In this section we look at the effect of the media on young people.
We read an article which outlines the effect that media can have on psychological development.
This third section contains 4 steps. Work them through step by step.
Step
Activity
Introduction
Find out what you already know.
Step 1
Speaking
Answer questions about watching TV. Share your answers with a classmate. Answer the same questions but then about using the internet. Compare answers.
Step 2
Reading
Read part 1 of an article about the influence of the media. Fill in the missing words. Read part 2 and answer questions.
Step 3
Words
Complete a table of adjectives, noun, adverbs and verbs.
Read a text and complete the gaps.
Step 4
Task
You write a short paragraph about the negative effects of advertising and nutrition while watching TV. Your partner will check your work.
How many hours of TV (including streaming services) do you watch a week?
Less than 5 hours
Between 5-10 hours
More than 10 hours
How many hours of TV did you watch when you were younger?
Less than 5 hours
Between 5-10 hours
More than 10 hours
How many hours do you think young children (aged 6-12 years) watch nowadays?
Less than 5 hours
Between 5-10 hours
More than 10 hours
Share your answers about TV watching with your partner.
Repeat the above questions but replace TV with internet and mobile phone/social media.
How similar or different are your answers? Does the answer worry you? Why?
Could you live without TV for a week? And without internet and social media? Why or why not?
Step 2 - Reading
You are going to read part of an article about the influence of the media on the psychosocial development of children.
It was published by the Canadian Paediatric Society in 2003. You are going to read about the following topics:
TV
Learning
Violence
Music Videos
Video games
What do you think that the article will say about these topics?
Make notes and compare with your partner. Read the first part of the article.
Some words have been removed. Choose the correct word.
Television
Television has the .....[1]..... to generate both positive and negative effects, and many studies have looked at the impact of television on society, particularly .....[2]..... children and adolescents. An individual child’s developmental level is a critical factor in determining whether the medium will have positive or negative effects.
Canadian children watch excessive amounts of television.
There is a relationship between watching violent television programmes.
Excessive television watching contributes to childhood obesity.
Excessive television watching may have a harmful effect on learning and academic performance.
Television is an .....[3]..... way of advertising products to children of various ages.
The average Canadian child watches nearly 14 h of television each week. By his/her high school graduation, the average teen will have spent more time watching television than in the classroom. Television viewing undoubtedly limits children’s time for .....[4]..... activities such as playing, reading, learning to talk, spending time with peers and family, storytelling, participating in regular exercise, and developing other necessary physical, mental and social skills. In addition to the amount of time spent in front of the television, other factors that influence the medium’s effect on children include the child’s developmental level, .....[5]..... susceptibility and whether children watch television alone or with their parents.
Learning
Television can be a powerful teacher. Watching Sesame Street is an example of how .....[6]..... can learn valuable lessons about racial harmony, cooperation, kindness, simple arithmetic and the alphabet through an educational television format. Some public television programs stimulate visits to the zoo, libraries, bookstores, museums and other active recreational settings, and educational videos can certainly serve as powerful prosocial teaching devices. However, watching television takes time away .....[7]..... reading and schoolwork. More recent studies show that even 1 h to 2 h of daily .....[8]..... television viewing has a significant negative effect on academic performance, especially reading.
Read the next topics of violence, music videos and video games.
Violence
The amount of violence on television is on the rise. The average child sees 12,000 violent acts on television annually, including many depictions of murder and rape. More than 1000 studies confirm that exposure to heavy doses of television violence increases aggressive behaviour, particularly in boys. Other studies link television or newspaper publicity of suicides to an increased suicide risk.
The following groups of children may be more vulnerable to violence on television:
children from minority and immigrant groups;
emotionally disturbed children;
children with learning disabilities;
children who are abused by their parents; and
children in families in distress.
Physicians who see a child with a history of aggressive behaviour should inquire about the child’s exposure to violence portrayed on television.
Music videos
Music videos may have a significant behavioural impact by desensitizing viewers to violence and making teenagers more likely to approve of premarital sex. Up to 75% of videos contain sexually explicit material, and more than half contain violence that is often committed against women. Women are portrayed frequently in a condescending manner that affects children’s attitudes about sex roles.
Attractive role models are the aggressors in more than 80% of music video violence. Males are more than three times as likely to be the aggressors; blacks were overrepresented and whites underrepresented. Music videos may reinforce false stereotypes. A detailed analysis of music videos raised concerns about its effects on adolescents’ normative expectations about conflict resolution, race and male-female relationships.
Music lyrics have become increasingly explicit, particularly with references to sex, drugs and violence. Research linking a cause-and-effect relationship between explicit lyrics and adverse behavioural effects is still in progress at this time. Meanwhile, the potential negative impact of explicit music lyrics should put parents and paediatricians on guard – paediatricians should bring this up in anticipatory guidance discussions with teenagers and their parents. At the very least, parents should take an active role in monitoring the music their children are exposed to.
Video games
Some video games may help the development of fine motor skills and coordination, but many of the concerns about the negative effects of television (eg, inactivity, asocial behaviour and violence) also apply to excessive exposure to video games. Violent video games should be discouraged because they have harmful effects on children’s mental development. Parents should be advised to familiarize themselves with various rating systems for video games and use this knowledge to make their decisions.
