Words: 2772
Children development nowadays have always been affected by their surrounding for example, what they see, what they hear, what they read or even what they used to follow what others do.
This all matters seem to make children behave on what they usually behaved. It means that they easily follow what environment shows them. This so-called problem is called effects of media toward children. Media can be described as communication channels through which news, entertainment, education, data or promotional messages are disseminated. Media includes all aspect from social, psychology, electronics, printing, advertisement and many more. All these channels can be viewed as part of children life. It is because they grow with this type of things.
If they not justly bought it, their people surrounding them will buy or even shows it. This thing could be good and also could be bad. It is said to be good because they surely can shape the behaviour of children to good condition. For example, the internet now is used widely as part of education tools to help children development. It is also said to be bad when it lead will children to wrong way of life. In this matter, many people need to be accounted to help children from jump to this. Many statistics can be found in many media tools on the effects of media on children.
Taking one of the mass media; which is television tools, the study called Multi Screen Media Consumption 2010 indicated that out of 300 million consumers, 93% are still viewing televisions on a weekly basis. It means, out of this percentage, difficult to indicate how much children from it. It expose that they are so many children watch televisions in leisure time. Other than that, the Pew study discovered that more than 31 percent of all U. S. adults use a mobile device to log onto the Internet this year and out of it, 20 percent among those between the ages of 18 and 29. The percentage of the statistics is still increasing.
In Islamic view, there are said that children is like plain canvas, it is their parent to paint it to make them become good or bad. From what can be understand is that parents, from the very beginning of children development have major role to control, shape and adapt their children toward healthy environment. What our prophet told us is that they are many steps in teaching our children. The steps are followed by people after him and it is seen to make better surrounding to children themselves. For example, the teaching is that we must teach children with patient, shows them a good example and hear what they want to say first, not just straight push anger to them. So, to make it clear, here will be explained the mass media tools that believe to make some changes in children development. It could be negative, positive or even both to them. They are electronics media, social media, advertisement media and printing media. CONTENTS ADVERTISEMENT MEDIA Positive Effects Of Advertisement On Kids • Advertising makes the kids aware of the new products available in the market. It increases their knowledge about the latest innovations, in the field of technology as well as otherwise. Convincing ads, which centre around healthy food products, can help improve the diet of a child, if they are attractive enough. Negative Effects Of Advertisement On Kids • Advertisements encourage the children to persuade their parents to purchase the products shown in the commercials, whether useful or not. The little ones tend to get adamant, if they not bought it. • Children often tend to misinterpret the messages conveyed in commercials. They overlook the positive side and concentrate more on the negatives. • Many advertisements in the present times include dangerous stunts, which can be performed only by experts.
Even though the commercials broadcast the statutory warnings with the ad, the kids often try to imitate the stunts at home, with fatal results. • The flashy advertisements broadcast on television generate impulse shopping in children. • Children, after watching the glitter of commercials, often lose the ability to live a life without materialistic joy. • The kids usually get more attracted towards the costly branded products, such as jeans and accessories. They disregard the inexpensive, but useful, ones that are not shown in the commercials. • Advertisements have an indirect effect on the behavior of children.
They might develop temper tantrums when deprived of the latest toys and clothes that are shown in the commercials. • The personal preferences in clothing, toys, food and luxurious of children are altered by the advertisements, to a great extent. • Junk foods, such as pizzas, burgers and soft drinks, are heavily promoted during children’s TV viewing time. This develops a craving for fatty, sugary and fast foods in kids, thereby affecting their health adversely. ELECTRONICS MEDIA Firstly, the most used of the medium of electronic media is a television. It is a fact that we could find a television in every place today even in the bathroom.
Historically, its use is to watch the documentary, news, entertainment, or program that suitable for the public and keep its objective until now and become more beneficial in the future. Thus, the good thing about television towards children is they could learn many things and improves general knowledge from Discovery Channel, National Geography, CNN, and Animal Planet. Besides, programs such as Blue’s Clues and Dora the Explorer helps them in the academic learning process in early ages. Second, radio and internet also become the important medium of electronic media nowadays.
We found that the influent of the technology brings benefit to our daily activities and make life easier. The example of the internet in how it affects our children is the unlimited access to information from worldwide. The function of radio today is not only to deliver the songs but also as a medium of news and learn new thing just by listen to the radio since it becomes multifunctional. Hence, it is to prepare and fit with the advance of developed technology as they will grow. The next most used device is handset or mobile phone that becomes the most items needed in life nowadays.
The used of phone change as many functions are added in that small computer to fit with its objective; connecting people. The Blackberry; for example where it compiled all advance functions inside its capacity. The positive impact of the handset on children is helping them in connecting with others to strengthen their social network with public and people around them. As the used of mobile phone is well develop, it will build the thinking process of future prediction in developing more advance technology which is needed for future generation.
However, the bad effects are that many channels in television today publicly showed the violence scene that creates the example of an adult that deal with violent freely in daily lives. It is such a disappointment to see how there are no restrictions among the television channels to premier such movie or story with many violence and cruel scenes and make it for the general viewer. Besides, some station television is holding still with their opinion in viewing those immoral and improper elements and cause the mindset to under age viewers to think that it is what they could do in life.
Second, the most dangerous medium of electronic media today is the internet. The improvement of spreading the information become worse as many fault resources are thought of as the truth. The social website such as Myspace and Facebook is creating its own sensation in the internet world and update of all things is upgraded in second. Everything is just under the finger and the worse is misused of these technologies. Unlimited access to information, free web blog and also free games allow children under age to access to over rated pages and violence.
