Many people also expect that causality requires immediacy, as in a fall causing a broken bone. As noted in the smoking and cancer example, however, physical symptoms may become visible only after some threshold of disease process is attained, which may take a long time. With regard to media violence, many people assume that the effects must be seen in the short term in order to be caused by exposure. For example, Ferguson (2002, p. 447) states, If media violence is a necessary and direct cause of violent behavior, a significant decline in violent crime should not be occurring unless violence in the media is also declining. We have already seen that media violence can be a cause without being a necessary cause. The issue of whether it is a direct cause seems to be the relationship between the amount of media violence and the incidence of violence in society. From the 1950s until about 1993, both the amount of media violence and the number of aggravated assaults rose in the United States (Grossman, 1996). In the latter half of the 1990s, the aggravated-assault rate fell somewhat while the amount of media violence stayed constant or increased (especially in video gamessee chapters 4 and 7). This was taken by many to be evidence that media violence does not cause aggressive behavior.
Yet many causes have long-term effects. Consider smoking and lung cancer. Or consider water, salt, and your car. Over many years, cars that are repeatedly exposed to salt rust at a higher rate than those that are not exposed. But if you pour saltwater on your car, will you see it rust? No, it is a long-term effect. Some researchers have presented evidence that the effects of media violence may be long term. For example, Centerwall (1989) has documented that the murder rate appears to double about 15 years after the initial introduction of television to communities or countries. It has been hypothesized that about 15 years must elapse before the full effect is revealed, as that is the time it takes for a generation to grow up with the violent media and to reach a prime crime-committing age. If this hypothesis is correct, then we shouldnt expect to see immediate effects. To the extent that we expect causation to appear as immediate or short-term effects, we may miss a number of important long-term effects.
Myth 7. Effects must be big to be important.
Many people have agreed that the accumulated research shows that there is a systematic effect of violent media on aggressive behavior, yet they also insist that it is not a large enough effect to be important. These discussions often include a statistical approach. For example, Ferguson (2002) notes that the amount of variance in violent behavior explained by media violence in meta-analyses is somewhere between 1 and 10 percent. This means that if we drew a circle representing all the reasons why someone might act violently, media violence would account for between 1 and 10 percent of the pie. (It should be noted that some meta-analyses have reported larger numbers, and that there are a number of methodological reasons why these numbers may be underestimates; see Paik & Comstock, 1994, for a detailed explanation.) Ferguson (2002, p. 447) states that these effect sizes are small and lack practical significance. Ferguson is not alone in making this type of value judgment (e.g., Freedman, 2002), but it is unclear on what basis it is made. In epidemiological terms, if only 1 percent of the people watching a violent TV show become more aggressive, and one million people watch the program, then 10,000 people were made more aggressive. That does not seem to us to lack practical significance. Indeed, many (if not most) medical studies on the effects of drugs or diet are concerned with such small effects. Supplementing ones diet with calcium can increase bone mass, but the effect is only about one percent (Bushman & Anderson, 2001). Hormone replacement therapy in women may increase the odds of breast cancer, but across the whole population, the effect is probably less than one percent. A daily aspirin may reduce the risk of heart attacks, but again, the effect is less than one percent (Hemphill, 2003). The medical profession regards these small effects as clearly important and having a great deal of practical significance. In fact, there are probably hundreds of reasons for any aggressive act (e.g., abuse, poverty, history, gang membership, drug use, etc.). If there are hundreds of reasons, then any single one of them should not account for much variance. That media violence consistently appears to account for at least 1 to 10 percent of the effect is actually surprisingly large!
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Assignments
1. Comment on the classification of media given below.
Table 3.2
Classificationof Media
| Print Media | Electronic Media | New Age Media |
| Newspapers Magazines Booklets and Brochures House magazines, periodicals or newsletters Direct Mailers Handbills or Flyers Billboards Press Releases Books | Television Radio | Mobile Phones Computers Internet |
2. What are the main effects of the media?
3. Are the effects of media violence severe?
4. Are media effects obvious?
5. What does causality presuppose?
6. Must effects be big to be important?
7. Who is affected by the media most of all?
8. Do you agree that children must be limited in watching TV? Why?
9. Is it possible to manipulate public opinion through the media?
10. Summarize the text.
Text 5
CHILDREN AND THE MEDIA
By C. Barbouy [21]
Today, all members of our society are influenced both directly and indirectly by powerful media vehicles, including printed materials, television, sound recordings, and the Internet. Publicists, promoters, and sales personnel have at some point used all of these media to advocate what people should wear, what they should eat, and what values they should hold. Vivid colors and language tell us what is happening in the world and how to react to the events shown. Although much of our societys media seems dominated by superficial chitchat, hyped news events, and depictions of violence, it is also a source of education, humor, and nonviolent entertainment. Just remember that the effect of media will vary with a childs age and stage of development.
