WEEK 7

Media Effects 2: Media & Society

The mass media can affect a child or a young adult's life negatively in terms of physically and mentally. In an article by Rosa Rios, it is stated that "..scientific studies have suggested that significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior and produces violence desensitization." Also, "..study found that children who spend more time on any media are more obese and perform fewer physical activities..". Other than that, children and young adults depend on the mass media too much to the point where they feel the need to expose themselves on every platform and every social media for recognition, validation and to gain popularity or just simply let others know how "cool" they are. It is as if, for certain, that is the only way for them to feel accepted in the society and not having his or her own stand. They wanted to live the life of a character that they saw/watch on television (TV) or YouTube videos and feel like that is what they should do.

The positive influence that contributes to the factor that mass media can affect a child and young adults is through it, they could learn more about the what is going on with the world and be more alert towards the situations. For example, on TV there are news channel and on mobile there is an application made specifically for news so that the children and young adults could spare some time to read or, to be realistic, watch and listen. It would affect the socialization in a good way where they would have something to discuss with their peers and share or extend their knowledge altogether. Besides that, in mass media, it is easy for children and young adults to educate themselves and communicate with one another and they could even do both and it will definitely increase their social skills.

References
- http://comm.soc.northwestern.edu/mshc-blog/positive-and-negative-effects-of-media-on-childrens-health-by-rosa-rios/
- https://storify.com/_Mama_Cita_/how-does-mass-media-affect-socialization-in-young