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The Impact of Media on Children
Monkey See, Monkey Do

By Shazmeen Razak Daruni

Discoveries and invention of devices are always welcome till we, humans, find a way to abuse its benefits and be adversely affected by it. TV was also invented with optimistic thoughts in mind. We live in a society which praises individuality and freedom, and therefore to most people it is a scary thought that an outside source, such as the media, has such a large effect on our lives, and therefore it is not surprise that most people do not believe that the media has a strong effect on them. But when it comes to children, the debate becomes more personal. Young children are most vulnerable to the effects of media violence (Bushman, 2001). It is because they are more easily impressionable, have a harder time distinguishing between fantasy and reality, cannot easily discriminate motives for violence and they learn by observing and imitating.

The statistics about the media is that; In 1950, only 10% of Pakistan homes had a television. Today 90% of homes have televisions. In fact, more families have televisions than telephones. Over half of all children have a television set in their bedrooms. This gives a greater opportunity for children to view programs without parental supervision. Television, movies, music, and interactive games are powerful learning tools, and highly influential media. Studies reveal that children watch approximately 28 hours of television a week, more time than they spend in school. The child will view more than 200,000 acts of violence, including more than 16,000 murders before age 18. Television programs display 812 violent acts per hour; children's programming, particularly cartoons, displays up to 20 violent acts hourly. (http://www.aacap.org/). These facts show how media is influencing children not only in Pakistan but also all over the world. Media is affecting children in different ways for example it influence child psychological, affects his/her academic performance and also cause health problems.

Individuals with greater exposure to media violence see the world as a dark and sinister place. Television programs present a narrow view of the world, and the world they present is violent. Thus, people who watch a lot of television are more likely to see the world as being violent than those who watch less. Children with emotional, behavioral, learning or impulse control problems may be more easily influenced by TV violence. It is not necessary that the impact of TV violence is immediately evident in the child's behavior; it may surface years later (Congressional Public Health Summit, 2000). Viewing violence can lead to emotional desensitization towards violence in real life. It can decrease the likelihood that one will take action on behalf of a victim when violence occurs.

Beside its psychological effect, the physiological effect of watching TV in excessive amounts is eye-strain. It is true that there are specifications for watching TV; TV should be 5 m. away from the eye, the room should be adequately lightened, TV should be placed at the same height with our eyes, etc. However, these do not prevent our eyes from getting tired if we keep watching TV for a long time. Another effect is obesity, which is widely observed in people who like watching TV and eating snacks everyday (there is even a term “TV snacks” to refer to fast food that is suitable for eating in front of the TV). TV is such a powerful invention that people cannot get away from it and people really become addictive.

In addition, the time spent in front of TV affects children academic performance. A study of television viewing among more than 12,000 sixth graders in California found that watching television more than five to six hours a day was associated with low achievement in reading, mathematics, and writing across all social-class groups (Allan C. Ornstein, Daniel U. Levine, Foundations of Education, Fourth Edition).

In conclusion, Technology is continuously changing. These growing changes bring social and economical consequences on different aspects of our daily life. In the last decade, some of these changes were difficult to cope with. In the future, these changes will happen faster, with less time to prepare. Thus two aspects of this changing technology emerged that is “Positive and Negative impact” on the users. Our approach is to avoid wrong choice otherwise our technology will destroy us. These choices should be teach by our parents, teachers and guardians. No rating system or skills training can replace for parental involvement. In 1996, the American Medical Association published the “Guide to Media Violence”. Included therein were a series of steps that parents can take to limit the media's influence on their children. Parents should know that which type of shows their children watch, don't use television, videos, or video games as a babysitter, Limit television use to 1 or 2 quality hours per day, Set situation limits (e.g., no television or video games before school or before homework is done, Keep television and video player machines out of children's bedrooms, Turn the television off during mealtimes, Be an active viewer i.e. talk and make connections with your children while the program is on. These guidelines are very useful for the parents to prevent their children of becoming the victims of media violence.