THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA AND TV ON CHILDREN OF ALL AGES

Children spend so much time watching TV it is no surprise to realize how much it can influence their outlook on life. When I think back to my childhood, it is almost a shock to remember how new TV was to our generation and recall how few hours a day it aired. There were no early morning children-only channels. We considered ourselves lucky to have one channel. TV started at around 4pm and closed with the Zimbabwean national anthem at 11pm. These days TV is on 24 hours a day, with far too many channels to watch, and a format, range, station and network for every imaginable age group and personality. I fondly recall family oriented shows like “Scooby Doo, Where are you?” Other child friendly shows like “The Wombles”, “The Muppet Show”, “Tom and Jerry”, “The Flintstones” and “The Famous Five” were regulars. These shows were on for limited early viewing and aired for the younger audience. There was no need for parental TV screening and special editing controls as nothing controversial or harmful was shown.

Children’s TV shows today have advanced along with the technological growth of the whole of the entertainment industry. Think back to the first TV’s introduced into society. They were small, black and white TV’s with snowy screens aided by “bunny ears” and set in wooden cabinets on spindly legs. Modern TV’s have advanced to 60 inch or more hi-definition flat screens which use digital and cable to be transmitted globally. Today standards in technology have allowed special effects and movie makers to make shows that have incredible visual imagery. However, moral standards seem to have been left behind in the process. Parents now have to be aware of shows with content that may be inappropriate to children of a certain age. Age restriction limitations provided on all movies shown on TV are a must for the vigilant parent. These depict the level of violent, sexual and language content. How sad that things progressed to this level. It is not necessary to include inappropriate material into TV shows and movies aimed at the young audience it’s intended for.  

The advance in technology has improved the quality of the production of children’s movies and TV shows, but to offset that cost, these same shows now have to rely on the popularity of the show or movie to turn a profit. Along with viewing, these show characters are turned into even more profit with well advertised merchandise catering to children. DVD’s, books, toys, branded clothing all add to the profits. Children whine to parents to purchase said marketed name brands and the profit margins increase accordingly. It’s all about how much money these shows and programs can generate. When I recall my own son as a toddler, he was obsessed with the “Power Rangers”. We bought him the advertised videos, pajamas, dress up costumes and action figure toys. Inadvertently, he learned these action figure hero’s scripted moves. He then went to kindergarten and practiced the moves on his playground friends! Needless to say we had to talk to him about this. He had to be taught that it was fantasy only and real boys can’t behave like that. That’s the hard truth about children watching TV. They imitate art, they don’t understand it is make believe, and basically they learn that their TV hero’s use violence to beat the bad guys.

 In our culture today there is the additional and untasteful aspect of advertising commercial products during children’s TV scheduling. Not only are toys pushed into the brains of children, but the unhealthy aspects of our society too. Fast food commercials, sickly sweet cereals and soda commercials are introduced and marketed to entice children. Fast food is as much a part of our culture today as 24 hour TV. Sadly we are introducing our vulnerable children into this way of life too early. It leads to obese, unhealthy and lazy children. Most children watch far too many hours of TV per day. Families would do better to limit TV time and interact in more productive and healthier ways. Eating healthy, playing outdoors and spending less time in front of the TV screen watching movies or playing video games are far more beneficial to the well being and mental development of children.

Advancing into the adolescent age group TV, movies and popular music are just as harmful to this portion of society. We have created this bubble we find ourselves in today. TV, movies and music follows trends and creates new standards of behavior, but it has also acted as a tool for shaping what is seen as acceptable from the adolescent viewpoint. If we as parents had spoken up, protested or made waves sooner, our current situation of world wise adolescents would be different. Movies like the “Twilight” series have glamorized teen romance and cults like werewolves and vampires. My younger son was crushed to hear the final in the series, still in production, is rated R. This is because of the sexual content. Why market this to teenagers and adolescents then place a restrictive ending like that? As a result of this degeneration of standards, our cultural standards have slipped too. Allowing so much violence and sexual content has created a new crop of problems. This is teaching our impressionable teens that sex early on is acceptable. The entertainment industry has lost touch with reality and has encouraged teens to experiment with sex. In a failed counteractive ploy, certain TV stations are producing programs like “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom”. These TV shows turn these fallen “girls” to into reality TV stars. They have the dual effect of trying to show how hard their lives are, yet they are supposedly paid huge sums of money to be filmed. How much is scripted and how much is real? The bottom line is that it’s reality that’s not authentically real. The sad fact is that it’s too little, too late. I don’t think many adolescents have the maturity to see the difference and this could lead to poor judgment in their actions.

