Increasing Influence Of Media On Children
Children are like a lump of clay that can be molded to any form easily. The children are very curious to know what is happening around them and they have different questions arising in their mind about the different events happening around them.
Children of the modern times have access to different kinds of media which includes books, newspapers, magazines, radio channels, CDs and DVDs TV and internet. Though very few children like the printed media now days, the main attraction for them is the visual medial. We all know that visual effects are more powerful than the audio or the printed media so whatever the children watch in these visual media affects them very much.
This is the reason most of the educational centers have started using the visual media for teaching the students which does not only include the children but the adults also. The sense to discriminate right and wrong does not develop in children strongly so they are highly influenced by the media.
Which type of media is affecting the children?
The books have been the friends of children since hundreds of years. Children’s books are generally about fairies, animal stories, fables, and myths. Many authors write about the science fictions for the children. Children’s books are mostly full of illustrations which puts deep impressions on the children’s mind.
The different characters of a story or novel become either a hero or a villain for them. In the newspapers and magazines different events or stories along with the pictures are printed which when read by a child puts a deep impact on his/her mind. Most of the children like to watch cartoon serials which are based on different topics like superheroes, characters of mythology or stories of mythology and others.
The children feel comfortable with many characters that they watch in these visual media and try to imitate them by imitating their behavior or wearing the clothes they wear. Children get hold of the CDs of their favorite movies or cartoon very easily and some even watch them repeatedly to enjoy these cartoons.
The different media may be a audio or video, one presents different events happening around the world along with the pictures which are watched by many children as they spend quite long hours in front of the television or internet.
The latest media- Internet affecting the children
Internet is getting very popular among the children and the teens along with the adults. Internet helps a child to have contacts with numerous people sitting at home.
Different chat sites and social networking sites allure the children to explore the world unknown to them. Not only chatting or mailing but Internet has different sites which provide the current events happening any where in the world in seconds.
Negative effects of media on children
Through different media, the children along with their adults come to know about many different people, places and events. The media provides the pictures of the celebrities and quotes their words. A child is not mature enough to understand everything which is exposed through media.
The celebrities are from many different fields such as the leaders, actors and actresses, singers, writers, poets, anchors of different shows or news readers or others. The photos of different accidents, natural catastrophes, and wars affect the children very badly. Some children get night mares after viewing such pictures in the newspapers or magazines.
The scenes of violence in the movies or telecast of any violent incident on the visual media are responsible for increasing the violence in the children and some of the effects are fatal. Now a days the incidents of teenagers doing illegal and violent things like open fire in the schools or busy markets are increasing day by day.
In the movies or serials sometimes the way the negative characters are represented put a very negative impact on the children. The dialogues of certain movies and the lyrics of certain songs are also negatively taken by the children.
The positive effects of media on the children
Like everything even media has positive aspect. Most of the stories of the children have moral teachings which teach different values of life to the children. The children learn the values of honesty, self-help, sharing, kindness to animals, respect for elders through these stories. What the children learn in their childhood remains with them through out their life.
The children learn through different stories of mythology and fairy tales how the good defeats the evil. Different games, puzzles and educational programs are also available on the media specially the Internet which educate the children and have positive effects on the children. Programs which are full of patriotic values or the movies of wars which symbolizes patriotism affect the children a lot. They learn to love their country and do something for it.
The Parents’ role
It is very essential that parents help the child to grasp the positive aspect of media. The parents should choose the right type of media and check what he/she is watching on a television or internet. While making a movie or a program for the children the makers should be extra careful. The dialogues, dresses and the language used should be chosen carefully.
The channels presenting the children’s programs should have a look at them before telecasting it. The celebrities must also be careful about their life style as they influence our social life a lot especially the children follow them blindly. The main role of guiding the children while watching a media is the role of parents’. The parents should be careful enough in choosing the programs they watch on the TV or Internet.
The parents should be careful about the choice of books they buy for their children. Every day the parents should spend some time with their children reading the books. It would grow the reading habit in their child. For the elder children, the parents should have a careful vigil on the books their children read. The parents should never watch programs which affect children negatively; rather, they should view good programs with your children.
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