Pro-Social Effects of Media on America’s Youth, Book Review Example

The modern period of time is marked by intense and widespread use of various media; they include TV, radio, the internet, wireless communications etc. As compared to the situation just about half a century ago, the age of population becoming engaged in active use of communications media is much smaller than it used to be. Nowadays children start playing computer games and watching television from infancy, and they are continuously exposed to the effects of media and persuasive tools they use. Television is full of both positive and negative elements of depiction, including educational and pro-social elements as well as violence and aggression. The reason for which concern about children’s time spent with exposure to media such as TV, radio, or the Internet, is that they are known to influence the developmental processes and characteristics of the growing population.

Since the electronic media are the integral part of everybody’s life nowadays, the majority of households have several TV-sets in different rooms of their houses, and according to the estimates of the Kaiser Family Foundation, even the youngest children have TV-sets in their bedrooms and use a variety of media in everyday life as well (The Kaiser Family Foundation 1). In addition, once the children’s and youth’s exposure to electronic media has become evident, the market for early childhood development TV programs, software for toddlers and developmental TV series for infants have attracted a large number of businesses that commercialized the sphere and promoted demand for their media-related products (The Kaiser Family Foundation 1).

The consequences of long-term exposure to media effect are not researched well so far, but it is clear that the TV as well as other interactive media is able to produce both positive and negative influence on children. Since much attention has been paid to the negative effect of such issues as violence, cursing, racial and gender segregation etc., truly little focus has been yet made on the positive influence it is also potentially capable of producing. The present literature review aims at finding out what particular causes lead to the negative perception of children’s experiences with TV and other media, and what pro-social impact they can produce on the youth’s development and enhancement of basic social skills.

The starting point of the review is derived from the estimate of the American Academy of Pediatrics that published recommendations on children’s and youth’s media usage; its specialists, basing their assumptions on the findings of developmental research, stated that children from zero to 2 years should not be allowed to use the electronic media at all, with children aged from 2 to 7 years recommended to watch TV or utilize other media for no more than 2 hours a day (The Kaiser Family Foundation 1). The reason for this was seen in the developmental process of the neural architecture’s formation that takes place within the first 18-24 months, with the production of necessary and destruction of unnecessary neural connections. TV is seen as the main preventer of normal development, hence the impact of media in the early age of children is seen as only negative (The Kaiser Family Foundation 1).

Such findings initiated research in the field of effects media could produce on children. Research in the field of effect media produce on children of various ages was conducted since 1960s and was gradually expanded to innovative spheres of influence such as the impact of advertising. Though 30% of children from zero to three and 43% of children from four to six were found to learn to read later in case of frequent exposure to media, the results also showed positive influence of such programs as “Mister Roger’s Neighborhood”, “Sesame Street” of “Blue’s Clues” were found to involve children in the imaginative play and positive social interaction (The Kaiser Family Foundation 2-6). Though a certain decline in pro-social media was observed in the 1980s and 1990s because of the serious commercialization of children’s TV and the overwhelming attempts to sell toys through children’s programs, the 21^st century witnessed a new raise in educational focus in children’s media. Nowadays the three fourths of children’s media are viewed as educational, with at least one social lesson contained in each of them (Strasburger, Wilson, & Jordan 117).

The innovative trend in media research was initiated at the end of the 20^th century with the main attempt to find the positive effects of media consumption by children and to identify the types of programs that were potentially capable of enabling children to advance in various fields of development, including the academic, social, and psychological ones. The intense media consumption by children cause concerns of parents, but a simple restriction of content and amount of time of media consumption may raise logical questions of both children and industry representatives (Beatty 4). Therefore, the research into the impact of media on youth in the USA is now mostly conducted in the following key areas: identifying the programs that have the pro-social impact on children, identifying the programs that do not correspond to the educational purpose, and identifying the variety of pro-social effects that media may produce on children. In addition, the conditions under which the educational, pro-social media can affect children in a positive way are researched to add efficiency to the pro-social media used.

Cardwell and Flanagan state that TV has a realistic pro-social potential and can bring positive messages to children in the process of their behavioral, cognitive, and social development (Cardwell & Flanagan 50). First of all, the field of pro-social effect of media is social learning. It is seen in the reinforcement of pro-social norms by positive examples in children’s programs on the radio, TV, and the Internet. However, authors also admit that due to the social learning theory commonly applied to the research in the media impact on children it is possible to suppose equal exposure to pro-social and anti-social behaviors by children (Cardwell & Flanagan 50).

