Impact of media use on children and youth

The mass media is more diversified and powerful than it has been during any time in human history and its influence on the young is overwhelming and overpowering. This paper is about the pros and cons of the exposure of children to media, and to seek guidance from their physicians upon the appropriate use of all media which includes television, radio, music, video games and the Internet. The paper will discuss each form of media individually and the benefits or harm that each will have upon children. To earn the best grades in your Dissertation, Thesis and college assignments you should choose an academic writing service that will meet your best writing needs.

According to the Department of Psychology, Iowa State University TV is the medium that youngsters spend the most time watching. It is the medium to which even children are the most attracted. In an average home the child is exposed to at least five screens, and by the time that a child turns seven, he will have spent 8,760 hours watching TV or around 10% of his/life in front of the TV screen. The child’s development level is an important aspect of determining whether watching TV will have a negative of positive effect on the child . Some TV programs are good for children, but programs that depict violence, obscenity and dirty language fascinate children more than programs deemed to be good for their mental and physical health of the child.

By the time children have to reach adolescence, they will have spent more time watching TV, than they will spend at school. Media has a very profound effect on youth culture. This observation has been made by Vivian Vahlberg who conducted a study for the Newspaper Association of America; the popularity of most TV programs is the amount of vulgarity, violence, and obscenity shown in programs. Even TV commercials are made which suggest sexuality, giving the impression to most young boys and girls that using so and so the product will make them more attractive to the opposite sex or will get them sexual favors from the opposite sex.

The macho instinct in young males quickly surfaces, when some character on TV beats his opponent(s) almost to death with his bare hands or is pitted against very unfavorable odds and shoots or drives his way out killing many people and wrecking everything in his path. Because of their popularity to the young people, such movies and serials gross millions of dollars’ worth of advertising and sponsorships which are the reason that they are shown to young audiences. The TV producers spend millions of dollars to create special effects, and in most cases, the gorier the effects the more they are watched.