Influence of media on kid's behaviour

 As promised in the entry Hantu Anpanman, today I'm going to share some info about "The influence of media on kid's behavior". "Media" refers to TV, internet, DVD,  video games and other electronics media.Hubby and I attended parenthood talk at SN's nursery, and this talk focus on what type of show/cartoon that 0-6 years old kid are allowed to watch and the reason behind the restrictions. 

(1) Why electronic media is not good for children?

• children imitate everything they watch without thinking about the rationale behind it (e.g: strong scene/sexual harassment/violence scene in drama/movie)

• Only one way communication tool, not good for children's speech development though it might help in the vocabulary sections (ability of communication decrease sebab cuma mendengar je, tanpa perlu bercakap, membaca atau menulis)

• children being unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality. (budak-budak ingat benda yang dalam TV sama dengan semua yang ada di dunia luar juga e.g alien,monster,war,shooting scene etc)

 

+- ternganga mulut tengok TV, berada dalam 'dunia' dia sendiri -+

(2) Major effects of seeing violence on TV/video games/internet?

Violence images and themes found on the TV often get the blame for the increase in cases of juveniles and  young adults committing crimes. Psychological research has shown four major effects of seeing violence on television:

• Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others (e.g budak-budak jadi tak ada perasaan, tak takut, tak faham erti sakit bila pukul orang lain etc)
• Children may be more fearful of the world around them (e.g takut hantu, takut monster and etc)
• Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways towards others
• strong scene/sexual harassment in the TV a lot of time makes them think it's OK to do such "thing"
  

(3) What Parents can do to help their kids?

• Minimise exposure to programs and products which feature violence, or ban certain programs altogether (pilih rancangan yang sesuai sahaja)
• Minimise exposure to news programs for children under 12 years. These children are unlikely to understand that "it isn't likely to happen to you" as they do not understand probability (e.g perang, kebuluran, tembak menembak dll)
• Be a media educator: express your views, and discuss program content, for example talk to children about what would happen if they did those violent things at home (terangkan nilai positif dan negatif dari rancangan yang ditonton itu)
• Viewing programs with your children
• Placing limits on the amount of television viewing per day and per week (had kan berapa jam je sehari, dari pukul berapa ke pukul berapa) 
• Encourage kids to spend time doing other enjoyable activities like sport, hobbies or playing with friends, instead of watching TV 

 

+- mommy & daddy bawak SN mengenal animals -+

(4) Can electronic media help a young child's language development?

• Yes and no, depending on what the child is watching.

• Yes --> Studies have found that children at 30 months of age who watched certain programs (e.g Dora the Explorer, Blues Clues, Clifford and Dragon Tales) resulted in greater vocabularies and higher expressive language 

• No --> overall television viewing (including adult programs) has been associated with reduced vocabulary.

After attending the talk, hubby and I reschedule SN's viewing time on iphone/laptop to be only on weekends. 

 

+- tak sempat nak bukak bib, lepas makan terus main iphone -+

Also, we banned all cartoons that have any fighting scene for example Ultraman, Kamen Raider, Anpanman, Boboy and etc (just saying few examples). We only allowed him to watch show/cartoon that have positive influence like Upin Ipin, Pororo, Pocoyo and Bernard. 

After a week or two; we saw positive feedback on SN's development especially in his language development. He talks a lot with us nowadays (sebab boring tak boleh tengok video atau main game). Lagi satu, I perasan SN tak pandai nak tolak/bergaduh dengan budak-budak lain. I mean he won't get into a fight with other kids but he will just cry his lung out whenever he was in a fight. 

 

+- budak manja yang tau menangis je kalau berebut toys, gambar masa SN umur 10 bulan -+

Though people might say SN is so manja bagi seorang anak lelaki, but I look at it in a positive way. At least he wont bite, hit, kick or hurt other kids (because he don't know how to do it). I'll make sure that I'll send him to martial art course when he's grow up so that he'll know how to protect himself and at the same time he'll understand the painful that other people will have to deal if he hit them.

I'm not saying that parents who let your 0-6 years old kid to watch those show with fighting scene like Ultraman or Kamen Raider is bad, it depend on what you believe is right for your child. 

I'm writing this entry not to brag yang macamlah anak I bagus sangat, but this is just a bit of sharing the info that I've learned from SN's nursery. I nampak kebaikannya pada anak I bila I banned rancangan yang ada fighting scene, so kalau nak tengok ada kebaikan ke tak pada anak you, try lah banned jugak rancangan macam tu dan tengok apa positive development pada anak you.

Before signing off, I would like to leave you with this beautiful poem by Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D

Children Learn What They Live ~ by Dorothy Law Nolte, Ph.D.
 
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with fear, they learn to be apprehensive.
If children live with pity, they learn to feel sorry for themselves.

If children live with ridicule, they learn to feel shy.
If children live with jealousy, they learn to feel envy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.

If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn patience.
If children live with praise, they learn appreciation.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with recognition, they learn it is good to have a goal.
If children live with sharing, they learn generosity.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with fairness, they learn justice.
If children live with kindness and consideration, they learn respect.
If children live with security, they learn to have faith in themselves and in those about them.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.

Psssstt: macam biasa, kalau entry pasal talk kat SN's nursery memang panjang berjela, hope I don't bored u to death.

~ Thanks for reading this (^-*) ~