The Impact of Television youth

Introduction

Television is the powerful electronic medium of communication and no

one can deny the universality of its influence. This topic focuses mainly
on the impacts caused by the television on our youth.At present,
television is the powerful electronic medium of communication and no
one can deny the universality of its influence. The television has greatly
changed the human life and has great impact on human life. But, still the
impact of television on the younger generation is especially noticeable
and this generation is more susceptible to the impacts of the television
whether they are good ones or bad ones. Television is the medium
which shapes the thoughts of the younger generation in day-to-day life.
Television channels telecast number of programme out of which some
are really very good while others are not. In such condition, the negative
programs easily attract the young generation towards them.Though the
television set has many disadvantages, if used properly, it can be utilize
for the benefit of youth and the entire society as a whole.Numerous
studies and surveys have proven just how much television can be a bad
influence on our youth. Many youth become violent, have severe
psychological effects, and become very unhealthy.it is slowly corrupting
the minds of our youth It also encourages teen violence, sex, drugs,
inappropriate language, and bullying.

Television is one of the most interactive medium of communication. In

today’s world whether it is a child or an old man, everyone has some or
the other favourite show on television. Also due to the up gradation
of technology television is no more a commodity which is owned by only
the urban sector.Even rural families have access to television. Since it is
reaching such a large number of people thus it has a major impact on
the lives of these people. As any other medium of communication
television also has its pros and cons. Initially when television was
launched one of the major impacts of television was that it brought a
family close to each other. As TVs were little expensive initially and also

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with a limited shows on air a bunch of people used to sit together. But
slowly and steadily with the advent of technology and more and more
choices available catering to the demands of every sector of the society
television sets reversed the above concept entirely. Now each room of a
house may have a separate television set. Thus kids sit, watch, eat, drink,
and play in their room and parents do the same in their room. Thus
television has both negative and positive effects on society.

Today youth indeed is on the verge of collapse of all the things they
watch on T.V that contains highly adult stuff. As per my opinion there is
a line between good and bad T.V which is not getting narrower anytime
soon. Of course, youth are the victims of television. And it is scientifically
proven that humans learn from virtual images , videos more easily than
textbooks. So what youth watch leaves a great impact on them . As we
can see, television is playing a very big role in our life. Television has its
good side. It can be entertaining and educational, and can open up new
worlds for children, giving them a chance to travel the globe, learn about
different cultures, and gain exposure to ideas they may never encounter
in their own community.

Everything with television and electronics has limited the amount of

real-life social interactive. