Media usage by young individuals

Mireya Cardoso
10/19/15
University of Texas at El Paso
RWS 1302

Abstract
The main purpose for this literature review is to convey the positively and negatively aspects
found in the media targeting young children and their educational background. Media comes in
handy, but can be a handful in just a few seconds. As that being said, media has both sides of
perspectives for every human being. Within the essay it will discuss information regarding the
influences media gives a child, good and bad. Also including some side effects that can be
noticeable by being involved into too much media and how it can harm an individual slowly and
surely. Another main point is trying to reach out to the parents and aware them about what is
truly happening to their child behind their backs and what they should do to take action to this
issue. Media can destroy someones life in a blink of an eye, but it can also cherish with plenty of
opportunities.

Having the media growing drastically with new technologies approaching the market as
years go by can make a child more involved in the different types of media sources that are
offered. These media sources are used depending on age range and what the individual is
interested in. Being on a media source for hours can harm your interacting skills with other
individuals and find it hard to be sociable with peers therefore becoming anti-social.
A limit on how much media a child should be exposed too should be enforced as well as
monitoring the sites they visit. If a child is exposed to too much media it can affect them with the
result of being obese because they chose the wrong path of being on a media source for 24 hours
straight instead of going outside and exercising like the old days when media was very limited.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommend no television or any type of media source to
parents with children 24 months and
younger because thats when babies start to
grasp everything very quickly and the brain
is developing following their first 3 years
of life understanding the concepts better by
having social interactions of some sort.
(Drinkworth A. 2013)
A study regarding the television being on for 30 minutes showed that mothers interacted
with their children 21 percent less when the TV was on then off. (Drinkworth A. 2013) For
preschoolers it differs a bit for the reason that they start to learn basic fundamentals that are
going to be used later in life. According to Kids Health, children who watch more than four
hours of television a day are more likely to be overweight, and children who watch violence on
TV are more likely to show fear and aggressive behavior. (Drinkworth A. 2013)

For teens, media can be beneficial because it can make them inherit positive information
from the media sources such as the ipods, ipads, laptops, or any type of electronic device given
to the students. All of these ways can help an individual build up their knowledge and form some
sort of creativity of their own with everything they gathered up from the media sites.
(Drinkworth A. 2013) An example regarding creativity can be seen by looking at paintings and
feeling the passion in creating some type of art of their own because the individual got inspired
in doing so, which triggers creativity.
An anonymous female teacher was interviewed by the TMW Media group saying that
teenagers were becoming more disrespectful to their parents because of all the vulgar language
used on a television show or in any media source. (2011) On the other hand, another teacher
named, Edward Tooley, who was also interviewed by the same group thought differently. Edward
Tooley thought the environment the children lived in could be a factor to how they act towards a
particular subject and not by what they hear or see.(TMW 2011)When young children see a
certain model or someone that look good, they wish they were him or her. An example used in
this source was seeing a stick figure on television and wanting to have an identical body to theirs.
(TMW 2011)
When a four-year-old child was asked what her mother would do now that she had earned
her doctorate, the boy replied, "I don't know - I don't think she can be a doctor. I think she has to
be a nurse." The child's answer had been shaped by his babysitter's daily habit of watching soap
operas in which the men were the doctors and the women, the nurses. (Jalongo M.) Media has
the potential to portray what children know, think, and do throughout their developmental
growth. Many words may sound very familiar to each other, but certainly have a different
meaning that young children are not aware of. Children might think those words are used

