Children and Media

Whether we like it or not media is an important part of children's lives today and its influence cannot be refuted. In this blog, I would like to focus mainly on the influence of Hollywood and Disney on young minds.  thereby adding to this enthralling phenomenon by adding oil to the fire. Studies have shown that, in a race to be perfect, nifty or cool, more and more young boys and girls, today, are faced with immense pressure, which is impacting their psychological, physical, cognitive and social development. Youth today are not focused on doing well academically or in sports, but to look more attractive and be more sensual and desirable. Many girls at a very young age try to dress provocatively to attract attention of the opposite sex and more and more young people than ever are indulging in prematurely sexy behavior way too early. We see little girls as young as three or four year old wanting to wear high heels and somewhat inappropriate or provocative costumes or two piece swim wears, little seven or nine year olds are pretending to be divas or thrusting their hip like Beyonce, Miley Cyrus or others.  Undoubtedly it is the influence of these caricatures we call media that is negatively impacting the young cognizance.

The influence of violence on TV on children and teenagers has been proven time and again. Numerous studies have shown the detrimental effects of violent images seen on TV/ internet on cognitive development of young minds, thereby resulting in their becoming immune to horrors of violence or accepting it as the way of problem solving. It is also argued that the teenage boys who play violent video games for more than an hour are more likely to push other people after playing the game.  Decades ago, the famous bobo doll study also proved the effect of violence on young minds. It shows that children exposed to aggression and violence, are more likely to act in physical and verbal aggression than those not or minimally exposed to it. While unarguably, television can be a powerful resource tool for observational learning for kids, prolonged exposure for it with violent programming can actually make them behave differently or think that physical intimidation can be an effective way to control others. According to author Meyers, “this effect seems to stem from the combination of various factors including imitation" e.g. in a study according to Meyers, it has was shown a seven fold increase in violent behavior or playing immediately after children viewed the show ‘Power Rangers’ with boys trying to imitate the character’s flying karate kicks and other violent acts. Also studies have shown that prolonged viewing of objectionable content can make young minds less sympathetic towards social and domestic violence issues. Recent spike in the gun violence and the involvement of young people in many of those is direct indication of what kids are exposed to through these media and the hustle and bustle of the modern society coupled with immense social pressure to have a glorified social image gives is enough to cause confusion and havoc in these young minds which gets lets out through wrong channels or should I say though violence against innocent......

Sexism and Conflict Perspective

Webster’s dictionary describes Sexism as, “prejudice or discrimination based on sex, especially against women.” Conflict theory is a paradigm that is deeply rooted in the want or desire for suppression, unlawful gains through capitalism, slavery or other means and creating a divide or inequality resulting in conflict. According to Megan Seely, "Conflict theory is defined as the powerful or elite leading or working to oppress the weak" (Seely, 2012). Sexism in my opinion could be an ideal example of the conflict theory fitting into not all but most of the categories defined in Conflict theory. Some societies may not consider it as sensitive as racism or socioeconomic inequality, but in major part of the world it is still significant enough to be discussed.

Sexism is not a new phenomenon, it was in existence ever since humanity can be traced back.  Since time immemorial, men around the world, have been perceived as more aggressive, dominant and ambitious while women as more nurturing, acquiescent and submissive.  Culture as we perceive it is everything shared by a group of people and is transmitted across generations.  And one norm of the culture is to define the gender roles-which is laying out a set of expectations about the way men and women comport. Most cultures are associated with distinct gender roles for men and women. Traditionally the role assigned to women  are gentler, requiring less power/energy like performing household work or child rearing and are therefore considered inferior or given less importance compared to the roles played by men, which requires more power or masculinity. Women have always been considered the weaker sex and as early as 1970 were considered to have the inability to take up elite professions such as scientists, lawyers, or politicians.  

Even in present times, men have still not accepted or rather feel threatened by women,  professionally and/or intellectually equal or superior to them.  Some argue that in the last few years there has been a change in the societal perception and women now have equal rights at most places. But we can still see that not being true, especially in undeveloped nations, no equality between sexes and even inequality within the marriage. Legally, women may have equal rights in jobs and education; but even at home front it is still a very different scenario. It is still considered a woman’s job to provide for the family and take care of the needs of everyone. In many cultures women are required to take care of even the needs of the extended family members on the husband’s side, while no such roles are assigned to the husband.  If at any point a sacrifice is to be made for the family it is expected to come from the woman’s side.

In past few decades, women have come out of their traditional roles, tried to make a mark in the outside world and have proved themselves time and again, yet the bias or we should say gender divide still continues. The concept of glass ceiling and wage difference between men and women is a secret no more……very well fitting in the paradigm of conflict theory.

What Culture Do You Belong To........

