Media-Savvy
Posted on October 18, 2006
Filed Under Uncategorized |
I was having a discussion today about the effects of television programmes on society. Rather, I was trying to have a discussion, and ended up giving up since I was, apparently, the only one in the room who didn’t think that television, or the internet (”You know what really messes them up—the internet!”), was responsible for all the ills of society. Because, obviously, shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit should not be broadcast. That kind of programming gives sickos new ideas!
I don’t believe that the media messes people up unless they allow it to (or, in the case of children, their parents allow it to). Certainly, a small portion of the population will be easily influenced, whether because of mental/chemical imbalances, psychological and social disorders, etc. However, this group is not the majority. Most people, I believe, are able to withstand the influence of the media if they are given the proper tools. If you want to protect your children, don’t censor them, teach them to be media-saavy. Obviously, certain things should be kept from kids of certain ages, since they simply lack the ability to understand certain images and concepts until they are older. But, for the most part, the answer is in education, not avoidance.
If a child is not meda-savvy then, yes, they will be easily influenced by the media. They may even be driven to violence (I personally doubt this, as do a number of studies, but let’s imagine). This has little to do with television or new-media, though. Children, and people generally, are easily influenced if they are kept ignorant. There is a reason why dictators try to keep their people in the dark. Without education, people can be driven to all kinds of madness. They will hate, they will destroy, and they will kill. All of these things were occuring long before we had television. Few people, if any, would attempt to claim that television was responsible for the Holocaust, the slave trade, or the Russian gulags, yet these are among the worst things human beings have ever done—all of which occured before television became widely available. Why then do we claim that school shootings and child-rape are the product of the information age?
The answer, I suppose, is fear. Every generation assumes that the present is a more complex and dangerous time than the era just past. Every generation assumes that “rock ‘n’ roll” is corrupting the youth. Today’s parents fear the internet. The internet generation will likely fear something else when they, in turn, become fearful parents. Until then, let’s not hide them away from the internet or the television; let’s educate them about the messages that assualt them on a daily basis, so that they won’t be consumed by them. Let’s make them smart enough to stay safe long enough to because fearful parents themselves.
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I heard somewhere that a study found a correlation between lots of television watching and mild autism. This tells you that people can construct studies to demonstrate whatever the hell they want.
I think that once someone is a parent their whole view on things changes too. Good blog.