Popular Culture Affects Children Today Research Paper

In fact, it is interesting to note that violent television and video games become more likely to lead to aggression in children as they get older (Krcmar, 1998, p. 251). Factors that cause this include the fact that from new-born to the age of eight, children pay an increasing amount of visual attention to television. This increase levels off at the age of eight. Moreover, as they get older, children appear to grow increasingly likely to identify with television characters. This may be because they become more cognitively sophisticated, and thus can better understand what they are watching. Krcmar (1998, p. 251) notes that these changes may partly explain the fact that as children grow older, the likelihood that viewing violent television will result in increased aggressive behaviours becomes higher. They also become increasingly desensitized to media violence as they age. There seems to be little doubt that exposure to violent television and videogames leads to the development of aggression in some children and some adolescents.

However, it must be borne in mind that there is no simple causal relationship between exposure to violent media and the development of aggression in children and adolescents. And here functionalist perspective is helpful in understanding this phenomenon. There are many nuances, even within perceived correlations. For example, the way in which children will process and interpret violence in media is affected by whether they think the acts of violence are justified. This in turn can be influenced by the child's individual personality, as well as by the degree of input from other family members, especially parents (Krcmar, 1998). So, it is more of dysfunction of other social factors than the propagation of popular culture through television and video games.

By looking at it from an interactionist perspective, researchers can see that most children know that popular culture can be bad. They know that money is the primary incentive for much popular culture. Most children know the difference between right and wrong. They know what is good and what propagated values are bad. Children have good values deep down in their psyche. The adult fears of the media are not really fears of the media but fear that their children will imitate acts of violence and become sexually active and materialistic. There is a false assumption that children cannot tell the difference between entertainment and reality. But that is not always the case.

It is popular to think today that propagation of media images is a threat to children and that children are subsequently a threat to society. While media is a part of American culture, media is not the root cause of America's social problems. Instead, our anxieties about a changing world, uncertain future and seemingly unsolvable ills are blamed on popular culture, which serves as a visible target when the real causes are harder to pin down. On close analysis, it is argued that actual violence and possibly promiscuity are the result of poverty, family violence, child abuse and neglect, lack of quality education and health care. These are problems that merit public attention before blaming popular culture. The explanation that popular culture creates a culture of violence diverts us from explaining the deeper questions about how young people in good learning institutions may feel alienated and turn to violence (Sternheimer, 2003).

References

Behrman, Richard E., Culross, Patti L., & Reich, Kathleen. (2002). "Children, youth, and gun violence: Analysis and recommendations," the future of children, 12(2)( 5.

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Krcmar, Marina. (1998). The contribution of family communication patterns to children's interpretations of television violence. Journal of broadcasting & electronic media, 42(2), 250.

Macionis, John (2010) Social Problems, 4th Edition. Boston: Prentice Hall.

Potter, W. James, & Smith, Stacy. (2000). The context of graphic portrayals of television violence. Journal of broadcasting & electronic…