Impact of Mass Media on Children Essay

Too much media attention focuses on the impact of sex and violence on children. The assumption seems to be that if the media stopped showing sex and violence on television and in films–and now video games are the culprit–the world would be a better place. Sometimes the argument goes further. If the media instead presented quality family and religious programming, children would grow up to be moral people. Both of these ifs are based on the premise that the media makes us do things that we don’t want to do. The scenario in the 1950s played out like this: We have two good teenagers; They listen to Rock ‘N Roll music; The music stimulates their animal instincts; They have sex. They didn’t want to; the music made them. Today the scenario goes like this: The boy is good; The boy plays video games; The boy becomes a crack shot; The boy goes to school and shoots his classmates; He didn’t want to; violent video games made him. I agree that the video games and the music have an impact on children. From the video games†¦and television†¦and films, the child learns the signifiers of violence. Similarly, the media teaches us the signifiers of sexuality. Once those signifiers become signifieds stored in our memories, that learning can’t be unlearned this side of suffering a brain injury. However, no single signifier stands alone. Individuals interpret each signifier as part of a mental schema. The final influence for a given individual to choose antisocial behavior may be the video game or the music. Or it might be the chocolate doughnut. With billions of people in the world, somebody somewhere is likely to be motivated to action by just about anything. To blame the media for individual behavior is missing the point and simplifies the issues. Just getting the â€Å"bad† messages out of the media is not going to create a â€Å"good† society. The media is an influence The media does have an influence on children; the same impact it has on all of us: 1. The media teaches us the signifiers of the culture and what they mean. 2. The media sets an agenda which directs our attention to the issues that the media managers think are important. 3. The media teaches us ideology by offering us solutions to binary oppositions. Let us look at each of these points separately and see what the impact could be on children. Here are two typical sets of signifiers found in our culture. The images of Jennifer Anniston from Seventeen (August 2000) teach the signifiers of sexuality, feministic and gender. Whether those signifiers have a positive or negative impact on a given individual depends on individual past experience. One person may read her images as cultural definitions of â€Å"cute.† A victim of sexual abuse may interpret the signifiers as an invitation to arouse notice. A person who knows the signifiers of pornography may read the images as indicating availability. The CD cover to the right teaches the signifiers of gender and masculinity. The images create an association of masculinity with violence and weapons. Both images put signifiers into the culture, set an agenda and offer solutions to binary oppositions to the children to whom they are targeted. Teaches signifiers. From watching violent films, television, and playing violent video games, we all learn how to be violent. Similarly, we learn the signifiers of sexuality and what those signifiers mean. How we interpret those signifiers is going to depend on our own past experiences. Children who are sexually abused are going to read sexual signifiers differently than children whose parents demonstrate a loving, caring relationship and explain sexual behaviors to their children. Similarly, children who were physically abused or who live in violent neighborhoods also will bring their past experiences to any media experience. In short, the past experiences of children help determine what impact the media’s images have on children. What this means is that the media can’t make mass murderers or schoolyard shooters, but if a child decides to go in that direction, the media helps teach them how to do it. Sets the Agenda. An analysis of mass media becomes a bit scary at this point. What are the three dominant topics presented in the media? Sex, Violence and The Consumer Culture. This is what we are telling children is important. Offers Solutions to Problems. Now things become really scary–at least to me. Let’s look at this media effect in three ways: 1. The media constantly presents the binary opposition of good vs. evil. This is particularly true in many cartoons, such as â€Å"Batman† or â€Å"G.I. Joe,† or some other superhero scenario. In each case, society is held hostage by evil. The average person can do nothing. Only the superhero can defeat evil through the use of violence. But, there’s a limit to what even the superhero can do. If the good guys destroy evil, then the premise of the cartoon is over. The heroes win but evil continues. Here are the lessons being taught: Evil exists to destroy good and so the world is a conflict between good and evil. Most of us cannot do anything against evil; therefore, we are easy victims. We must give control over to superheroes who can wage war on evil. Violence is the solution to problems. 2. True love is the solution to all personal problems. Remember the â€Å"Jerry MaGuire† line: â€Å"You complete me†? â€Å"True love† means only one person in the world exists for each person. The current cliche â€Å"soul mate† sums up this way of thinking. Here are the lessons being taught: If there is only â€Å"one† person for each person, how do you explain an attraction to another person? Today’s economy constantly puts men and women together in high pressure, stimulating circumstances. We are psychologically and physiologically wired to respond to members of the opposite sex. Sooner or later, most people in our culture will be placed in an interpersonal context that can easily assume the â€Å"feelings† of love because body chemistry is responding to the closeness of the other person. If a person needs someone to â€Å"complete† that individual, what happens when the part that needs completing feels incomplete again? The fault lies with the relationship. No doubt all of us need someone some of the time, but a person with serious, unresolved personal issues is probably incapable of forming a healthy relationship in the first place. When the first partner fails to fill the personal hole, then the incomplete person will go in search for another â€Å"completer.† Is it any wonder that so many failed relationships exist? Is it any wonder that so many teens engage in premarital sex since â€Å"love† is the solution so often offered by the media? Why is the media hooked on love? Love motivates us to purchase so many products–from toothpaste to diamonds–so that we can offer our ideal selves to another person instead of the actual people we are. Plus, it is easy for the media to connect sex and love. What was the name of the last new movie you saw where sex didn’t follow once the lead male and female fell in love? As Maslow argues, sex is a strong motivator†¦strong enough to convince people to spend money to acquire sexual attractiveness, and, by extension, love. 3. Finally, the media offers violence as the method chosen by men. The movie industry presents us with Tom Cruise, Wesley Snipes, Al Pacino, James Bond, and the list goes on and on. In sports, we have Sunday football and Wednesday wrestling. The History Channel presents the heroes of World War II. A & E and Discovery channels prove the power of cops through their programming. According to the media, such men are heroes. They protect their families. They are honored by those around them. They are rewarded with the most attractive women available. Any boy unwilling to engage in violence can not be a â€Å"man.† Girls also have something to learn. They need a â€Å"man† to protect them from becoming victims of rape and violence. As cheerleaders stand on the sidelines cheering on the team, they are taught to reward the guys who prove they are men. Conclusions The media teaches children the signifiers of sex, violence and consumerism. The media tells children it is important to think about these three things because these are the topics the media most often places into the agenda. Finally, either sex, violence or a product offers a solution to every problem.