The effect of violent video games on children has been a public health concern for many years. No quantitative analysis of video game contents for games rated as suitable for all audiences was made until 2001. The study concluded that many video games rated as suitable for all audiences contained significant amounts of violence (64% contained intentional violence and 60% rewarded players for injuring a character). Therefore, current ratings of video games leave much room for improvement.
Read the topics again, did any information surprise you? Which dangers were you unaware of? Give details.
The final part of the text is about some recommendations for physicians working with families. Read and answer the questions. If your family doesn’t do much TV watching, you can substitute it for internet use.
Recommendations
Families should be encouraged to explore media together and discuss their educational value. Children should be encouraged to criticize and analyze what they see in the media. Parents can help children differentiate between fantasy and reality.
No child should be allowed to have a television, computer or video game equipment in his or her bedroom. A central location is strongly advised with common access and common passwords.
Television watching should be limited to less than 1 h to 2 h per day. Families may want to consider more active and creative ways to spend time together.
Older children should be offered an opportunity to make choices by planning the week’s viewing schedule in advance. Ideally, parents should supervise these choices and be good role models by making their own wise choices. Parents should explain why some programs are not suitable and praise children for making good and appropriate choices.
Families should limit the use of television, computers or video games as a diversion, substitute teacher or electronic nanny. Parents should also ask alternative caregivers to maintain the same rules for media use in their absence. The rules in divorced parents’ households should be consistent.
How far do you agree with each recommendation? Why/Why not?
How easy/ difficult do you think it is/would be to introduce this recommendation into your house? Why?
Rank the recommendations in order of importance. Compare your list with your partners. How similar or different are they?
These recommendations were made in 2003. How relevant are they still today? What is your opinion?
Step 3 - Words
Do the following exercises.
Step 4 - Task
Writing Task
You have been asked to write about the negative effects of the media (watching TV) on another area: Nutrition
And how about Advertisement. Can you think ofnegative effects of advertising on our behaviour?
Make a list of points.
Write a short paragraph. (150-200 words)
Ask your partner to check your work.
Read another paragraph from the original article 'Impact of media use on children and youth'
(Step 2).
Nutrition
As television takes time away from play and exercise activities, children who watch a lot of television are less physically fit and more likely to eat high fat and high energy snack foods.
Television viewing makes a substantial contribution to obesity because prime time commercials promote unhealthy dietary practices. Television can also contribute to eating disorders in teenage girls, who may emulate the thin role models seen on television. Eating meals while watching television should be discouraged because it may lead to less meaningful communication and, arguably, poorer eating habits.
Advertising
Advertising can have positive effects on children’s behaviour. Although some health care professionals disagree about the health benefits of appropriate milk use, milk consumption has increased as a result of print and broadcast advertisements.
The developmental stage of a child plays a role in the effect of commercials. Young children do not understand the concept of a sales pitch. They tend to believe what they are told and may even assume that they are deprived if they do not have advertised products. Most preschool children do not understand the difference between a program designed to entertain and a commercial designed to sell. A number of studies have documented that children under the age of eight years are developmentally unable to understand the difference between advertising and regular programming.
The average child sees more than 20,000 commercials each year. More than 60% of commercials promote sugared cereals, candy, fatty foods and toys. Cartoon programs based on toy products are especially attractive. The question of whether children are more resilient to the influence of television is debated frequently. Most studies show that the more time children spend watching television, the more they are influenced by it. Earlier studies have shown that boys may be more susceptible than girls to television violence.
How similar or different were your ideas?
Evaluation
Fill in this schedule and answer the questions below.
(Copy to Word or write down in your notebook)
Activity
Needs
Improvement
Satisfactory, good
Excellent
Step 1 - Speaking
I can answer questions about watching TV and share my answers with a classmate. I can answer the same questions but then about using the internet and also compare those answers.
Step 2 - Reading
I can read and understand the article about the influence of the media and fill in the missing words and answer questions.
Step 3 - Grammar
I can complete a table of adjectives, noun, adverbs and verbs. I can read and understand a text and complete the gaps.
Step 4 - Task
I can do the writing task.
What have you learnt in this period?
Answer the following questions:
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Van dit lesmateriaal is de volgende aanvullende informatie beschikbaar:
Toelichting
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor vwo, leerjaar 4, 5 en 6. Dit is thema 'Media. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Impact of media. In deze les staat de impact van media (internet en tv) op de psychosociale ontwikkeling van kinderen centraal. Er wordt gekeken naar de negatieve effecten van reclame en de invloed op voeding.
Deze les valt onder de arrangeerbare leerlijn van de Stercollectie voor Engels voor vwo, leerjaar 4, 5 en 6. Dit is thema 'Media. Het onderwerp van deze les is: Impact of media. In deze les staat de impact van media (internet en tv) op de psychosociale ontwikkeling van kinderen centraal. Er wordt gekeken naar de negatieve effecten van reclame en de invloed op voeding.
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In this section we look at the effect of the media on young people.
Read the questions and choose your answers.
You are going to read part of an article about the influence of the media on the psychosocial development of children.
What have you learnt in this period?
