IMPACT OF MEDIA ON CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS:

BEHAVIOURAL ASPECT

RADHA PRIYA
RESEARCH SCHOLAR
CENTRAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH BIHAR
GAYA, BIHAR.

ABSTRACT

From food to feelings, from clothing and accessories to skill and training, from peace to war,

from brotherhood to communal riots, from promotion to deviation, media build, hold and even

can mould the decision of the masses.

Among the four pillar of democracy –executive, legislative, judiciary and media, media seems to

be the strongest and act as the knot that holds the rest together.

The media appears as the most powerful entity on earth today, it has the power to create and

change opinions with ease. The media is more powerful than any army could ever be, they

control public discussion , create realities , sentiments ,change opinion and control public

discussions.

Since media touches the every individual brain it has the power to literally change the society in

the way they want to. Children and adolescents frame the base of an nation. They are the most

exposed group to the media –from print to electronic till web. They are the one spending

majority of their lives with various zones of media, for their education to their leisure in

whatever way they want to spend.

This is a mixed study over 200 students from the age group of later childhood (6-12yrs) to

adolescents (13-18yrs), selected through the incidental sampling method and interviewed. The
objective of the study is to find the impact of media and its various sources over students’

behaviour inside as well as outside classrooms.

The media exposure makes students to do role modeling, analyses global situation expand

horizons of their interest and knowledge whereas at the same time it increases high risk

behaviours including Aggressiveness, alcohol and tobacco use, violence and accelerated onset of

sexual activity.

Keywords: Media, Adolescents, Violence

INTRODUCTION
Media is the plural form for medium and involves the collective communication sources or

mediums including television, radio, newspapers, internet, social media sites and various

relevant sites and blogs. The main purpose of media is to disseminate the information and

knowledge. Media is the best medium of communication for mass audience. With the help of

various media like electronic media, print media and web media, the mass communication

method is accomplished in a suitable way.

A vast majority of people, all across the world, rely upon various sources of media for keeping

themselves updated on various ongoing issues around the world. Media plays an important role

for the whole society.

Importance of Media

Let us know and understand the significance of media through the following most important

points:
1. Gives us immense knowledge & transmits information – Media keeps us informed about

various happening around the world. It lets us know what is happening around us and all over the

world. With the help of media, we get immense knowledge on various subjects. Media plays a

vital role in the dissemination of information. It broadcasts, prints and updates information from

time to time so that the general public stays aware of what is going on in the country and in the

entire world.

2. Raises our consciousness – Media ignites awareness in us by providing information and

knowledge. It does not enforces its own opinion on us, but provides facts, figures and news to us

so that we can analyze the information and can understand, what is wrong and what is right?

3. Raises voice against social evils – Media also plays a constructive role for the society by

raising social issues. Presently, there are many examples of social evils like dowry, female

foeticide, gender discrimination, etc. that have been raised by media. When media presents and

unveils such issues, the public becomes aware and the necessary steps are taken for resolving the

issues! Media also helps reach the voice of masses to the concerned authorities.

4. Provides true pictures and live telecast for various events – Be it the cricket world cup, FIFA

matches, our prime minster or president addressing the nation, the areas affected by flooding or

just any other incident, media helps us see the true picture by providing the LIVE or recorded

telecast for almost all important events.

5. Educates the society – One of the most important roles of media is to educate the society. We

can explore and analyze various product reviews, do price comparison for various items, read

news about politics, fashion, war, weather, health and much more with the help of media. Media
exposes issues like poverty, illiteracy, social backwardness, etc., and educates people on the

same. It also educates people about their rights and duties and helps enforce law as well.

From food to feelings, from clothing and accessories to skill and training, from peace to war,

from brotherhood to communal riots, from promotion to deviation, media build, hold and even

can mould the decision of the masses.

Among the four pillar of democracy –executive, legislative, judiciary and media, media seems to

be the strongest and act as the knot that holds the rest together.

The media appears as the most powerful entity on earth today, it has the power to create and

change opinions with ease. The media is more powerful than any army could ever be, they

control public discussion, create realities, sentiments, change opinion and control public

discussions.