As I write this blog, my 17 year old daughter is living with a far more realistic view on life. She brought home a school project to incorporate into her life for five days, 24 hours a day. This is an electronic baby, valued at $1000, which her CNA (certified nursing assistant) program at school initiated. The baby is programmed to cry at random (usually 2 hour) intervals. “Baby” as we have taken to calling it, has to be fed, diapered, rocked and burped. My daughter has an electronic swipe card which records her response time to the cries. She also has to figure out what the cry means and record in a journal each time the baby cries and what she wanted. Sensors in the bottle and the diapers record the correct corresponding calls my daughter makes on “baby”. This hands on approach to the teenage dilemma of early pregnancy and the challenges of child care, is far more beneficial to my daughter than watching it on TV. TV shows like “Teen Mom” have a surreal two dimensional, and not entirely true, feel to them. Having as close to the real thing for five days, is as real as it gets. Glamorizing, objectifying and giving teens the wrong message which TV shows and movies tend to do, is far more harmful to them than we realize.

 According to the University of Michigan Health System, “The number of sex scenes on TV has nearly doubled since 1998, with 70% of the top 20 most-watched shows by teens including sexual content. Fifteen percent of scenes with sexual intercourse depict characters that have just met having sex. Of the shows with sexual content, an average of five scenes per hour involves sex.” (http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm). Those are pretty shocking statistics and our children are subjected to that. To me that is unacceptable. In a National Survey by Public Agenda, USA Today, 10/30/02, “90% of parents say TV programs are getting worse every year”. The bottom line is that TV shows, movies, music and the media in general today are failing to teach any values to our children. I don’t want my children to become statistics. I miss the old standards. Call me old fashioned, but I long for movies that don’t need censoring, that are wholesome and can be watched by mixed generations without causing either age set to cringe.

While I think about it, does anyone remember the fuss some nutty adults made about the content of “Noddy and Big Ears”? The “Teletubbies” too, were subjected to ridicule and dissected in detail. Both shows were deemed inappropriate for sensitive young children. I thought that was ridiculous. Children under six have no comprehension of homosexuality. A certain group of adults thought that showing “Noddy and Big Ears” sharing a room was wrong. I ask you, what 1 to 6 year old wonders about that? After six, they are no longer watching shows like “Noddy”. They would have moved on to other age appropriate shows and forgotten all about it. Upon reflection, the “Teletubbies” did show a boy character holding a lady’s handbag! That could be questioned by a child, but the resulting fuss was over the top. At the time I thought that particular program was merely annoying and the educational content was questionable.TV shows like this should be left to the very young, and more effort could have been put into shows aired to slightly older children. Who am I to question that debacle? I just wish the effort to censor was pushed further and had more of an effective reach to our adolescents of today. In my opinion, this is the age group that is most susceptible to the influence of the media in our society today.

CONSUMERISM IN AMERICA

“The term "consumerism" was first used in 1915 to refer to "advocacy of the rights and interests of consumers" (Oxford English Dictionary) but in this article the term "consumerism" refers to the sense first used in 1960, "emphasis on or preoccupation with the acquisition of consumer goods" (Oxford English Dictionary)” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumerism)