Strasburger et al. have also mentioned the positive effect of media on the social interaction; the example they gave was the program “Barnie and Friends” that caused children’s being more civil and having better manners (Strasburger et al. 121). Pro-social effects in the field of social interaction improvement were recorded by Mares, Palmer, and Sullivan who state that top 20 American shows for children have an intense focus on positive social education; such programs as: “Dragon Tales”, “Dora the Explorer” and “Bob the Builder”, among others, were reported to have at least one social lesson incorporated in each series (Mares et al. 283).

One more highly pro-social effect of media exposure in children is higher acceptance of diversity and less exposure to stereotyping influence. There are many American shows for children that show how well children and adults of different races, genders and cultures happily interact, play and make friends with each other. Thus, the positive diversity attitude may be formed in children through media exposure. The discussed pro-social media effect was noticed by Ostrov, Gentile, and Crick:

Educational media content may transfer not only the traditional features of pro-social behavior, which include helping, cooperating, and sharing, but they may also improve children’s relationally inclusive skills by teaching them how to approach groups and individuals to ensure that all children are invited and included in play (Ostrov et al. 8).

Academic effects are a part of the pro-social effect of media on American children. According to the estimates of the Kaiser Family Foundation, educational viewing has become the condition of school readiness for the majority of children from low income families who cannot afford pre-school instruction (The Kaiser Family Foundation 8). Children who view predominantly educational TV are reported to have accelerated language growth, while those children who watch TV indiscriminately witness the decline in vocabulary. Therefore, to achieve positive academic results from educational media, children should be taught media literacy to help them distinguish pro-social and anti-social media products (The Kaiser Family Foundation 9, 11).

Among other pro-social skills reported to be developed by TV and other media, one has to note the development of altruism, self-control, and positive interaction with peers and parents (Cardwell & Flanagan 50). Nowadays almost 77% of all children’s programs have the minimum amount of pro-social elements, but at the same time only 4 of top 20 children’s shows are known to be definitely pro-social (Cardwell & Flanagan 51). These data prove that still little attention is paid to the efficiency of educational programs that are popular with youth.

Other media such as videogames and music (most popular youth’s trends in music are hard rock, pop music, and disco that hardly bear any pro-social effect) (Mares et al. 284). The conclusion that can be made regarding the presented set of data is that children choose fewer pro-social kinds of media getting older, with younger children having more pro-social exposure available (Mares et al. 284). Consequently, pro-social media are reported to have a much more intense effect on smaller children, especially in case the language used in cartoons, shows and programs corresponds to their level of understanding, and in case both words and vivid images are applied.

The difference in results analyzed in the present review serves as additional evidence for the fact that media influence heavily depends on the content and amount of media messages (Ostrov et al. 19). The example of this dependence is perfectly illustrated by the research of Strasburger et al. stating that even videogames can have the pro-social content and develop healthy physical and social behaviors of children (Strasburger et al. 123). The researchers examined such games as “Body Mechanics” and “Dance Dance Revolution”, and found the former to be effective in promoting healthy eating behaviors in children, and the latter to encourage regular physical exercise at home (Strasburger et al. 123). One more researched issue was the variety of HIV/AIDS programs used both in the Internet and videogames; they proved to contribute enormously in the increase of condom use by adolescents (Strasburger et al. 123).

Another aspect of pro-social influence of media on American children is the set of conditions that have to be observed in order to achieve the academic, social, or psychological effect on children and youths. As Mares et al. note, children use more concrete models of thinking and perception, they are more concrete in processing information etc., while older children are more susceptible of abstract information (Mares et al. 270). Therefore, the creators of pro-social media for children should address several goals: behaviors will be acquired only in case the exact steps for action are shown; pro-social norms are remembered worse than visual examples for following; actions shown are accomplishable (Cardwell & Flanagan 51). Strasburger et al. add some more conditions for pro-social effect achievement: they state that the behavior will be grasped and imitated if the character shown is realistic for children, if it is similar to the child (in terms of age or gender), if it receives positive reinforcement from parents or other authoritative people, and if it carries an imitable action (Strasburger et al. 119).