I recently had a truly wonderful experience. Never before this had I given much thought to what I was wearing or where it was coming from. For me it is always just the brand name or the logo that I see/buy.

A few days ago while looking at the clothes labels for washing instructions; I stumbled upon something really fascinating. The first few articles of clothing I saw were made in different countries such as Vietnam, Cambodia, Jordan etc. I dug more and found a few more that were made in China. Extremely motivated I decided to search more and looked at several other clothes in my closet OK, the first four items—all shirts were made in Bangladesh. Hmm….then I noticed a few more—pants, scarfs, sweaters—made in China.  You must be wondering, what was going on and why was it so interesting. Well the interesting part was that all the clothing items older than 2 or more years were pretty much made in China, while those bought in past one year or so were made in different countries like Jordan, Vietnam, Chile etc. Could it be that cheap labor is no longer available in China or that people living in that country have come to realize their true potential and drifting more towards performing intellectual jobs such as research & development? Not too many would know that a lot of new research in the field of biology, microbiology, genetics or medicine is taking place in South Asian countries as opposed to Europe. Yes that's true, recently while working on my microbiology project, I was amazed to find out that many new bacterial species discovered in the past few years were all extensively researched or discovered by Chinese scientists. But coming back to the everyday consumer items, the shift is intriguing. And how this World wide integrated culture we call globalization, is impacting our lives and in true sense representative of who we are or what culture we belong to. For most part we don’t care where our clothes, shoes or other material goods are coming from. We as consumers just buy the stuff we like as they are mere reflection of our lifestyles—be it urban or traditional, than our cultural norms and/ or practices. The changing pace of technology and globalization has not only eliminated the distances between the countries but also the cultural diversity.

It is astonishing that while most of us may have never had crossed the U.S. border, the products we use/consume everyday are created, assembled and produced by different people in different countries. To us it is just the finished product that is being sold or marketed— be it clothes, shoes, toys, books, gadgets, cars or anything else. 

So What Culture do we actually belong to?!?!

What Your Kids Are Watching......

Whether we like it or not media is an integral part of children's lives today. There is so much influence of media in our everyday lives that it is hard to not have kids exposed to television, internet and video games. It is believed that American children on an average spend four to five hours every day on some form of electronic media which includes watching TV, being on the internet and playing video games. Today media unarguably plays a role in kid’s development; and its influence could be both favorable and unfavorable. In comparison to the favorable influencing, it’s the unfavorable part that concerns most parents today. Due to the negative effects of exposure to violent TV programming and video games; parents continue to express their disgust over its influence on young minds. 

While studies have proved that all media including television, video games, computers and the Internet, especially when the contents are violent is harmful. But at the same time it is unimaginable to not have kids exposed to it at all. The analysts have divided opinion on as to how many hours of TV watching is appropriate; many profess no exposure while others assert only a few hours a week. In fact, in a fast paced digital age today where new technology and gadgets come to market an on almost daily basis, more than ever there is a need for constant research to understand the impact of new technological innovations and their influence on young minds. There could be numerous topics and categories of research which could and should be done when it comes to children and electronic media. For example, considering the popularity and easy accessibility of mobile devices such as tablets and smart phones along with the numerous kids friendly apps available on these devices; the question is, if the old school thought of not exposing kids to electronic media until age 5 or later, still valid. It is important to learn, how much exposure kids need to have in  different age groups to various different devices? And not just to device itself, but also exposure to a specific type of content (games, apps, videos, etc.) also needs to be researched as different type of content can have an entirely different impact. Considering that kids today are exposed to every device which comes to market, what is the right time for parents to allow kids to either have access or ownership of these devices? What kind of parental control or restrictions are good to have and/or are justified and what is not. When any company or manufacturer comes up with new technology or electronic media, in most cases they have already had spent time researching the target market, but they may also need to spend time and resources on understanding the impact to children and these studies be published; and thus society/parents need to be aware of it to make an informed decisions.

