The effects of media today on our children

1
Children media today

• The effects of media today on our children

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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?

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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.

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Lets 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 childrens 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?

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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)

• Todays 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.

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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)

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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)

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Music is next

• So lets 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, its 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?

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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)

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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)

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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.

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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).

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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.

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Conclusion

• In todays 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
• its 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

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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.ht
  m
• http//www.preteenagerstoday.com/resources/article
  s/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?nameChildrenandTVViol
  encesectionFactsforFamilies
• http//www.freeessays.tv/d11699.htm
• http//usinfo.state.gov/journals/itsv/0705/ijse/mu
  sic.htm