Free Essays on The Explosive Child

Ross W. Greene defines an inflexible-explosive child as a child who is unable to â€Å"shift gears and think clearly in the midst of frustration†(Greene 1998). His book The Explosive Child is a book that gives many examples of many different children who in situations are IE. The book is a good tool for parents or people who work with children who need help when it comes to dealing with inflexible and explosive children. The examples he gives throughout the book are good when trying to see what will and what won’t work for the individual child. The idea of giving in to these IE children is not what Greene says in the book. I think that the main idea that Greene is going for is that as a parent you need to decide what to make the issue of, knowing that it might lead to a meltdown. As a therapist a diagnosis of and IE child might be difficult because the child might have a meltdown before they even get to the therapist’s office. The TAT is a test that might be helpful when diagnosing the child. Listening to the stories that they tell can give insight into what the child feels, and possibly to why they act in the way they do. The Explosive Child is a book that is good for parents, teachers and even therapists. It has good information, and explains how these difficult children can be dealt with. This book is good for anyone who works with children. It could be a good resource for parents as well. They need to know that their child isn’t the only one who is inflexible and explosive.... Free Essays on The Explosive Child Free Essays on The Explosive Child Ross W. Greene defines an inflexible-explosive child as a child who is unable to â€Å"shift gears and think clearly in the midst of frustration†(Greene 1998). His book The Explosive Child is a book that gives many examples of many different children who in situations are IE. The book is a good tool for parents or people who work with children who need help when it comes to dealing with inflexible and explosive children. The examples he gives throughout the book are good when trying to see what will and what won’t work for the individual child. The idea of giving in to these IE children is not what Greene says in the book. I think that the main idea that Greene is going for is that as a parent you need to decide what to make the issue of, knowing that it might lead to a meltdown. As a therapist a diagnosis of and IE child might be difficult because the child might have a meltdown before they even get to the therapist’s office. The TAT is a test that might be helpful when diagnosing the child. Listening to the stories that they tell can give insight into what the child feels, and possibly to why they act in the way they do. The Explosive Child is a book that is good for parents, teachers and even therapists. It has good information, and explains how these difficult children can be dealt with. This book is good for anyone who works with children. It could be a good resource for parents as well. They need to know that their child isn’t the only one who is inflexible and explosive....

gore essays

gore essays Vice President Al Gore is the Democrat candidate for president for this Tues. November 7,2000 election. Gore has many views on many issues, but his views on small businesses and minority small businesses are the following. Gore positions on small businesses are favorable. He supports the effort of the entrepreneur. He wants to make health insurance more affordable and more accessible for small businesses through a 25 percent tax credit for premium costs for each employee of a small business that decides to join a purchasing coalition. He also assists workers, up to $6,000, in obtaining training courses, or certification programs, that improve information technology skills. In the effort of support of small business Gore wants to provide a tax relief for stay-at-home-parents and expand family leaves for those working outside the home. He also wants to institute a Retirement Savings Plus Plan: Tax free savings accounts that will enable working Americans to build a retirement nest egg in addition to Social Security's guaranteed benefit. The Federal Government would match individual contributions with government contributions, with lower income workers receiving the largest contributions. These tax in centives will help small businesses to establish high-quality employee pension plans and proposals to simplify pension and improve portability. Al Gore belief is a strong believes in affirmative action and defends his position of the issue. Gore believes that Affirmative action is something that is still needed in America. He believes that the progress we've made in America toward civil rights in the 20th Century must be only the beginning of the progress we'll make in the 21st Century in the regard to racial equality. This ties in with minority owner small business by open doors for them. If elected president Gore will work to open up new doors of opportunity to neglected communities - with a third round of Empowerment Zones, t...