American’s are famous for their talent and proclivity for shopping. It amazes me at their consuming need to spend, put themselves in debt and seemingly not worry about it. As an immigrant, I’ve seen life from the other side of the world. Growing up in Africa, material things are harder to come by, therefore they are treated with more respect. Not only are many African countries poor, they don’t have the means to produce, import or even pay for some seemingly frivolous material items. Necessity is the name of the game, and because citizens are forced to save earnestly before buying them they are looked after lovingly. Credit is not handed out as easily as it is in America or other developed countries. High priced items like refrigerators, stoves, microwaves and washing machines are like gold in some countries. Many people never get to own these items. They live simply by washing clothes in streams, cooking over open fires and live life with just the basics. Middle class citizens, who are able to buy these items, know they are hard to come by so they are carefully used. Because these possessions are so expensive, the cost and hardship to have them fixed when they malfunction is high. Replacement parts are often unavailable and if they are, they are usually imported at an exorbitant price. In comparison to some African countries, American spending seems wasteful, rash and unnecessary. Recently our microwave and dishwasher needed some TLC. We were, I admit, afraid they would need to be replaced. Understandably a cheap version of a new microwave can be found for around $50, but I am not working at the moment. Understand too, that we have been brought up with the mindset of those who always “make a plan”. I was so very proud of my husband when he found a repair shop to buy replacement parts. The dishwasher cost $6 to replace one broken part, and the microwave part was free because they let my husband cut the part to fit. We are used to using our possessions until they are at a point beyond repair. To us, this is living simply and making use of what we have.

Consumerism in America can largely be blamed on advertising. Slick, polished, hypnotizing adverts are made to entice the weak and the lazy. Another major reason is that credit is offered too freely where the credit companies are to blame because they want to increase business. Offers for zero interest and easy set up fees entice the unsuspecting consumer. I have often seen salvageable items and appliances on the side of the road waiting for the city trash trucks to take them away. These sights are foreign to us. Nothing in Zimbabwe goes to waste. That old saying “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” could have originated in Zimbabwe. Old car tyres (spelt tires here) are reused there to make shoes and sandals for the very poor. Abandoned cars are stripped to bare shells and everything of any use is salvaged. Ten years later it still bothers me to see waste on such a large scale. There are so many underprivileged nations in our world, yet Americans seem to have got used to replacing goods at the drop of a hat. “Out with the old, in with the new” is the custom here. Before the Baby Boom, the United States of America’s products were well made. This is evident by TV shows like “American Pickers”, who travel all over America looking for old American treasures hidden in sheds, back yards and garages. Any antique items, particularly American made, is in demand at auctions and by collectors, and is sold at high prices. Consumerism increased after the Baby Boom where imports started coming into the country. This is the point where we find ourselves today, having a vast array of goods to chose from that have come from all over the world.

The average American is burdened by credit card debt. This too, is another major reason why we are famous for our consumerism. It should be a natural instinct to be afraid of racking up debt, more debt in fact, than you actually earn. It should be a matter of logistics to most people who spend carelessly. “How am I going to afford to pay it back, how many months or years will it take me to pay it back”? This should be the deciding factor before putting it on plastic. Sadly, most people seem to bury their heads in the sand and face their mounting debt when a tragedy occurs. Currently, this tragedy seems to be when one or both parties lose their jobs. In this economic climate of hardships and cutting back all round, consumerism should be on the decline but I don’t see much evidence of that.

Another contributing factor towards the debt many Americans are in is that spending makes you feel good. It gives a false sense of self worth. It also boosts flagging moral in a temporary solution. Because of this temporary lull in our senses, owning something new and shiny can block out the pain of everyday life. Christmas, Valentines, Easter, and all other major celebrations are used by manufacturers to add to our confusion about shopping. How many couples are “guilted” into buying commercialized gifts for their partners? We don’t buy into this phenomenon and consciously avoid such traps. We would rather celebrate our Wedding anniversary which falls after Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately for us, we are not strong enough to resist on our children’s behalf. Peer pressure, guilt and traditions are a hard habit to break just to teach your child a lesson. For us, that comes later when we can reason and explain how consumerism and commercialization just make Mom and Dad poorer! By the time our children were old enough to realize Santa Clause is just a fantasy and the Easter Bunny is a big myth, we were able to decrease the amount we spent on them.

