While media will always have its benefits, as a whole,
society is reaping more harm than good from it. This is why we must pay close
attention to not only how much time we are spending watching and engaging in
media; we must also pay close attention to the content we are viewing and
allowing our families to view.
One cannot deny the truth that what we put into our minds
affects our thoughts, emotions and behavior. This truth is proven through
advertising campaigns alone! This is most easily witnessed through children.
Having raised 9 of my own, I can attest to the difference there is in walking
through the cereal aisle with children who are not exposed to television ads
and those that have been exposed to them! The majority of food advertisements
found on television are for presweetened cereal, sweets of all kinds including
soft drinks, and fast food establishments. Adults are just as easily swayed by
what they are told is hot and what is not. This type of marketing along with the
extended time spent sitting still either watching television or engaging in some
form of social media or game play is wreaking havoc with our overall health.
Obesity in both children and adults is increasing at an alarming rate.
(Influence on the health and well-being of children and youth, 2003)
The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) believes that
children 2 years old and younger should not be exposed to television at all.
Their reasoning stems from the fact that the first two years of life are when a
child develops critical thinking skills. According to an article they
published, they explain that “electronic media can get in the way of exploring,
playing and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and
healthy physical and social development.” (AAP)
When it comes to children who are 2 years and older, the AAP
feels that it is important to not only limit the time spent in front of
television; parents must pay close attention to the content. Too much
television as well as negative content has been proven to be detrimental to
children. The AAP also states that when children spend 4 hours or more watching
TV, they are more likely to become overweight. They also found that children
who view violent content not only tended to be more aggressive themselves, they
also had a higher fear that something bad might happen to them; proving that
violent content affects children mentally and physically. (AAP)
In a study looking at the psychological effects of viewing
negative news items, the research team involved discovered that the
participants that viewed the negative news items were significantly more
anxious and sadder than those who viewed either the neutral news or the positive
news. On top of that, they were also more likely to enlarge their worries. (Graham
C.L. Davey, The Psychological Effects of TV News, 2012)
A more recent study of the social media platform,
specifically having been focused on Facebook, shows that Facebook has the power
to affect a person’s mood. According to a study where the research team focused
on weather patterns and the effect they played on people’s moods, they
discovered that where it rained, people tended to feel down. When this
happened, the people who were dealing with rain, tended to write more negative
posts. This had a trickle down effect. Friends of negative posters, tended to be
pulled into their own bad mood even when their own weather was nice. Interestingly,
they also found that people who had a majority of positive posters were more
positive themselves! This proves that what you see and read has an affect on
how you feel. Recently, I discovered this truth for myself. Due to required
reading for a college class, I had to not only view disturbing articles, I had
to think deeply on them and then write reports. One particular essay disturbed
my thoughts and affected me mentally for over two weeks! (physchcentral.com)
Another study found that platforms such as Facebook can
actually cause people to become miserable. Through the study it was discovered
that the amount of use had a direct effect on the user’s state of mind. The
results showed that the more time a person spent on Facebook, the more their
state of well being declined. (physchcentral.com)
Another study showed that Facebook tends to increase the anxiety
levels of its users; so much so that their sleep patterns were being affected. The
increase is credited to the constant need for posting updates as well as the
increasing need to know what might have been recently posted by others. This
desire can cause one to begin thinking it is necessary to constantly check
their accounts. With time constraints already pressing on most people, the need
to spend more time on Facebook as well as other social media platforms can
overwhelm its users. (Physchcentral.com)
A follow up study found that using social media such as
Facebook tends to make people feel inadequate. This feeling of inadequacy
contributes to higher levels of anxiety. Additional studies have found that
programs such as Facebook can increase the amount of social anxiety. They
originally thought that by getting to know someone on social media and then
meeting them in person would decrease this type of anxiety, but the research
has proven otherwise! (physchcentral.com)
If all of this were not alarming enough to our own personal
well being, through media of all types including music, studies show ample
evidence of the sexualization of women. Further research ties sexualization to
eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression or depressed moods. With so
much exposure to media images, girls believe that what they see is how they
should look and act to be desired or worthy of a man’s attention. There is even
evidence from studies showing that men being exposed to a very narrow aspect of
what the world sees as attractive, may find it hard to be pleased by any
partners that don’t fit into the current media projection of what makes a women
worth fighting for. (American Psychological Association)
According to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA
distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children’s Digital
Media Center, Los Angeles, our analytical and critical thinking skills are on
the decline because technology is playing a bigger role in our lives. (UCLA
Newsroom)
It is true that media has been around long before our
generation ever came to be. There is historical proof of advertising dating
back to Ancient Greece. (wikipedia) There really is no way you can completely
avoid media. The Holy Bible in all honesty is a form of media. Everyone has to
recognize that there are indeed positives that we can gain as a society from
the various sources. When we search out what the Word of God has to say when it
comes to what we put in our minds, we find advice such as this:
Romans 12:2 NIV: Do not conform to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able
to test and approve what God’s will is ~ his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Not only does this verse enlighten us that this world has a
pattern and that pattern is not a good thing for us to follow, we are told that
one can indeed renew their mind. With the knowledge of how we can be affected
negatively by all media, we must pay close attention to what we allow ourselves
to focus on. This truth is highlighted in the following book of the Holy Bible:
Philippians 4:8-9 NIV: Finally brothers and sisters,
whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure,
whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable ~ if anything is excellent or praise
worthy ~ think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or
heard from me, or seen in me ~ put into practice. And the God of peace will be
with you.
With so much evidence proving beyond a shadow of doubt that
media as a whole can be detrimental to our well being, we need to use our
critical thinking skills to analyze what is good for us and what is not.
References
AAP, reviewed by: Steven Dowshen, MD,
October 2011, http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/family/tv_affects_child.html
1Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital of
Eastern Ontario, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry,
Department of Pediatrics and School of Psychology, University of Ottawa,
Ottawa, Ontario;
2The Hospital for Sick Children, Bloorview Children’s
Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario;
3Department of Family Medicine, Ottawa Hospital Civic
Site, Department of Family Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario;
4Alberta Children’s Hospital, Rockyview General
Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta;
5Media Awareness Network, Ottawa, Ontario
Correspondence: Ms Jan D’Arcy, Media Awareness Network, 1500 Merivale Road, 3rd
Floor, Ottawa, Ontario K2E 6Z5. Telephone 613-224-6892, fax 613-224-1958,
e-mail ac.ssenerawa-aidem@ycradj, 2003,
Pulsus Group Inc. All rights reserved
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792678/
Graham C.L. Davey, The Psychological Effects of TV News,
2012, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-we-worry/201206/the-psychological-effects-tv-news;
Maldonado, M. (2014). The Anxiety of
Facebook. Psych Central. Retrieved on August 22, 2014, from
http://psychcentral.com/lib/the-anxiety-of-facebook/
Stuart Wolpert, January 27, 2009, http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/is-technology-producing-a-decline-79127
The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV, 2011,
Zondervon Publishing
Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advertising