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Most realize that although the different media forms can be used elegantly for mediated learning, their major objectives are entertainment and product promotion. In the following section, we discuss what we broadly term the entertainment industry in its role as a general, society-wide influence on young children. We first discuss two of its primary forms, print and television, and then treat other current media under the rubric of the industry in general.
Print Materials
The kind of books and other print media that children read and have read to them influences and support their emotional, social, and intellectual development both directly and indirectly. Print materials, such as books, magazines, and newspapers, reach the child indirectly, through parents, caregivers, and teachers, and directly, such as when children participate in a library presentation or select particular publications to buy or borrow. The printed material made available to children implies the values of the home, school, and community.
Print media affect childrens development indirectly through the publications their parents read. Books and magazines inform adults how to lead healthy and productive lives and proclaim the dangers of unhealthy practices. Advertising affects the types of clothing, food, and (especially) toys bought for children. Some toys engage childrens imagination and are designed for groups of children playing together. Other toys are more suitable for children playing alone. Childrens potential for social and intellectual development is affected by which type of toy adults are motivated to buy.
Studies on early literacy indicate that the amount and types of printed materials that adults have in the home, as well as how adults interact with these materials around children, affect the childrens interest and literacy achievement. From the books that adults read to children, children internalize attitudes, feelings, and biases about their own and other cultures. Zach, in the chapters opening vignette, had a chance to express aggression in acceptable ways through Three Billy Goats Gruff. He was influenced in the kind of clothes he wanted by the story Maxs Dragon Shirt. Books, like peers, provide children with a vision of their world that sometimes reaffirms their own lives and sometimes challenges their perspectives.
Television
Televisions substantial impact on all growing children began in the 1950s with the proliferation of TV sets. Three generations of children have been raised with TV, and very different role models, interaction modes, and experiences are now visited on American youth. Today, more than 99% of American households contain at least one television set, and children start the viewing process early even before they reach 2 years of age. Conservative estimates are that preschool children watch nearly 3.5 hours of TV per day, and this average continues through age 18. In the 21st century, however, television viewing is becoming somewhat diminished because of increased use of computer games and the Internet, and also because children now spend more time in child-care, school, and after-school-care programs.
Television influences children in direct proportion to both time spent viewing and the overall effect of what is viewed. Certainly, eating habits, family interactions, and use of leisure time are considerably influenced by television. Commercials take up 12 to 14 minutes of every hour of television, and in that time, advertisers try to influence viewers with all types of consumerism. Schools and parents are far behind advertisers in finding the most effective ways of using media.
Children are especially susceptible to electronic media, and televised advertising has a huge effect. Heavy viewers are drawn to the advertised products, including unhealthy food products, and they tend to eat more snack foods and be overweight. Social interactions are also affected: Heavy viewers hold more traditional sex-role attitudes, behave more aggressively, are less socially competent, and perform more poorly in school compared to light or nonviewers.
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Not all TV advertising is negative, of course. There have been efforts through TV to modify behaviors such as smoking, drunken driving, and poor nutritional habits. How children are affected by both positive and negative advertisements also depends on such factors as parentchild interactions, how children are disciplined, and even to some degree on socialeconomic factors.
Advertising is not the only way in which television influences viewers. Two additional, concerns about the effects of television are the amount of violence, in both commercials and programs, and the amount of time childrens television watching takes away from more creative and intellectual pursuits.
Research on the impact of television viewing on academic achievement indicates that such influence is complex in nature. Television viewing takes time away from important social interactions, such as conversation, storytelling, imaginative play, and for primary-school children, the leisure reading that promotes literacy. We must remember, however, that the amount of viewing, the kind of programs watched, IQ, and socioeconomic status are all factors that affect childrens attitude and achievement.
Assignments
1. How are all the members of our society influenced both directly and indirectly by powerful media vehicles?
2. How do printed materials influence emotional, social, and intellectual development of children?
3. Comment the following statement: From the books that adults read to children, children internalize attitudes, feelings, and biases about their own and other cultures .
4. When did televisions substantial impact on children begin?
5. How does television influence our eating habits, family interactions, and use of leisure time?
6. How do advertisers try to influence viewers with all types of consumerism?
7. How long are Commercials?
8. Why are children especially susceptible to electronic media?
9. Is all TV advertising negative? Why?
10. Summarize the text
Text 6
