What does Media Teach kids?

When I look at what's on TV today, it really freaks me out what things my siblings are learning from eachother. I see it in my younger cousins and my younger brother and sister when I see how they act thanks to the Tween TV shows that they've been watching.

Shows like Hannah Montana, iCarly, Wizards of Waverly Place are showing kids causing trouble or getting into trouble, lying to their friends and parents, sneaking out to parties, 12 year olds are acting more like 16 year olds. if these kids ever do get in trouble with their parents the worst thing I've seen a parent say to their kid is "I'm very disappointed in you." the kid gets upset, and then next episode it happens all over again.

It's so frustrating seeing how kids are influenced to act like brats and think that is the way to get through life. When I was a kid, shows like Lizzie McGuire showed and awkward girl trying to get through life and trying to understand what it means to grow up. It was realistic, it was honest and I could relate to it in my tween years, nowadays the star is a snarky teenager who is pretty well liked and if something doesn't go their way they go through some insane elaborate scam in order to get things to go their way again.

I'm seeing the behavior of my siblings being influenced by these shows and my cousins that I used to babysit. My cousin is about 14, a freshman in High School, my brother is 13 just started junior high, and my youngest sister is 11 and is in 6th grade. They use insults on me whenever I visit them or have them over to my dorm, they disrespect my mother and I'm really concerned with what types of behaviors that could develop as they get older. 

According to some statistics I found on parentstv.org

66% of children (ages 10 to 16) surveyed say that their peers are influenced by TV shows

62% say that sex on TV shows and movies influences kids to have sex when they are too young

77% say there is too much sex before marriage on television

65% say that shows encourage kids to disrespect parents.   

Television alone is responsible for 10% of youth violence. - Leonard Eron, Senior Research Scientist at the University of Michigan 

About half (52%) of all parents say most TV shows are rated accurately, while about four in ten (39%) say most are not. - Kaiser Family Foundation, 9/23/04.

Portrayals that included sexual risks (stds or becoming pregnant), abstinence or need for sexual safety was depicted in 15% of the shows with sexual content. Hence, sexual content on TV is more likely to promote sexual activity among US adolescents that it is to discourage it.

It's not just the Disney shows that are a problem, kids watch things on MTV (like 16 and pregnant) and shows like Family Guy, The Simpsons, and Jersey Shore.  

44% of kids say they watch something different when they're alone than with their parents 
 

Media doesn't just affect a child's academic education, it also affects a child's behavioral education. It tells them how to grow up and how to act. 

I feel as if parents should pay more attention to what their kids are watching, and try to show kids their values of what they want their kids to learn about how to live. 

Is it time to stop letting the media teach our kids how to live and learn in life?

I think so.

Riah

Schools and Social Media

Okay so I went to a Saint Paul Public School. For those of you who didn't go to one, here's the scoop: in the school district social networking sites are banned! That's right, it's impossible for you to even get to the home pages of Facbook, Twitter, Youtube, or Myspace (like anyone goes on MySpace anymore anyways)

Okay well, I lied. It's not impossible. By the second semester of Freshman year you've spent enough time in the computer labs to figure out how to bypass the district blocks and get online to whatever site you want. It's not actually that hard. Just a matter of removing and adding certain letters. according to the New York Times It's quite common to block Social Networking sites, and just as common for students to bypass the systems 

When Thom McKay realized that his son had figured out how to get on the social networking site even though his New Jersey middle school had blocked it, he asked the boy in astonishment how he had done it.
“Pretty easy, Dad,” his son retorted. “Don’t be an idiot. We know more about computers than the teachers do.”(NYTimes)

Many schools block these sites because it could be a distraction. they say that it's just keeping focus away from what a student is doing.

I can't say I disagree. I started writing this at noon. It's now about an hour later. I've spent quite a bit of time chatting on Facebook with my best friend and watching Micky Mouse cartoons on YouTube (Don't judge me, you're never too old)

But there have been some benefits from Social Networking sites in the name of Education. My friends and I in high school have arranged study groups to meet online and exchange notes via Facebook, I've made event pages for study parties since I have started college.

Clay Shirky of Here Comes Everybody might be onto something when talking about  how social networking has made it a lot easier to organize groups of people.

This year, the state of Missouri has banned teachers from adding students as friends on Facebook saying it was unprofessional. I can see how they can find it inappropriate, students, teachers, people in general post too much on their page and some adults it would be hard to see in a professional light.

However, some people have argued that having teachers as friends on Facebook has been a good thing in helping students communicate with teachers. I've known some teachers to create special Facebook pages just for students and I've known others that refuse to add students as friends until they graduate from school.

It's really a complicated issue. It causes distractions, it causes organization, it's unprofessional, it's better connections, it reaches students on their levels. New media has created many new ethics and values on what is acceptable and what is not. But they are all so scattered and all so case by case that it's becoming really hard to really find out where the boundaries are. Even when there are some, people sure know how to cross them huh?

Riah J Davis

 

Learning and the Media

I think it's really frustrating how many people sit their kid in front of the TV to watch Nickelodeon or PBS kids Sprout. It's all like "Hey look an electronic babysitter! we don't even have to pay it and we can have it every day!" and then they'll "justify" it by saying it's educational or whatever.

The dumbest thing is how people think Baby Einstein is educational even after so many studies have shown that it is in fact no good. In 2009 Disney even offered refunds to parents that bought Baby Einstein videos. If that's not a sign that not even the company has enough faith to defend it.


Here are the facts: Back in 2002 when the videos first came out, there wasn't any research on whether these videos were any good for a child’s cognitive development. But recently  a survey by researchers at the University of Washington, found that for every hour of baby-video viewing per day, children ages 8 to 16 months knew six to eight fewer words than those who watched no videos. Now think about how many hours parents throw their children in front of the television per day, that is a lot of cognitive development that is not being accessed. 


Studies have shown that the best things that a child could do to have their cognitive abilities advance is to play outside, play with toys, have their parents read out loud to them, for the parents to talk (nicely) around their child. 


Whatever happened to children playing with play doh? or rolling in the grass? how many parents actually read their kids bedtime stories? We put them in front of the TV as soon as they are out of the womb and now we wonder why our kids are so behind in school when they go in 5 years later.


Riah

Introduction

Hello, My name is Riah J Davis.
I'm 19 years old and studying English, Education, and potentially a minor in Theatre at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The Twin Cities are two amazing cities. They say Minneapolis is the place to go hang out, and Saint Paul is the place to live. I do plan on living here my entire life.

(Image Source)

I have a strong belief in human enlightenment through arts, expression, discovery and exploration, that is what I plan to do with this blog.

Some readers may remember me from the blog A Girl Underground. Well as it turns out I can somehow no longer access it through my Hamline e-mail and can't go in to edit it or post on it anymore. So instead, this is where my blog is going to be held. This here may have a bit more focus than my last blog did. You can still follow me on Twitter, and Tumblr and pretty soon I will be launching another blog via WordPress specifically about Urban Education.

Through this blog I will express creativity and enlightenment along with an analysis on cultural society of America. I will show how education, enlightenment and creativity are affected by society through technology, media, and other types of new advencements in our would said to make our lives become better.