Other Issues in Media and Society

I have a few other blogs that I would like to recommend after doing some research:

1. https://mediaandsocietycyberbullying.blogspot.com

Andrea Taylor has done a wonderful job explaining the detrimental effects of cyberbullying with the increased rise in social media and technology.

2. https://mediaeffects724151893.wordpress.com

Jeremy Haley also discusses the issue of children and media usage. He focuses on the long term effects, such as shortened attention span, obesity, and hindering intrapersonal connections.

3. https://sydneyavrinmedia.blogspot.com

Sydney Avrin discusses the possible addiction to technology and media use gives her insight on the topic, as well as professional articles discussing the effects.

4. https://fakenewsmediaintheus.blogspot.com

Gavin Carroll sheds light on fake media in the news, and how it affects us as consumers of the media. This is an important topic, especially when it comes to politics and keeping up to date with the current pandemic.

5. https://biglionsportcom.wordpress.com

Michael Dallaire discusses sports in the media, and focuses in on the wage gap between those in professional sports and those essential workers, such as healthcare professionals, during the global pandemic.

For Further Research

In the hunt for more information on children and media use, I have put together a list of a few other websites that might be helpful to explore the different uses of media for children or the studies of the effects.

The first website is from the American Psychological Organization. This website shows evidence based recommendations for parents and guardians on media use for children, giving advice on safe ways to use it as well as the effects. I recommend this website as it gives evidence on how other children have been affected as they have used media in their development and childhood. The link is below.

https://www.apa.org/pi/families/resources/newsletter/2019/05/media-use-childhood

The next website I recommend is from Smart Social. This website is a guide for parents on social media and children/teen use. This includes statistics, as well as experts giving advice on social media use and steps parents should take with introducing technology and social media to their children in this day and age. The link is below.

https://smartsocial.com/social-media-statistics/

The final website I recommend is from Digital Trends. As technology and social media is becoming more and more prevalent, it is inevitable that your child will want to get involved as their friends ands peers around them are. As a parent, this can be concerning. This webite gives insight on the best apps and online games for children that are safe and educational. The link is below.

https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-apps-for-kids/

My View

When I sit and reflect on the way different media types affect children, I have mixed feelings. Personally I believe that media use is hurtful as well as helpful for children. I am going to dive into the pros and cons of media use for children.

First lets talk about the cons. One of the biggest issues I have with media is that as our society develops more technologicall, cells phones have a larger influence on the younger generations. When I was a kid, I remember limited computer use, limited time watching television, and my parents encouraging reading books and going outside. My favorite way to get in touch with friends was riding my bike to their houses, knocking on their doors, and asking them to come outside to play. We would spennd hours using our imagination to fight pirates or be princesses. We would build houses for fairies out of sticks and leaves, spend hours riding our bikes until the sun set, and then we would play manhunt at night with our walkie talkies. As I look at a new generation of children from the perspective of an adult, they way they communicate and spend time together has changed monumentally. These kids text one another to talk instead of having face to face conversation. They hang out six feet from eachother but stare at their phones, too wrapped up in social media apps and posting what they are doing. Kids are way too into their technology and posting their lives on social media that they are preventing themselves from truly living in the moment and creating memories with other people. Media is hindering communication, quality time, and experiences that children need to have. This effecting real life communication between kids, and not allowing them the social experiences they need to have in order to grow up socially confident. If every type of communication is between phone calls or social media posts, how is a child going to be able to have good in person social skills.  

Another issue I have is the platform that children have to be bullied. With apps like instagram, children can post whatever they want, have their friends follow, comment, and like their posts. With this ability, people can also text or comment rude and hurtful things, affecting children and their self esteem. This online comunication can allow for cyber bullying and effect childrens mental health. This is something that is seriously dangerous.

With the bad, there is also good uses for social media for children. Apps and different platforms can allow for self expression. Children can post whatever makes them happy, and get incontact with other people that might show similar interests. Take YouTube for example, so many people bring light on different activities and crafts to do for kids. This can inspire them to get involved in different imaginative things that make them happy. Kids can also use different media types for educational purposes. There are so many different websites to help with different subjects in school, such as YouTube channels, or Khan Academy. There are so many different outlets for educational help and tutoring. 

Other than that, I personally believe there needs to be age limits for children getting active and involved in media, especially social media. I think this generation will struggle with making personal and social connections and interactions, as well as miss out on experience of creativity and imagination that every single child deserves to have. They have their entire life to sit on their phones and post to instagram. As a child, media should not be as prevalent in their lives I think.

What The Experts Say - II

When I was a kid, I remember watching some television shows that might not have been appropriate for my age. These shows included things such as sexual content, drug and alcohol use, as well as violence. Though it didn't affect me much, there have been studies into viewing certain activities unfit for children on different types of media, including television or social media apps, and how it has affected their growth, mental health, anf future decision making. Experts and AAP News and Journals believe that "the media contribute significantly to the risk that young people will engage in substance use" (American Academy of Pediatrics).

In a study, it was discovered that "a preadolescent or adolescent who smokes tobacco or drinks alcohol is 65 times more likely to use marijuana, for example, than someone who abstains. The younger the age at which experimentation occurs, the greater the risk of serious health problems"(American Academy of Pediatrics). What leads to this cause of children and young teens wanting to start to drink or use drugs? The media has a huge affect. "Research has revealed that advertising may be responsible for up to 30% of adolescent tobacco and alcohol use" (American Academy of Pediatrics). In a reason analysis, “51 separate studies revealed that exposure to tobacco marketing and advertising more than doubles the risk of a teenager beginning to smoke" (American Academy of Pediatrics). 

It seems that companies advertise directly to younger kids to get them using these illegal substances at an early age. Studies have shown that "Currently, teenagers are 400 times more likely to see an alcohol ad than to see a public service announcement (PSA) that discourages underage drinking. Teen-oriented magazines contain 48% more advertising for beer, 20% more advertising for hard liquor, and 92% more advertising for sweet alcoholic drinks than do magazines aimed at adults of legal drinking age" (American Academy of Pediatrics). Media can be harmful in the way that it is promoting the use and activity of illegal substances to children who do not know any better. If a child was watching a show and saw one of their favorite characters drinking, then continued to see lots of advertising for alcohol, they are probably way more inclined as younger people are way more impressionable. 

To read more, click the link below:

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/126/4/791