Weaver 1 Cassandra Weaver Professor Deby Dagher Research Paper 19 March 2014 The Effects of Television on Society For

my research topic I chose to focus on the effects that television has on our society. I became very interested in this topic the more I was around my little cousins. My youngest cousin, Blake, is 4 and not far in front of him is Aydan, who is 7. Aydan has had his very own iPad for at least 2-3 years and Blake got his own iPad for his 4th birthday back in August. I thought it was absolutely insane that their parents got them such expensive technology at such a young age. Do they even know how to use it?, I often wondered to myself, but the more I was around them the more my question was answered. Yes! They certainly do know how to use it, even better than I can, and the thought of that really scared me. At four years old these kids can already operate an iPad better than me, better than their parents, better than their grandparents, and who knows who else! Theres no one to blame for this problem other than their parents. Anytime one of the kids are upset, angry, or fussy, they quickly just hand them their iPad so that they quiet down and get out of their parents hair. To me, this is absolutely absurd. Do their parents realize what theyre doing to their children?, I questioned to myself every time I witnessed this situation take place. In order to have a valid argument when approaching my little cousins parents, I wanted to research the effects that television specifically has not only on children, but the rest of society as well. This topic of the positive and negative correlations to very young children watching television and the impact it has on their brain development and attention skills is something that

Weaver 2 has been looked at for over a decade now (Courage and Setliff 72). Recent statistics show that 38% of older toddlers can turn a TV on by themselves, 40% can change channels, 7% can put on a video without any help, and 19% have a television in their bedrooms (Courage and Setliff 72). To me, these statistics are very shocking considering I didnt even have a TV in my room until the sixth grade and sometimes I still have trouble switching the TV to DVD mode and putting on a video. The long concern about the impact of television on the development of infant attention was raised in two large studies in the 1990s and the data showed a significant correlation between the amount of television children viewed at 1 and 3 years of age and attention problems that were consistent with ADHD (Courage and Setliff 73). To give an explanation of why television might have an effect on attention problems in infants, Christakis and Zimmerman suggested that exposure to the unnaturally fast pace of sound and image change in video material during this sensitive period might alter synaptic connections in the neural networks underlying attention and shorten the infants attention span, (Couarge and Setliff 74). Although there are negative impacts of television on the developmental skills in young children, there are also a few positive aspects to this type of learning. Several studies have been conducted to provide us with information that proves television can have a positive correlation on brain development in young children and that infants can indeed acquire new information from seeing it televised. One study in particular showed that infants were more inclined to play with a toy they had seen broadcasted on TV rather than a novel toy and that they avoided a novel toy after they had seen a televised model show a negative affect to it (Courage and Setliff 74). Likewise, studies showed that toddlers who watched videos with their parents paid closer attention to them and were more responsive to them if their parents provided interaction, such as pointing during the videos (Courage and Setliff 75). These types of interactions that focus a

Weaver 3 toddlers attention on age appropriate material can potentially increase comprehension and learning, especially if they are consistently done (Courage and Setliff 75). Television does not only have an effect on the cognitive development of children, but also their behavior and social aggression in the classroom. The behavioral influence of violent television entertainment has been an issue since the late 1950s (Paik and Comstock 516). Nicole Martins and Barbara Wilson conducted a survey with over 500 children in grades K-5 to test whether exposure to socially aggressive content on television had a correlation to childrens use of social aggression in school. When I say social aggression I am referring to anything that damages a targets self-esteem or social standing (Martins and Wilson 49). Because social aggression doesnt result in physical injury, it seems to be overlooked compared to behavioral aggression, but the truth of the matter is, its just as problematic (Martins and Wilson 49). We have all heard about the suicide stories where once the child is found dead, you see a note lying beside them explaining the social torment they had to deal with at school or you read their text messages showing proof of bullying. This is a major issue that seems to be more prevalent in girls simply because girls tend to want to lash out at other girls when theyre mad at them by ruining their relationships or reputation (Martins and Wilson 49). From their study, Martins and Wilson concluded that there was more of a correlation between gender and social aggression rather than an overall correlation between watching TV and social aggression, however, the results support the explanations for how children learn aggression from watching violence on television (Martins and Wilson 65). So far I have focused on the effects that television has on infants, toddlers, and children, but it can also have an effect on college students as well. There are two major types of eating disorders that are widely known in the world today. The first one is anorexia nervosa which is

Weaver 4 characterized by the refusal to eat enough to maintain body weight for their particular height as well as an extreme fear of gaining weight and the second major eating disorder is bulimia nervosa, which is characterized by a pattern of bingeing followed by vomiting, use of laxatives, or fasting, in the hopes of compensating for the excessive calorie intake (Harrison and Cantor 40). One of the major influences on these eating disorders is the mass media. Researchers in the fields of communication and eating disorders have suspected for many years now that the media plays a significant role in promoting thinness-oriented values and social norms (Harrison and Cantor 41). Historical trends show that the highest reported occurrence of disordered eating was during the 1920s and 1980s, the two periods in which the ideal woman was the thinnest in U.S. history (Harrison and Cantor 41). Because of the media constantly showing images of an unattainable perfect body and setting it as a standard, it has become an important factor for why women feel the need to diet and exercise to extreme levels and why men feel that they must date women who have this perfect body. In a recent study conducted at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, professors of communication arts examined the relationship between college mens television consumption and them wanting a thin partner. This yearn for thinness in a mate was proven to go far beyond mens aesthetic preference, but instead was promoted by the social value in North American culture as seen on television (Harrison and Cantor 49). If thinness is an important characteristic for women to possess in themselves, we must also assume that television exposure has an influence on mens idea that thinness in a woman they find interest in must acquire this characteristic of thinness as well. The more men see this perfect body on television and the more society accepts it as normal, the more that men will view it as an important characteristic in someone they date (Harrison and Cantor 49). So now not only do women have their own self

Weaver 5 views of themselves due to overexposure of this unattainable body on television to influence eating disorders, but now they have the pressure from men to be thin as well. Another important concern that comes from viewing violence on television, is how it affects romantic relationships and families. A recent study was conducted to focus on the relationship between viewing aggressive behavior on television and acting aggressive toward a spouse or romantic partner. Before this study, most research has been done on how aggression on television affects children, but Bushman and Heusmanns meta-analysis proved that although long term effects of viewing aggression on TV was stronger for children, short term affects were more prevalent among adults (Coyne, Graham-Kevan 56). These types of aggression are not only physical, but verbal and emotional as well. Through this study, researchers found that there was a significant correlation between viewing violence on television and acting in violence within a romantic relationship. This study also concluded that this correlation was much more common in men because typically these shows on TV involve men getting into physical altercations rather than women (Coyne, Graham-Kevan 61). Due to these findings, its safe to say that violence on television and aggression in relationships should be given a closer look. Through all of my research, I have found that television has much more of an effect on our society than many people realize. These effects range from attention disorders, slow/fast brain development, eating disorders, aggression in a classroom, violence in a relationship, etc. While there are a couple of positive influences that television can have on the brain development of children, the majority of these effects are negative. The media has no idea what theyre doing to our society by constantly placing thin models on TV to be accepted as the norm. Television broadcasters dont understand the pain theyre causing families and relationships by showing violence on TV. And parents dont understand how theyre hurting their children by placing

Weaver 6 them in front of a TV just to get them to be quiet. If our society took a step back and evaluated what they are being exposed to, I think it would make a huge difference in peoples lives.