Lastly, the negative effect of the mobile phone to children is the time spending on new functions of the handset in the market is more than do other benefit activities. It is true that those devices above make children spend more time on many things than do exercise, study group or revision, or other healthy activities. Moreover, the short life cycle of mobile creates competition among the user to get the latest version where the waste of money. As all the advance technology is installed in a mobile phone, the tendency to access into the above problems is higher than the children who did not use handset before.
It is better for the children under age for not having the mobile phone or only uses the most basic handset. SOCIAL MEDIA Social media is a type of online media that expedites conversation as opposed to traditional media, which delivers content but doesn’t allow readers/viewers/listeners to participate in the creation or development of the content. All new age means of communication incorporating a multitude of ways to communicate with an almost endless amount of people, even at once! But, is this a good or bad development and can the same analysis be made when considering children?
All people, whether an adult or a child, have natural and social desires and have built-in needs to want to affiliate and develop friendships. There are several effects which mean the advantages and disadvantages of social media on children. The advantages of social media are the children nowadays can learn many things faster and easier. They can find many new friends which come from many places around the world. So, it will improve the communication relationship skill. They can share and discuss with their friend in an online forum or social webs such as in Friendster or Facebook.
Other than that, these new media methods are filled with bells, whistles, and many other ways for children to learn and share both without any editing or meeting in person! Besides the “freedom” of using this media, there are some disadvantages that we can discuss here. As we know in social media everyone includes the children can post anything they want to and no one is on the computer site monitoring the daily interactions unless a problem is reported to the site managers. In other words, they can load pictures, comments, statements, and befriend with anyone who wants to become a “friend” irrespective of age or gender.
On the surface, this seems like perhaps a nice way to meet, share, and keep in touch with people, but on the other hand, negative influences or too much information are inherent in these mediums and can frequently lead to an overwhelming experience, especially for children. This is where trouble can brew if the peer influences, or even pathological adult influences, represent diversity from the core family’s value system. When this happens, a conflict occurs in the children and they have to muddle through how to best incorporate feasible differences. This can be very difficult, emotionally taxing, and there have been many cases here such interactions have lead to serious problems including death, due to the normal vulnerability that children experience as they are still in the process of development. All of this was a bad condition for our children which are still in learning process in their “new” life. As a solution to prevent the above bad things from happen, the parents should play their role to monitor or control and to protect their children from negative influences of social interaction. For example, the parents should not allow their children that are still not mature to set up a social media account unless they manage the account.
This is the way to avoid the children from misused social media. The parents also have to educate their child about social media from both a prospective of natural curiosity and desire, but also from a danger point of view. PRINTING MEDIA According to the Consumer’s Union, more than 160 magazines are now targeted at children. Young people see 45% more beer ads and 27% more ads for hard liquor in teen magazines than adults do in their magazines. Despite the Master Settlement Agreement with the tobacco industry in 1998, tobacco advertising expenditures in 38 youth-oriented magazines amounted to $217 million in 2000.
This statement shows that the printed media have big impact in children life. To further due the statement, printed media is the media that consists of newspaper, books and also magazines. It needs children to read it and understand it. Some sources of this media give good impact, whereas some the other way around. Taking the example of one of sources of printed media which is magazines, people mostly get it that magazines is like sleeping pills to some teenagers. But, in the context of nowadays, it become more to children. They like to read magazines rather than news
These magazines give influences to what they do daily. In addition to that, we know children will easily follow what they read on the book. For instance; fashion. Mostly female or girls like to follow what they see on the magazines. They like to try on new things and quickly adapt with that. We can say that fashion have big influences, as they just wear what they want to without thinking what culture that bring this particular fashion to the country. Maybe what they wear seems nice but in the context of Islam, there are so not acceptable at all.
Moreover, the printed like magazines can make children especially girl obsess to be thin until becoming the disease. It means that they will want to be like the model in magazine without being in the right diet treat. They just go easily skip their food, gain no strength and affect their psychology. The supplement not compatible with children body will vanish their system that make disease. What goods in the context of printed media are that the newspaper can give accurate information about certain issues. As the world change to use more technological medium, there still exist that some school still use newspaper as the medium of teaching.
In the part of the newspaper, there is an education part where children can do an additional revision of the subject they learn. With that little help, their school performance will also increase and they get more compliments from teachers. Magazine also can be a good thing if children read it not more that what they suppose to read. It means that they must have some sort of realization that they need to read what is suitable with their age and not that rated things. Also, children can read the magazine that helps their development and not just follows what they see or read.
Magazines can now begin to be again the medium for children to self teaching about social matters or problem. CONCLUSION As for the conclusion, we should together find the solution. It is also said that media have main role in shaping the behaviour or our children. It is because media is nowadays become a part of children life. Media can influence children especially when their parents are always busy with their working. They always affected with the media. It is some kind of teaching material or tools that help them whenever their parents are not home.
Other than that, the authority should restrict the media; especially towards children, in order to small, the number of many problems arises based on children development. Authority should also give the rate to some material that seems to be not suitable for children. It is because they easily influenced by them. For electronics media, for example, the parent has a role in monitoring their children for example at home, or even at school. Then, the parent must become more aware of their children. They should know more about what their children needs, what their children act and many more.
For example, for computer, parents should put parental guidance to that computer so that their step will be restricted. It will reduce the use of the computer to be better other than becoming worse. Lastly, parent and the people around those children must take part in developing the children in a way that shaping them to be better. On the context of Islam, parents should show love and ties the kinship with their children as they get to know their children more. They also need not to overly control them as children will feel that parent not trusting them and make a stupid mistake on their actions.
In Islam, also have line the steps to punish children with not using excessive steps. It will mould their character since them small and become greater when they grow up.