Introduction
In this chapter students learned about socialization and the role it plays in human development. The family, school, peer groups, and the media all are a part of socializing young people. In this activity students will take a closer look at the role of one type of mass media—television—in the socialization of children.

Lesson Description
Students will visit the Mediascope Web site to view various articles related to television and its effects on children and society. After answering several questions about the material, students will prepare a log of negative and positive stories covered on the local news for one week.

Instructional Objectives

1. Students will be able to describe how children process television.
2. Students will be able to identify the consequences of viewing media violence.

Student Web Activity Answers

1. The majority of children do not believe that the news media exaggerate stories about violence and crime. They do, however, see a negative image of themselves portrayed by the news, and most get tired of seeing so much negative news coverage. In one survey, more than half of the children reported feeling angry, sad, depressed, or afraid after watching the news.
2. They become full-fledged "viewers" at around age two-and-a-half. At this stage they are increasingly able to pay attention to and extract meaning from what they watch, and they are likely to imitate the behavior they see and hear.
3. Three major harmful effects of viewing media violence are learning aggressive attitudes and behaviors; becoming desensitized toward real world violence; and becoming afraid of being victimized, leading to a mistrust of others.
4. When there are no consequences to violence or when it goes unpunished, many in the audience will perceive the act to have been rewarded, and aggression may increase. When violence is needed to tell a story, it is important to show consequences. For children, because they do not have the capacity to connect acts that take place over time, it is essential that the outcome of violence occur directly after the act. Violence that is rewarded or violence that is not punished increases the likelihood of learning aggression in children and adults. Violence that is punished decreases that risk.
5. Students' logs and conclusions may vary.

Go To Student Web Activity