To arrive at a more or less unified opinion on what programs can have the pro-social effect on American youth, and which should be regarded as anti-social, various grading scales for media products have been invented. Some of them reflect the adequate division of media, while others serve only as a guideline and only instigate the interest of younger children to films and programs for the “elder”. Thus, the rating of films according to the age limits allowed for watching include: G – general audience; PG – parental guidance is advisable, but not required, PG-13 – parental guidance is required until 13 years old; R – restricted, NC-17 – no audience younger than 17 years old (Strasburger et al. 131).

There are many more detailed ratings of shows and programs that stipulate whether cursing, violence, or sexual behavior are shown in the media product. Nonetheless, the study shows that only 40% of media products contain no violence, with the other 60% having violence or sexual behaviors in them (Strasburger et al. 131-137). The conclusion of Beatty then comes to the fore – children have to be put on the media diet, in which each component is necessary for health but in certain proportions (Beatty 5).

Some other pro-social effects of media influence on children include: generosity, cooperation, adherence to rules, decreased fear, creativity and imagination, verbalization put in place of aggression etc. (Palmer & Young 212). It is also important to note that the healthy pro-social messages of the media are much better absorbed in case co-viewing occurs with the presence of parents (Palmer & Young 212).

Psychological effects of media on children can be used in many positive ways, both by parents and by professionals to which parents turn with the child in case some health problems arises. Media-based distraction from pain is one of the unexplored effects on the children, since small children and infants cannot explain the extent to which they feel pain and feel uncomfortable or intimidated by it. Kirsch conducted in-depth study to conclude that the distraction watching an involving show, movie for kids or a cartoon may let the child be less attentive and less intimidated by any pain, including the visit to the dentist, processing some minor traumas he or she may have had while playing etc. (Kirsch 63)

In addition, such psychological effect as distraction through absorption and flow cannot be neglected; absorption in some media consumption may help the child concentrate on watching or playing, which distracts him or her from anxiety, depression, or a certain problem as a death of a relative (Kirsch 66). Flow is similar to absorption, but it is also accompanied by the intense joy and pleasure reaching happiness in case of a successful result (especially in playing games). Therefore, pro-social effects of media cannot be underestimated, especially if the child needs a coping tool to get distracted from a serious problem (Kirsch 66).

Drawing a conclusion from the present review, one may state that despite the growing evidence of negative effects of media on the development and psychological formation of children, there are numerous pro-social effects various media can bring to the American youth. It pertains to movies, cartoons, children’s shows and even video-games. The problem with media consumption and its further effect on children is in the choice of media products by parents and personally by children, which causes concerns about the necessity of media literacy. The freedom of choice should always be present in the lives of both parents and their children, and violence as well as sexual behavior on TV and in the Internet cannot be eliminated. Therefore, the media diet becomes as important as healthy eating habits – only in this case pro-social effects of media consumption by American youth can be guaranteed.

Works Cited

Beatty, Alexandra, National Research Council, & Program Committee for a Workshop on Improving Research on Interactive Media and Children’s Health. Studying Media Effects on Children and Youth: Improving Methods and Measures, Workshop Summary. Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2006. Print.

Calvert, L. Sandra, & Barbara J. Wilson. The Handbook of Children, Media, and Development. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons, 2011. Print.

Cardwell, Mike, & Cara Flanagan . Psychology A2: the complete companion. Nashville, TN: Nelson Thornes, 2003. Print.

Kaiser Family Foundation, the. The Effects of Electronic Media on Children Ages Zero to Six: A History of Research. 2005. Web. 28 November 2010.

Kirsh, J. Steven. Media and youth: a developmental perspective. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley and Sons, 2009. Print.

Ostrov, M. Jamie, Jentile, A. Douglas, & Nicki R. Crick. Media Exposure, Aggression and Pro-social Behavior During Early Childhood: A Longitudinal Study. In press. Web. 28 November 2010.

Palmer, L. Edward, & Brian M. Young. The faces of televisual media: teaching, violence, selling to children. 2^nd ed. New York, NY: Routledge, 2003.

Strasburger, S. Victor, Wilson, J. Barbara, & Amy Beth Jordan. Children, adolescents, and the media. 2^nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2009. Print.