Archaeology Is a Great Research Paper Option

Archaeology Is a Great Research Paper Option Lets face itone of the toughest jobs of the student is to find a research paper topic, especially if your professor has assigned you a term paper with an open-ended subject. May I recommend archaeology as a starting point? People generally think of archaeology as simply a set of methods: Have trowel, will travel is the theme song for many an archaeological field worker. But in fact, the results of two hundred years of fieldwork and laboratory research means that archaeology is the study of a million years of human behavior, and as such it intersects evolution, anthropology, history, geology, geography, politics, and sociology. And thats just a start. In fact, archaeologys breadth is why I was drawn to the study in the first place. You can just about study anythingeven molecular physics or computer scienceand still be a working archaeologist. After more than fifteen years running this website, Ive built a number of places which you can use as a jumping off point to a fascinating paper, whether you are studying in the field of archaeology or outside of it. And with any luck, you can have fun doing it. I have organized the resources for this website using a broad areal coverage of world history, and in the meantime Ive developed a handful of encyclopedic directories that will help you in your search for the perfect paper topic. In each pocket youll find tidbits about ancient cultures and their archaeological sites compiled from provided references and other suggestions for further research. Somebody should benefit from my particular brand of lunacy! The History of Humans on Planet Earth The History of Humanity includes information on archaeological studies beginning with the very first stone tools of our human ancestors in the Stone Age of 2.5 million years ago, ends with medieval societies about 1500 AD and includes everything in between. Here youll find information on our human ancestors (2.5 million-20,000 years ago), as well as hunter-gatherers (20,000-12,000 years ago), first farming societies (12,000-5,000 years ago), early civilizations (3000-1500 BC), ancient empires (1500-0 BC), developing states (AD 0-1000) and the medieval period (1000-1500 AD). Ancient Civilizations Dont miss my collection of Ancient Civilizations, which brings together resources and ideas on Egypt, Greece, Persia, the Near East, the Incan and Aztec Empires, the Khmer, Indus and Islamic Civilizations, the Roman Empire, the Vikings and the Moche and the Minoans and others too many to mention. Domestication Histories Food naturally fascinates all of us: and more to the point, archaeology is the main source of information about how the domestication of the animals and plants that make up our meals came about. Over the last couple of decades, with the addition of genetic studies, what weve understood about the timing and process of animal and plant domestication has changed greatly. I recommend that you can get a taste of what science has learned about when and how we domesticated cattle, cats and camels, or chickpeas, chiles and chenopodium, can be found linked from the Tables of Animal Domestication and Plant Domestication, and the scientific literature I used to write those articles can serve as starting points for a possible paper. The World Atlas of Archaeology Want to study a particular continent or region? The World Atlas of Archaeology is a great place to kick off your investigations: it is an atlas of archaeological sites and cultures in the world sorted by modern geographic continent and political country boundaries.   The Ancient Daily Life pages includes links to archaeological investigations of roads and writing, battle sites and ancient houses, prehistoric tools and climate change. Scientist Biographies Interested in writing a biography of a famous archaeologist? Then the Biographies in Archaeology should be the starting place for you. There are nearly 500 biographical sketches listed in the Biographies pocket so far. In there youll also find a Women in Archaeology section. I segregated the women out for my own nefarious purposes, and you might as well take advantage of it. A Vast Glossary of Ideas Another resource for piquing your interest is the Archaeology Dictionary, which includes over 1,600 entries of cultures, archaeological sites, theories and other tidbits of archaeological information. I recommend that you simply pick a letter at random and scroll down through the entries. Some of the entries are full-fledged articles; others are short definitions, covering nearly twenty years of my exploration in archaeology, and I bet anything that something will pique your interest. Once youve chosen your topic, you can begin searching for information on which to write your essay. Good luck! More Tips for Writing Research Papers How to Conduct Background Research for a PaperTop Steps to Writing a Research Paper

