Media has become a prominent part of our everyday lives. According to Schneider and colleagues (2012), over 95% of all households in the United States and Canada have televisions. In today’s society, it has become even more common among adolescents. Adolescents are spending approximately 8 hours per day with various media (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Media has evolved greatly over the last decade. Now, media, in general is very easy to access. Cellular phone advanced that now the internet is literally right at the tips of our fingers. Many great dangers can result to viewing particular media. Predicted violent behavior and sexual behavior can be related to what adolescents view through media.
There’s been a debate on whether viewing violent television increases violent behavior. Overtime, many experimental researches have been conducted and results demonstrate that television violence increases violent behavior (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). Children and adolescents can be easily influenced. They tend to imitate what they see and are exposed, whether positive or negative. Also, youth, today, are exposed to violent shows and video games. Considering it appears there’s no limit to watch is put on television, it is difficult to keep children away from violent-free zones. Caroline Knorr (2013) states 90% of movies, 68% of video games, and 60 % of television shows depict some type of violence. These numbers are high, but I believe are somewhat accurate. Violence has overtaken the innocence of many shows, whether it’s subtle and evident. The text used the example of Lionel Tate being convicted of murdering Tiffany Eunick (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2012). He was imitating wrestle moves he saw on television. Parents are unaware of how this “entertainment” can cause great effect on individuals. We learn how to imitate violence through attention, representational process, behavioral production process, and motivational process. This is known as the social cognitive theory (Schneider, Gruman& Coutts, 2012). As a youth, what I watch on television was very restricted. Now, it feels as though children have no limits as to what they watch on television. Aside from increasing of violent behaviors, media can influence sexual behaviors and attitudes.
Mass media is an important perspective for adolescents’ sexual behavior. According to L’Engle and colleagues (2005), adolescents who are exposed to more sexually driven media and perceive greater support from media for adolescent sexual behavior, reports greater intentions to engage in sexual activity. Adolescents have great access to sexual driven and motivated magazine, televisions, and music. It’s important for adolescents to become self-aware of the potential dangers in engaging in sexual behavior. There are many intervention programs that can help reduce the issues of violence/media and sexual behavior/media. Completely eliminating media is not the solution to the problem. It takes a societal effort. Society had allowed these issues arise among the youth. When I was an adolescent, I was not exposed to risqué magazine covers and provocative television shows. For example, television networks should reassess the potential dangers and consequences of exposing the youth to inappropriate media. Also, parental involvement is a crucial factor in monitoring behavior and exposure to mass media. Overall, society, as a whole, should take a proactive stance in reducing undesired effects of mass media.
References:
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., and Coutts, L. M. (Eds.) (2012). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1412976381
Emmons, S. (2013). Is media violence damaging to Kids? Parenting.Com. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/21/living/parenting-kids-violence-media/
L’Engle, K. L., Brown, J. D., & Kenneavy, K. (2006). The mass media are an important context for adolescents’ sexual behavior. Journal of Adolescent Health, 38(3), 186-192.