Will Your Job be Exported

In my opinion the problem of outsourcing for the future generations, as stated in the article by Ian S. Blinder is a bit exaggeration in present times. If I were to hear this statement ten years ago I would have responded differently than I am now. The reason being that the problem is not new and is not just a problem for the future generation; it is indeed a matter of concern for the present i.e. our generation too. Anyone who has tried to acquire a job in Information technology or service industry can relate to this issue. In past one decade or so, thousands of manufacturing, IT and HR functions have been expunged in the U.S. as a result of outsourcing. In fact today in most organizations the idea of outsourcing is considered first before hiring any new employee. Due to changing times and fierce competition, good education is no longer the only criteria for getting a well-paid job; one needs to have the right set of skill too. Impervious professions such as healthcare jobs that were considered not offshorable before aren't immune to such trends anymore. Telemedicine is one such avenue which is fast emerging and is taking over many of the jobs traditionally performed by an onsite physician or nurse. There are several healthcare professionals such as—physicians, surgeons, nurses who have had to reduce their number of working hours as some of their duties can now be performed by another person sitting miles away or by hi-tech computers (Robots). So today, in my opinion, no job is recession proof or offshoring proof. But then what is the solution as just talking about the issue and not doing anything won't do any good to anyone. Government and educational institutes can play a larger role here. Due to high unemployment figures our Government has tried to create jobs and introduce programs to help displaced workers. Providing right training to right kind of people will be beneficial for the entire society. Since there is very little we can do to stop offshoring due to Corporate and Government policies; a change in a way we get our education or choosing the right path can be help avoid some of the pain associated with offsourcing.

Sleep Debt and Mortgage Mind

In the article, ‘Sleep Debt and the Mortgage Minds’ William Dement and Christopher Vaughan have used the metaphor to discuss a very perspicacious issue of today and that is, Sleep Deprivation. Sleep deprivation and accruing sleep debt seems like a new phenomenon that has cropped up in past few decades. Globalization and the changing forms of societies have engendered greater expectations in us, at personal and professional level.  Even though technological advancements have made our lives easier in many ways, the new challenges and demands of the modern times and a stiff competition has resulted in a constant struggle to maintain work-life balance and thus has shifted our focus from this basic meaningless activity we call sleep. The lack of sleep, however, gradually begins to show its effect on our physical as well as mental faculties creating a debt; and every time we have this sleep debt accumulated; we mortgage our mind and suffer. So to get our mind (or sanity back)—the debt needs to be paid off promptly. There is no doubt that we as a nation are “a sleep sick society” as indicated by Paul Martin (464). The phenomenon is so frequently occurring that now even in medicine; ‘Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or CFS’ is a recognized form of disease and is invariably associated with frequent episodes of inadequate sleep. With rising concerns over the issue, sleep disorders are now getting a close scrutiny of researchers and healthcare professionals. Sleep, says Martin, “occupies about a third of each human’s life and up to two thirds of a baby’s time” (507). So there must be a good reason why we spend that much time of our life performing this seemingly meaningless but pivotal activity. Dement and Vaughn have compared sleep with hunger as in both the cases we don’t get satiety unless we have had enough. Thus sleep like other biological activities such as eating and drinking is considered essential for our well-being and maintaining a good health. When we accumulate a sleep debt that is not paid off we reduce our cognitive ability and our mind (and also the body) doesn't function to its full capacity and ability. Consequently we suffer as we do not have full control over it to be able to get the productivity we want. Of course it is due to ‘Sleep Debt’ and the fact that our ‘mind is mortgaged.’ And the only way we can pay off our debt and get this control back is with good amount of regular slumber. So think about it, are you a sleep debtor or sleep defaulter?

Conscious Mind Vs Unconscious Mind

This week’s assignment was really interesting. Although at first, I was a bit unsure as to how to approach it. Then I thought on most occasions, I try to present myself in a poised and polished manner, so how about exhibiting a totally opposite behavior. I decided to act rowdy and blatantly to see what the kind of reaction it would incite. I received varied reactions ranging from shocking, to perplexing to deep concern. I also observed that that it made no difference to those who knew me little or didn’t know me at all. But to those who know me well such as close friends and family members; it came across as a shock. In fact a few of my friends showed concerns about my health and offered to sit down and talk about the issues if I was having any. The overall experience a little perplexing though, was yet truly laughable. But it made me think intensely and analyze what behaviorism is all about and yes it truly is a skill that is acquired through conditioning. We see the world from someone else’s eyes. Our everyday actions and interactions are not based on our own idiosyncrasies, but rather on other’s acceptance and/or societal expectations. Our behaviors and mannerism are deeply ingrained in not our performance, but in how we want to be perceived as. Not sure if it can be linked to the Darwin’s theory of ‘the survival of the fittest’ because we as humans don’t want to be labeled as a bad element of the society, so to avoid getting extinct we adapt our ways according to others without even analyzing them. As kids we all like to act whichever way we want, but are constantly corrected or reprimanded for inappropriate behaviors. Thus as we grow we learn to ignore some of our internal instincts and behave how we are expected to, in a civil society or I should say according to the social norms and folkways. Some of these behaviors are incorporated deeply in our conscious (and sub-conscious) minds as ‘unconscious incompatibilities’ that we are completely unaware of them. And to change those behaviors into ‘conscious compatibilities’ we have to scrupulously work on them and remind ourselves over and over again. This results in unneeded attention and awkwardness, which I felt throughout this activity.