaor issue is exhibited. And that is the fact that television cannot be negative contributor because the medium is not isolated in its functions whether negatively or positively contributor because the medium is not isolated in its functions whether negatively or positively but rather works together with other reinforcement and socializing factors to bring about the civilized citizen of any society.
The renowned authors have established that it is not what is viewed but how television is used and by whom and the state of mind of the children prior to their exposure to television is more of positive rather than negative contribution to the socialization of children.
The relationship between children and the mass media is perhaps best summed up in the word of schramm “As between how favorite images of a situation the image of children as helpless victims to be attract by television and the image of television as a great aid shining cafeteria from which children select what they want at the movement – the latter is more really accurate. … “Television exist in an environment, a vacuum, which is full of social examples and constraints provided by family and community. Finally, according to the religious publication by Jehovah’s witness Awake (1983) “Television is a part of growing up, probably quite an important part often beneficial part which we have hardly begun to take seriously so busy are we looking for a bad effects and for something other than over slaves to blame for the cruelty and selfishness in our society.
Television serves many useful purpose for children. It informs them, it helps to structure lives, it gives than common interest with their friends and other members of the family it provides an occasion for family togetherness, discussion and society argument it gives ideas for planning and working it can be used and studied with school. Above all, children use television primarily for entertainment, a valuable form of leisure time activity which they can choose to so or not to do depending on the type of programme, of course what and how much children watch need to be controlled to some extent by parents.
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This article was extracted from a Project Research Work Topic
“TELEVISION AS A POSITIVE CONTRIBUTOR TO THE SOCIALIZATION OF CHILDREN”
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Television as a Positive Contributor to the Socialization of Children
