Hi everyone! This is my second blog post and I am going to share some thoughts about the media effects.
People cannot live without media as it is a means of communication. In the past, people relied on newspaper to know more about the society and now, we just simply get what we want with a few short clicks. It appears in our daily life in different forms—online educational courses, entertaining TV programmes, official news by the government…
What is wrong with the “media effects” model?
David Gauntlett suggested “ten things wrong with the ‘effects model’”. He mentioned that to tackle the social problem of violence, researchers should begin with the background of those engage in it. However, the media effect model is starting from the media and its relation with the involved ones. This shows that media effect model may not be the most reliable method of finding the root cause of the social problems and tackling them.
Albert Bandura had conducted the bobo doll experiment on children. He tried to prove that children who watched violent videos were more violent than those who did not watch through this experiment. I have a doubt about this proof. First of all we do not know the background of the kids. Family background is an important factor that affects the growth of a kid, especially the development of their minds. Children from dysfunctional family have higher risk in having mental problem than those from ordinary family. They might be more impulsive and violent because of the lack of parental guidance. For example the murderers of the 2 years old kid Jamie Bulger, they were both neglected at home and they were experienced shoplifters at the age of 10. This shows that the violent videos were not the only reason leading to the result of the experiment, background of the tested kids also matters. Also, the children may considered the violent video as an instruction to them. They were too young to have a proper judgement of what they should do when clear instructions were not given. Maybe they were just trying to follow the video given by adults and to show that they were obedient and to please the adults. There are too many factors that can affect the result of this experiment. That is why I personally do not agree with this proof and I also think that it is unethical to use children in conducting this experiment as their minds are not well-developed yet.
My thoughts
In my point of view, there may be some negative effects brought by media but media is not the main reason for violence. Background and past experiences of people would also be the reasons. The two murderers mentioned previously are the examples. They both came from dysfunctional family and were neglected kids at home. Their minds could not normally develop like other kids as they were lack of love and guidance. Living and growing in an abnormal family definitely affect the health of a kid, both physical and mental health. The kid would not be able to have correct values of life. For example a boy from an abusive family may think it does not matter to abuse others as that is what he experienced since small, no one tells him that it is illegal. Other than family issues, people’s personal experience can also be a factor. Some people may be bullied for long time at school and it affects their mental health. The Columbine High School massacre was once suspected as the revenge on school by the two shooters. Unfortunate experiences may eventually change one’s mind that they may have antisocial behaviors. Last but not least, some are just born to be offenders but of course they are the minority.
Blaming media for violence is unreasonable and it is not feasible to restrict people access to media like banning the “violent” cartoon Tom and Jerry to solve the social problem. Proper education would be a better solution instead. It is not about keeping kids away from violent things but to let them know what violence is and teach them to distinguish between right and wrong. The media itself does nothing wrong, the problem is how people use it. The existence of violent programme is not totally meaningless and if some people imitate the bloody scene, we should first think of ways to solve the mental problem of the people but not banning the programme. Social problems actually come from people but not the media itself.
What are some interesting questions to ask about the role of the media today, in the shaping of mass opinion?
- Do we have the responsibility of providing 100% accurate information in the internet?
- What is the ‘suitable” age for children to get in touch with media?
- Should the “violent” TV programmes, videos and movies be banned? If yes, does it mean that only educational programmes can be published and how to define whether a programme is violent or not? If no, how can we ensure that kids have no access to those violent things?
Josie's Blog 
Hey Josie. I’m Sha. It was good reading your blog. The fact that you look at a different possible reason for crime and abuse makes you a rational thinker. Reading your questions made me wonder. Especially the 2nd question. You have asked if there is any suitable age to start using media. I believe that the content of the media matters. Because almost all forms of media has parental lock and children version in it, that refrains children’s access to filthy content. I enjoyed reading your post overall. All the best for your upcoming posts.
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Hi Josie! Gillian here! It was great working with you last week in our “media effects” lecture. You really opened my eyes to the fact that we can get more information when looking things up in a different language! Looking forward to working with you again!
You brought up your points in a very clear and concise manner! I agree with you that proper education is a better solution than simply blaming the media and social problems comes from the people themselves, not media. That was a very good point!
One recommendation I would like to make for your blog is to split some of your larger paragraphs up into smaller ones. For example, your paragraph that started talking about Albert Bandura’s bobo doll experiment can be split up into two paragraphs instead so that it will be easier to read. Anyway, great blog! Good luck with the rest of your blog posts!
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Hey Josie, a really good post although it is a bit lengthy. But you do bring up many good point, especially with how family upbringing affects the mental health of the child. We are all familiar with Tom and Jerry but as kids we do not view the violence as malice. Instead it was always viewed as funny and it entertained us for hours upon hours. To say that watching violent cartoons alone makes people violent is a wrong statement. You brought up the question on the “suitable” age which we should consume media, and that really intrigued me as I had never thought about the first time I watched TV. It just happens as we are young to stare into the TV, without knowing what’s being shown until our minds develop with age.
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