Thursday, August 19th 2010
Today we happen to live in a world consumed by technology and progress. Television has taken a part of or lives up to the point where most people own a TV at home. The exposure to our parents or to what we see in our early years affects one’s behavior. O, couldn’t it be said that such a big exposure to anything in particular (especially something that we find appealing) could in fact shape our values? Could the change in family values be a result of the great increase in the exposure to certain material provided by TV?
When we look at a particular family or just at the word family as a term we think of a mother, father, and kids. TV today has changed this term, where most of the members of the family are not present. Lets take for example “Dora the Explorer”, which ahs been a huge hit in children television show today. If one notices closely, you can see that this child is viewed as “the most intelligent” in the show and there are no parents around whatsoever. Right there we can see how since as early as three to four years of age children are exposed to cartoons, which show little or no family life at all. This can be confusing to a child because the girl happens to be as small as them but she can actually do whatever she wants without having parental supervision or consent. So, in terms this affects the way a child perceives the importance of family itself in his or her life, lowering the importance of family unity and their values.
Parents are also known as being stupid or absent. For example in “the fairy Godparents”, shows how a small boy has imaginary Godparents as a result of neglecting parents. This again, showing young kids how parents are and giving them a stereotype of what parents are all about. The parents are also shown to be a lot less intelligent that their son, which once again confuses the child when determining where to go for guidance. These being an example of what children are exposed to and how it may affect their views and family values.
Children happen to carry the key to the passing on of family values to the next generation. Therefore the exposure to such shows pushes them away from family unity and confuses them when it comes to understanding what family unity is all about. They learn, through the exposure of TV, that parents are stupid and untrustworthy. So how could children trust what their parents tell them if they are shown that they are smarter than their parents? Is TV a major contributor to the decrease in family values? Absolutely; it shows children a wrong image of family, decreasing the quality time with their parents. Can we really trust all we see? These shows look innocent but the exposure to its contents can lead to misinterpretation and as a result the family values as we know them are dissolved.
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