An image, disturbing to picture, of a childs mind and inside the childs mind is a schema of every concept the adolescent has ever taken in. A Nazi swastika symbolizes an evil hatred from history, the child has learned that prejudice is wrong. A mental picture of a young bride walking down an isle, the child knows marriage is sacred and that the woman can take pride in her white dress. A Coke bottle brings the sweetness of cola to the youths taste buds. This person was biologically determined to be female at birth. This person now has a role in society to play.
We refer to her as female because she is not male and there is no in between in our culture, she is female because of her physical features. We have a schema of what a female is expected to be. She probably has hair with length. Her features should be soft and luscious. She will not fight; she will smell good. She isnt impressed with extremely large spiders; she will be impressed with beautiful flowers. She should desire to look sexy, to dress sexily, to be sexy. Certain things are expected of her. She is to learn the behaviors, beliefs, and values her society presents her with.
Not only will she learn those requirements but she will also learn from the environment around her. All the information she is presented with she will accept and decide where to put it. She will be forming her opinions, beliefs morals, behaviors and values of her own. The average youth will watch 10,000,000 advertisements before the age of eighteen (Hull). Reading through an average teen magazine, a teenager can read about how to be popular, how to apply makeup, how to style hair, even how to dress next month. The average movie is filled with advertisements just slipped in casually.
Not to mention regular tv has eight minutes of commercials for every 22 minutes of television (Hull). I ask my audience to consider the information received by their children and evaluate the choices of media in the environment your children live in. Everyone has their own set of values. Similar to fingerprints, no two sets of values are alike. Values evolve and change depending on each individuals experience, age, education, culture, etc. A major influence in todays society is media, it is everywhere and contains an immense amount of messages. Youth in general have become the number one target of Media.
Why is this? Teens spend on average 100 million dollars a year. In addition they spend more than $50 million a year of their parents money(Merchants of Cool). This is a big business! 75% of teens have a television in their room. 1/3 of teens have a personal computer in their room and the average time spent online per night is two hours (Youthworker). With all this mass amount of media being taken in every day how do we know exactly what teens do with this information. These are questions parents must ask themselves: How much of this information effects my childs values.
How does this information effect my childs personal success? The personality development begins day one on this planet, according to Freud. Every age has its own learning experience that must be accomplished to fit in society. Let us look at our female baby. She is born and immediately categorized as a boy or a girl. She will be dressed in dresses and other exclusively female clothes. Her welcome home sign will indicate her gender. This is when Freud says we act from our id, or our basic need drives. We know when something is needed and we demand instant assistance. Every minute to a baby is n eternity.
The comprehension of time isnt acquired until later in life. First she will learn what is considered to be right and wrong. Her family plays a huge role in her facing this challenge. The child will learn the meaning of the word no. This is often even a childs first word. As she graduates from early childhood she will begin to learn consequences. Reasons why things are right and wrong. She will learn self control and confidence. She knew that mom would not let her near the wood stove and now she understands the consequences of a burn. The understanding on basic explanations for right and rong is called the ego.
She will act by these now. Once she accomplishes these early lessons she will go on to learn that not only does the stove burn but mom is concerned for her and that is why she says no. Freud believed not everyone reached the third stage of development called the super ego meaning operation of culture within an individual. The super ego describes a person not speeding on the highway not only because it is against the law but also because it may be hazardous to society (Society the Basics 64). As a childs personality develops the brain is always accepting information nd reacts to exposure to media differently.
America encourages individuality and accepts a variety of behaviors or norms. This does not exclude the societys values. Being human is defined in a society by how well you follow a set of rules and expectations by which the society guides the behavior of its members. These rules of life are called norms. We all expect these from each other. Some norms, like the value of marriage between two individuals, or the value of the parent child relationship, are shared by the world, and others, such as female mutilation, are only valued in certain cultures.
Those who refuse to abide by ocietys norms in such a way they become a problem may be locked up, or given a permanent record, or simply unaccepted in our society. We are all individuals existing in this pool of other individuals. We must live together and strive to enjoy the ride. This is how our society works. A person decides what his or her values are going to be based on what he knows. It is a process that begins on the first day of our existence (Society the Basics 288). The movies are an important social institution, going far beyond mere entertainment.
They are part of the development of modern society, and they have elped to shape the way we live. Started at the turn of the century, movies were the ideal entertainment for the urban working class, but they also appealed to all classes in society. The movies were so popular, especially with children, that they sparked calls for social control and inspired any studies of movie influences. The content of film can both reflect and shape our society, and there is close identification with film stars. The audience for movies has always been a young one, and movie going is essentially a group activity.
They continue to be a major factor in our popular culture today. The author goes on to explain how all culture when transmitted to the public becomes popular culture. Not only movies but television also is profit orientated. Movies are interesting because they seem to have a dream world effect challenging movies companies to develop their productions to meet modern art standards when realistically the major objective of movie making is purely profit. This can be related to why bad movies are made. If a major motion picture company has accidently made a terrible movie, the movie will be released anyways to make up for the lost profits.
Any child with a tv in is room could be exposed to movies such as Die Hard , Resivior Dogs, The Sopranos, and many other high in violence content movies. If a child in early stages of development is told hitting is wrong but happens to watch a movie that tells otherwise it can be confusing. It is essentially parents responsibility to monitor what your child views on an everyday basis. This knowledge doesnt effect or change anything on its own. Parents must understand and use this knowledge. Media has always been the way it is and the outlook is good it will continue to be the way it is.
You can look at the edias extreme influence in many ways. It can be considered a socialization tool, a money maker, an evil influence, etc. However media also provides entertainment and sometimes learning experiences. This just is not a replacement for parenting. Here a list of guidelines for monitoring your childs media influence. (1) Keep control of the tv set. Have rules and guidelines. (2) Respond to what the child is watching. Do not just leave the child to view on his/or her own. Watch the same programs with your child, and discuss them occasionally. (3) Talk about your tv viewing with other family members.
What are lder members watching when younger children are present. (4) Do not let tv become a companion. Let music or silence be your background noise instead of the tv. (5) Tv should never be a reward. You do not want the stimulation with being proud of ones self to relate with tv viewing. (6) Try tv fasts with the whole family. Make it regular not to watch tv instead of vice versa (Children and TV 2 PG 64). Make sure your children receive the kind of attention they need from you and the rest of the family. I believe if parenting was more focused and children were exposed to less of the media our society would be a better place.