Darwin Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Darwin - Essay Example This paper is a discussion in favor of Charles Darwin and natural selection theory. The paper will look at the components necessary for natural selection and examples that concur with the natural selection theory. It will investigate various ideas presented by Darwin (thesis). In the theory of natural selection, only the fittest species will exist. The paper will also highlight circumstances where natural selection does not play a part in survival (counter thesis). Response Charles Darwin presumed all animals and plants had progressed from a minimal usual ancestor through the process of natural selection. Both animals and plants give rise to a number of young ones, but several of the young plants and animals are extinct before they can grow into adulthood or reach maturity. Natural selection establishes which constituents of a species exist and reproduce, and which ones become extinct prematurely (Maynard 23). This is evident in our everyday life, for instance, in a location that exp eriences calamities such as war or famine, only people who are able to adapt to the harsh conditions of lack of food, shelter, or diseases, are the ones who are able to continue to exist during or after the calamities. In addition, all living elements must fight for an inadequate supply of space, water, food, and other necessary things in an environment. It is factual that the individual animals and plants whose features are adequately modified to situations have an upper hand in the struggle for resources, and consequently, the survival. On average, these species have a tendency to produce a large amount of young ones in comparison to other species in their unit. Accordingly, the population of the unit having the same features as the best-adapted species augments from one generation to the next. In my view, the term fitness may be utilized to refer to an organism’s capacity to produce offspring (Gould 47). Therefore it is appropriate to refer to the theory of natural selecti on as survival for the fittest. There are a number of natural selection forms. They comprise sexual selection, stabilizing selection, and directional selection. Sexual selection is primarily evident among the animal species. Similar to natural selection, adults of numerous populations have a preference for mating partners who exhibit specified external features or behaviors. It may be argued that sexual selection illustrates why males of numerous bird populations contain extra colorful feathers than their female counterparts. Stabilizing selection takes place if a group is adequately adapted to its surrounding. In this situation, the populations with common features produce the most offspring, and individuals who are the most dissimilar reproduce the least number of offspring. In addition, stabilizing selection removes tremendous traits, lessening the quantity of dissimilarity in a group. This makes stabilizing selection the most widespread form of natural selection. Finally, direct ional selection creates new traits that assist a population to become accustomed to its surrounding (Maynard 24). This is what is mostly perceived as natural selection by numerous individuals. Moreover, for natural selection to function appropriately, a number of requirements should be met. One, the members of the population should be different in their hereditary features. Organisms in different species illustrate a number of

Why Warren G. Bennis is or is not an Ethical Leader Assignment

Why Warren G. Bennis is or is not an Ethical Leader - Assignment Example B. He recognized the core concepts of leadership by emphasizing on attention through vision, which he believed drew other people such as subordinates in; meaning through communication by believing that all leaders have the capability to communicate their core values and vision and bring it back to life for other people. E. He advocated adhocracy as opposed to hierarchy, bureaucratic and centralized control types of leadership in organizations by championing for sharing of leadership and responsibility based on task forces or groups’ abilities or qualifications for the particular groups (Bennis & Nanus, 2004). F. He consulted widely with both political and corporate leaders in further advocating for his ethical type of leadership; by recognizing the imperative role, other people play in both an organization setting and the outside world (Northouse, 2007). Therefore, it is evident that Warren G. Bennis was an ethical leader who advocated ethical leadership and emphasized on the concepts of ethical leadership through his humanistic and democratic styles of leadership. Although he demonstrated little advocacy for visionary leadership, he is one of the heroic figures in history who extensively explored the concept of leadership. Thus, who is a successful leader, ethical or visionary leaders remains a contentious issue to

Medieval Roman Catholic Traditions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Medieval Roman Catholic Traditions - Essay Example Among the traditions that were indoctrinated include the establishment of purgatory as a physical place, the usage of Latin in prayer and worship, the Marian practices and the usage of the Rosary, the establishment of the Papacy and its powers, the veneration and canonization of saints, the dogma of transubstantiation, the confession of sin to the priest, the usage of the scapular among many other things.2 These Traditions cannot be traced back to the Bible, but they are accepted by the Catholic Church to be true and infallible. The doctrine of purgatory was introduced by Gregory the Great in 593. He established a connection between earthly penance and purification after death; that is, those who are alive can pray and purify those who are dead and in purgatory. However, only venial sins can be purified when in purgatory, while mortal sins cannot. This belief has remained constant and in its line of thought, the All Souls day was established on the 10th Century where people who are alive remember the dead and celebrate Mass in their honor for their salvation.3 The Papacy was established quite solidly in the 6th Century, around the year 610, by Gregory I and later by Boniface III. The leaders of the Church before 610 did not have supreme authority over all the Christian communities. Most of them were killed together with their congregations, and they spent most of their time debating on theological matters with other bishops. In 709, the kissing of the feet of the Pope was indoctrinated. The infallibility of the Pope was established almost a thousand years late in the 1870’s. The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI is special in that most popes die while in office and it is not common for a Pope to resign (.4 The duration between the last resignation of the Pope and the one in 2013 is almost 600 years. Popes only resign if they are of poor health and unable to offer