As we have become accustomed to the American traditions and way of life, we have adjusted to a certain point. To be fair, if money wasn’t so tight right now, maybe we too, would have been lazy and gone out to buy a new microwave. In the end, I’m glad we didn’t. It was a great source of pride to us and we let our children know it too! What an excellent way to pass on our morals and attitude. On our arrival here in the USA, we would tell our children when at the shops “don’t look because we can’t have”. It became a familiar song to us. The dazzling store displays of an endless supply of material items were beyond tempting, considering the country we came from. That rule still applies to us. We don’t have a lot of extra, but we aren’t cheap, we are careful.

GENDER ROLES: MEN-VS-WOMEN

Since the beginning of time, society has tried to define the role of man and woman. Gender roles were set firmly as far back as the caveman era. Cave “man” hunted outside, while cave “woman” kept the home fires burning and gathered food nearby. Up to the 1960’s women were generally considered “housewives” and their husbands the “breadwinners”. Life for women changed dramatically with the advent and introduction of the pill. In the 1960’s this miracle pill not only changed the face of women’s options, but their behavior too. Women now had the freedom to choose the timing of pregnancy, but it also allowed them to enter the workforce. Without the fear of unexpected pregnancy, women became more work orientated. They became more confident in themselves and their role in aiding the family’s financial needs. This changed the rigidly set dynamics of gender roles in our culture and around the world forever.

Even today with this blurring of roles, gender differences are still apparent. Women are generally burdened with having to wear multiple hats. Not only do most women work, some full time, they are traditionally cast as the majority shareholders in all household duties and child care. Granted, most men have their own traditionally cast workload. However, working and bill paying whilst maintaining the status of “head of the household” hardly seems fair.

Inspiration for my next blog struck one weekend in our own household. My husband, bless his soul, works long, hard hours, often traveling for days at a time. Our household is split evenly, one man, one woman, one boy and one girl. As it so happened, I was working diligently on my homework and no-one had offered to make dinner. As night fell, so did my patience! I was too involved to want to stop for my “Mom” duties. Everyone was asking “When’s dinner?” Our daughter too, was busy working on her homework, and both man and boy were watching TV. I asked my husband to make a salad and my daughter to cook the frozen pizzas. Both recipients moaned and groaned, but eventually did as asked. Earlier that morning my daughter had already asked me why just she and I were cleaning the house. She felt we had already done our “share” of chores so the boys should do dinner. Neither man nor boy offered to do anything. It struck me like a blow to the head. I asked my husband why neither he nor our son ever offers to help. They wait to be asked (more like told), nagged, or we have to plain old beg. Just how far have we really evolved? Not much at all as far as I can see! How biased are these gender roles?

While I was pondering the subject, I realized my own role has recently changed. Until two months ago, I was a full time working wife and mother. I was laid off, and as a result I have lost my favorite argument. I used to say I work as many hours as Dad does and we all live here together. Therefore our chores should be equally shared, split between four of us. The loss of my full time job was also the loss of my winning hand. I have been relegated back to full time Mom, housekeeper and cook. I have no legal case to fall back on, so I shoulder the familiar gender role. It is strangely soothing and comforting, this safe haven of being home. I have less stress and more time to do my Mom duties, and fit part time school work in between. I don’t kid myself that this is temporary as finances are fragile. I often wonder how much of a Superwoman I would have to be if I found work soon. Something would have to be sacrificed in order for me to fit it all in. That would be me and my sanity. Of that I have no doubt. For now I actually relish my peaceful circumstances and do whatever I can to save pennies. It is amazing how much women fit into their lives all in the name of gender expectations.

Why do women seem to shoulder most of the cooking and cleaning? When I question my husband on our gender roles, he asks me why he does all the bill paying. I can’t answer that. Has he fallen into the gender trap too? How do we break this habit, and do we really even want to? I start to think about it and wonder if these gender roles have been ingrained in us from past to future generations. Is it instinctual, or have we bred the habit unknowingly? All I care right now, is how do I get the men in my family to shape up? How do I force my son to change and start volunteering? How do I ensure he grows up to be a respectful and responsible adult who can share the burden in his own household?

I have attached a cartoon version of men versus women. I thought it was perfect for my blog. It illustrates the fundamental differences between the genders. I had a good laugh at the part where it shows how much the woman does in the home, while the man watches TV!

From: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIwWS2atEmc&feature=player_embedded