correctly and could use them in their daily talk towards others not knowing if they are offending
someone or using the words wrongly.
The media brings good outcomes as well as bad ones just depending on the situation you
are placed at. Bad influences can vary from body image to violence, but of course theres many
types of influences media is giving young children that arent good at all. Body image ideals in
the media have increased teenagers desire for plastic surgery. For example, some teenage girls
now want breast implants and laser hair removal, and some boys want soft tissue fillers, in other
words having muscles. (Powell A. 2013) When young girls see body images that are just
unexplainable, they wish they could be looking the same. Having that in mind they start going
into diets to cut down on certain foods to try to become fit with a good body like a visual they
saw on a media source. This is not a very good idea to follow because young teenage girls are
just rearranging their body, so they can look like someone totally different. The reason to that is
because the only thing they are doing is harming their body and not accepting themselves for
who they actually are. Everyone is beautiful one way or another, just takes that one person to see
it. Media could be positive in the way that the media educates the young children about events
and issues going around the world and more background information about it. Media is source of
entertainment to many which falls in the pros section. Media can not only give you a negative
appeal towards other, but it can give a positive appeal to many as well, because the media is a
tool that educates young minds.
As seeing the media change from time to time and what young children are getting from
it, media can also bring positive outcomes into someones life. For example, if someone is into
the political issues within the world, they can get engaged in the news and educate themselves a
little bit more than what they know already and possibly want to participate even more in their

society to change lives of others. (Powell A. 2013) Media can portray negative examples as well.
If a particular cartoon which perhaps may be the childs favorite show can set bad examples to
the child to inherit. Goofy, a Disney character, could be holding a cigarette on one hand and in
the other a can of beer, being the childs favorite character, he or she could think the visual given
on TV is appropriate. Visuals can show both positive and negative images and in this case its
not right. The visual is just pursuing a negative outcome for the child to inherit, but trying to get
the word out by making it look fun or cool to smoke or drink instead of preventing children from
doing it and providing all the consequences that could happen.
Something a parent should consider for their childs future is to check the content ratings
and the parental advisories of the particular video game, television show, or any media source a
child might be interested in before getting the item or allowing their child to use that media
source.(American Academy of Pediatrics) Another thing a parent should do to help their child
out to grow into a successful individual is to remove any electronic they might have in their
possession such as televisions, game consoles, DVD players, or computers. As a parent,
everything involving the childs developmental growth should be the main concern and by
removing those electronics mentioned will limit the child in doing the wrong things.
Inappropriate behaviors can be seen as
well like going into drug use, and having
low grades in school because the
concentration the person has can be
lacking because of all the media usage and
not having enough sleep.

In conclusion, media is seen differently by many having its good sides and bad. Media
can lead into good developmental growth if used in a positive matter. Parents should be more
involved and aware of what their children are watching on a media source because just for one
simple watch it can harm their life in an instant. The awareness brought out to the audience is to
educate parents, so they can realize what they are actually providing for their child, with the
positive outcomes from it and the negative. On the other hand, media is growing drastically with
new technologies coming out every now and then including video games. Parents shouldnt get
their children everything they desire for the fact that they never know what that particular video
game can represent or teach the children. The best thing to do in a situation like this is to always
check on it first before an action is placed.

References
Drinkworth, A. (2013, February 28). Negatives & Positives of the Media in Child Development |
LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/561907negatives-positives-of-the-media-in-child-development/

Jalongo, M. (n.d.). Today's Media Influences on Young Children | Scholastic.com. Retrieved

March 29, 2015, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/todays-media-influencesyoung-children

Raising Children Network, & Powell, A. (2013, June 13). Media influence on teenagers.
Retrieved April 1, 2015 from raisingchildren.net.au/articles/media_influences_teenagers.html

TMW Media. (2011, December 9). Media, Impact And Influences - Real Life Teens Series
[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6WGbawv09g

1st picture:
Drinkworth, A. (2013, February 28). Negatives & Positives of the Media in Child Development |
LIVESTRONG.COM. Retrieved April 1, 2015, from http://www.livestrong.com/article/561907negatives-positives-of-the-media-in-child-development/

2nd picture:
Collins, N. (2013, March 26). Childhood obesity linked to genes - Telegraph. Retrieved April 20,
2015, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/health/news/9955236/Childhood-obesity-linked-togenes.html