Media and the Family Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Media and the Family - Essay Example Perfection is unattainable, unrealistic, and potentially dull and sterile."1 In a dysfunctional family, however, "some parents under-function, leaving their children to fend for themselves. Other parents over-function, never allowing their children to grow up and be on their own. Others are inconsistent or violate basic boundaries of appropriate behavior."2 A number of factors may directly or indirectly affect the functioning of each member or the family as a whole. Parenting styles may be considered a direct factor. One of the factors indirectly affecting its stability and the functioning of its members, on the other hand, is the television. This is based from the fact that among the habitual activities that draw members of the family together is spending time watching the television. Such occur when the perception of the art becomes a perception of the reality. Hence, television is usually secondary to other activities, affecting other activities and vice versa. Especially, nowadays that reality shows such as the "Big Brother" has invaded the TV screens where a dramatic increase of surveillance is present. The Big Brother Show showcases individuals from different localities who are chosen to live in a big house (that of Big Brother). Everything that they do is, in effect, seen on public TV. This is what Yevgeny Zamyatin (2005)3 calls surveillance in the media. Increase in surveillance in the twentieth-century has also been matched by an increase of voyeuristic entertainment, exemplified by the Orwellian titled television game show Big Brother. The entertainment value of voyeuristic surveillance has arguably rendered individuals more accepting of regulatory surveillance in their personal lives. This trend towards increasing surveillance coupled with a citizenry inured to a constant invasion of its privacy has formed the basis for a number of twentieth-century dystopian novels and films. According to Focus on the Family, "television viewing has grown steadily since the first sets were introduced in the late 1920s. American kids aged 2-18 now spend an average of 5:29 hours using media each day, with the lion's share of that attributed to TV.4 This is primarily caused by the number of changes that occurred since the first television sets were developed in the 1920s. The wobbly 24-line picture screens produced by early technology have evolved into today's high-definition TVs with nearly flawless picture quality. And there has never been more programming options available than today, thanks to cable and satellite receivers. Advances in technology opened more avenues for life as reflected on TV be made available to a larger and more complex viewers. Studies show extensive viewing may be to blame for aggressive or violent behavior, poor academic performance, precocious sexuality, obesity and substance abuse." 5 FOCUS This paper aims to establish that though the immense detrimental effects of television is undeniable, a responsible viewers' attitude such as guiding young audience specially when signs of these undesirable effects are present in shows being viewed, may in effect enhance the mental ability of the young viewer by making him more critical of the implications of what is portrayed on TV how he should respond to such manifestations. Such action should,