OBJECTIVES

 To find the impact of media and its various sources over students’ behaviour inside as

well as outside classrooms.

 To find the impact of media and its various sources and its involvement in students life
POPULATION
Children of later childhood (8-12)yrs

Adolescents (13-18) yrs

SAMPLE

100 students of classes V to XI. matching with population age group , from locality of Gaya.

SAMPLING METHOD

Incidental sampling method was used for the collection of samples.

TOOLS

A face to face interview was conducted with the children of the sample age group .

Mainly asked about their timings on various media, their favourite show, newspaper they read,

their favourite book and author , how good their library facilities are . what they love the most

about social media , what they don’t like and reason behind it.

FINDINGS OF THE STUDY

 Around 4-6hours is the time the children are spending over television and internet.

 Mostly watched shows on the television: MTv splitsvilla, love school , reality shows

crime alert shows , certain daily soaps, roadies.

 Over the internet ,they uses Google , Facebook , whatsapp , snap chat , instagram,

telegram etc.

 Worse thing they found on internet is rumours, communal differences, personal videos,

online games, as their most of friends do , this let them to be the part of the group ; they

play even it was not initiated by them .

 They hardly watch any religious or historical shows, 70% of them do never watch

National geographic, or Animal planet kind of channel.

 Children do watch cartoons and like how the character bullies his friends.

 20%of them only read the newspapers and 30% don’t even know which newspapers are

there in homes.

 Library is less used as school have tight schedule and library class once in a week is not

enough.
CONCLUSIONS

The conclusions we get from the findings are as follows:

There is profound effect of media on psychosocial development of children .Thus it is needed to

discuss the child’s exposure to media and to provide guidance on age appropriate use of all

media including television, radio, music, videogames and the internet, among the stakeholders

along with physicians. Physicians can change and improve children’s television viewing habits.

There is a relationship between watching violent television programming and an increase in

violent behaviour by children. Excessive television watching contributes to the increased

incidence of childhood obesity. Excessive television watching may have a deleterious effect on

learning and academic performance. Watching certain programs may encourage irresponsible

sexual behaviour. Television is an effective way of advertising products to children of various

ages especially smaller children. 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.

Because 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.

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.

Benefits of the Internet

Near limitless information resource; High degree of availability and affordability in most

communities in the western world; An asset for research or homework; A communication tool

for teachers and university professors with their students; Rapid and inexpensive communication

via e-mail and video linkage; Access by the disabled to much that may otherwise be unavailable;

Through technology that makes computer use possible;By taking advantage of communication

with peers that does not require that their disability be visible

Adverse effects of Internet

 Pornography: Underage children may accidentally or by design access pornographic sites

 Predators have access to minors through unsupervised use of chat rooms and e-mail

 Loss of inhibitions normally experienced when face-to-face, promoting sexual exchanges

and promiscuity

 On-line gambling

 Potential for plagiarism in school work

 Promotion of hatred or violence through Web sites targeting a specific group, such as

women, homosexuals, and religious or ethnic groups

 Use of the Internet by school bullies to ridicule or spread hatred toward a victim

 Violence through video games, song lyrics and on-line bullying, access to hazardous

materials or information on making weapons

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..

 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. Parents can help children differentiate between fantasy

and reality, particularly when it comes to sex, violence and advertising.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Since media touches the every individual brain it has the power to literally change the society in

the way they want to. Children and adolescents frame the base of an nation. They are the most

exposed group to the media –from print to electronic till web. They are the one spending

majority of their lives with various zones of media, for their education to their leisure in
whatever way they want to spend. Thus it is important to be careful regarding the use of

television and internet as well as various magazines, about not only how the children are using

these resources and of course how much they are using, a check upon this is very necessary.

What can spoil can even make the things perfect if we use it judiciously, Media is that strong

weapon we have. And this is possible with the collaborative work of teachers, parents, family,

local guardians and media itself. Children frame the base for the future of any nation and hence

any such serious stuff held prime position while decision is making and future planning.

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