Week 6: Television and Socialization

I think television plays a huge role in the socialization process, especially in high-income countries such as the United States. In the U.S., television is a significant agent of socialization since children are exposed to it from such an early age through shows, cartoons, and/or commercials. The values and messages transmitted by the characters and images can have a lasting impact on children since school-age youngsters tend to imitate and mirror behaviors they see on television. Often, these messages contradict and challenge those taught by parents and cause children to essentially become older younger.

            One way television does this is by portraying and promoting violence. In 1982, the National Institute of Mental Health declared that there is a strong correlation between television violence and aggressive behavior much so as any other behavioral variable that has been measured (1982). This does not mean that every child who watches violent shows, movies, or commercials displayed on television will become violent; however, as a child is exposed to increasing violence, he or she is at increased risk for developing aggressive behavior or accepting aggressive attitudes. A study done by George Gerbner at the University of Pennsylvania observed the differences in behaviors before and after children watched either a violent show versus those who viewed a non-violent one. The study revealed that those children who watched the violent shows were “more likely to strike out at playmates, argue, disobey authority, and were more impatient than those children who watched non-violent programs” (Children and Televison Violence). Thus, it is important that parents know what types of programs their children view so that they can discuss the content with them. They can then discuss alternative methods to solving a problem besides violence or aggressive behavior. Parents should try and reasonably control what their children watch until they are old enough to differentiate clearly between reality and fiction.

            Television also has the tendency to glorify sex, causing more teenagers to engage in sexual activity at a younger age. According to a collection of data obtained in 2003, “83% of the episodes of the top twenty shows among teen views contained some sexual content, including 20% with sexual intercourse” (Teen Sexual Behavior). Sexual content and messages are marketed regularly to younger populations, which in turn affects children and adolescents beliefs about sex and their sexual activity. This may be the reason why the United States has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancies. I actually remember as a child in the second grade watching the teenage show Blossom. For the first time, I heard the word ‘virgin’ and did not understand what it meant. I innocently went and asked my older brother what it meant. He immediately asked me where I had heard it from and afterwards banned me from watching that show ever again. Needless to say, he never did answer my question and I cannot recall if I ever turned to someone else for a response. Had I never watched the show, I may not have been exposed to that term until I was much older. This is just one personal example of how television can affect its viewers.

            Television also promotes gender-biased attitudes that usually portray men as the more predominant characters. Shows depict men as smart, powerful, violent, and rational, whereas women are mostly pretty, passive, and defined by their relationships with other male characters.  They tend to focus on a male character’s strength and skill but only on women’s attractiveness. Thus, television reinforces gender stereotypes that ultimately influence a child’s belief system.

I do not believe that television affects everyone to the same extent. For example, people in high-income countries have a higher percentage of households with televisions than low-income countries. Obviously, television’s influence in the latter countries is more predominant. Also, within the high and middle-income countries, “it is people with lower incomes who spend the most time watching TV as well as using their television to watch movies and to play video games” (Macionis, 2010, p. 123). This is simply because high-income families are able to afford to keep their children more active, such as enrolling their child in swimming classes or karate/ballet. 

             

Works Cited

Children and Television Violence. (2010). Retrieved from

            http://www.abelard.org/tv/tv.php/

Macionis, John (2010). Sociology (13 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:

            Pearson Education. 

National Institute of Mental Health, Television and Behavior: Ten Years of Scientific

Progress and Implications for the Eighties, Volume 1, Summary Report (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1982), 6.

Teen Sexual Behvior. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.focusas.com/

            SexualBehavior.html