The norms and values of a person are shaped by various agents of socialization, such as parents and educators. Nevertheless, mass media also play an important role because they can set behavioral examples that can be followed by an individual. Moreover, their messages can be seen by millions of viewers, including children. Much attention should be paid to the influence of television, which can desensitize modern children.
In other words, it can make them more tolerant of crime, violence, or brutality. To a great extent, this exposure can make a person incapable of feeling empathy for the needs of other people who may suffer from pain or distress. Moreover, much attention should be paid to the distortion of a child’s perception of the world and other people. In particular, they may be able to recognize only the negative qualities of individuals.
Finally, they are more likely to rely on aggression as the method of conflict resolution (Kevorkian & D’Antona, 2008, p. 107). This trend attracts the close attention of many journalists and scholars. Certainly, researchers can primarily speak about the correlation between exposure to TV violence and lack of sensitivity.
However, their findings confirm that these phenomena can be linked with one another. These are the main risks that should be taken into consideration because they are important for the education of children. This discussion should be considered by various stakeholders such as parents, teachers, and representatives of mass media.
It should be mentioned that modern television provides many examples illustrating that violations of many behavioral norms can be widespread or even acceptable. The characters depicted in movies, television series, or video clip can be perceived as role models by children. The main problem is that such characters may act in a deviant manner or even disregard ethical norms established in the community.
One should keep in mind that television can often glorify violence or crime. For instance, one can mention such television series as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Dexter, Son of Anarchy, and many others (Parry, 2013, p. 72).
Certainly, they are not designed for the needs of children and it is mostly the duty of parents to prevent children from watching such TV shows. Nevertheless, modern children have many opportunities for watching these shows; for instance, they can do it via the Internet.
As a result, they will be exposed to many images of violence, cruelty, bloodshed, and so forth. Admittedly, they may not necessary emulate the behavior depicted in these films. Nevertheless, they can become used to cruelty. Such behavior will not upset or disturb them in any way.
It is possible to say that contemporary television has such an attribute as graphicness, which means that it often displays physiological disfigurement, torture, and rape (Bazore, 2008, p. 16).
The main issue is that children or teenagers, who may watch this content, may perceive such things as inseparable parts of daily life (Bazore, 2008, p. 16). In the long term, such individuals can disregard the needs of people who may be affected by some severe difficulties. The suffering of others may eventually become commonplace for them (Nadelman, 2003, p. 49).
This is one of the main risks that should not be overlooked by parents and educators who need to understand how the values of children are formed. In many cases, they are not the only agents of socialization. Mass media and peers can also affect the values of a child. Very often, their impact is not beneficial. This is one of the reasons why the actions of children or adolescents can sometimes astonish them.
Thus, parents should remember that exposure to television can transform the values of a child. In particular, he/she can be indifferent of other people’s needs. The effects of this exposure can manifest themselves during adolescence or adulthood. Therefore, they need to shield children against these harmful influences. They need to pay attention to the warnings about explicit content in television programs.
This is one of the main precautions that should be taken. Moreover, they need to explain why some forms of behavior or ethical choices are not acceptable. In this way, they can shield children from the harmful effect produced by mass media such as television. Educators should also advocate the importance of such values as empathy, love, or pity. These strategies can convince children that violent behavior is not something that should become commonplace.
Certainly, scholars cannot fully demonstrate that television desensitizes children, but these difficulties can be explained by research limitations. In particular, they can implement only correlational studies that can highlight the associations between different phenomena.
They usually cannot carry out experimental studies that involve the manipulation of independent variables. This is one of the issues that should not be overlooked. Nevertheless, current studies can also demonstrate that lack of empathy is associated with long-term exposure to violence on television (Kevorkian & D’Antona, 2008, p. 107).
Moreover, one should speak about the increased tendency to act in an aggressive way (Christakis & Zimmerman, 2006, p. 72). For instance, exposure to television brutality can be one of the factors that contribute to bullying (Kevorkian & D’Antona, 2008, p. 107). This is one of the pitfalls that should be avoided.
Moreover, the exposure to violence on television can change a child’s view on society. In particular, they may conclude that the world is a violent place in which a person cannot feel secure or trust anyone (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009, p. 631). They will focus on the cruelty of other people and overlook such character traits as compassion, sense of humor, openness, and so forth (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009).
Overall, the perceptions of these children can become significantly distorted, and they will find it rather difficult to establish relations with other people (Shaffer & Kipp, 2009, p. 631).
In particular, they will find it rather difficult to put trust in others, and such an attitude can result in significant communicative problems. These are the main effects of observing violence on television. In turn, parents should find ways of minimizing the adverse impacts of mass media.
One should not suppose that every television program desensitizes children. There are many films, cartoons, or programs that are specifically designed for this age group. They can contribute to the proper development of children. Furthermore, they can assist children in understanding the norms adopted by the community.
Nevertheless, parents cannot always ensure that their children do not get access to those videos that display violence. They should keep in mind that during childhood, children cannot evaluate the content of television programs in a critical way. This is why they are more likely to accept the messages displayed in films or television series.
Admittedly, one can argue that television should not be blamed for all the misfortunes encountered by the community. In particular, it is not possible to assume that every act of violence or cruelty can be directly attributed only to films, television series, or video clips that depict violence (Kevorkian & D’Antona, 2008).
Such an assumption can hardly be justified. Moreover, parents should carefully monitor the activities of their children, especially the content of television programs that they watch.
They cannot always shift the blame onto mass media. However, the representatives of the media should pay more attention to the messages that they convey to the audience because in many cases, these messages can have an adverse effect on the children as well as other age groups (Moeller, 2001).
In many cases, they set inappropriate role models for children or adolescents who may not fully understand the moral implications of a person’s behavior. Thus, they can act cruelly without understanding the meaning of this conduct. This is one of the pitfalls that should be avoided.
On the whole, these examples demonstrate that parents and educators should not neglect the role of television. There is sufficient evidence demonstrating that the exposure to television series can deprive a child of his/her sensitivity or empathy. The main risk is that in the future, they may not be able to feel compassion for the suffering of other people. In turn, parents and educators should reduce this risk to the minimum.
Moreover, more attention should be paid to the social responsibility of people who create television programs. In particular, they should not glorify violence and aggression. These are the main details that can be singled out.
Reference List
Bazore, K. (2008). The Context of Violence in Children’s Television Programs. New York, NY: ProQuest.
Christakis, D., & Zimmerman, F. (2006). The Elephant in the Living Room: Make Television Work for Your Kids. New York, NY: Rodale.
Kevorkian, M., & D’Antona, R. (2008) 101 Facts about Bullying: What Everyone Should Know. New York, NY: R&L Education.
Moeller, T. (2001). Youth Aggression and Violence: A Psychological Approach. New York, NY:Routledge.
Nadelman, L. (2003). Research Manual in Child Development. New York, NY: Psychology Press.
Parry, J. (2013). Mental Disability, Violence, and Future Dangerousness: Myths Behind the Presumption of Guilt. New York, NY: Rowman & Littlefield.
Shaffer, D., & Kipp, K. (2009). Developmental Psychology: Childhood & Adolescence: Childhood and Adolescence. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.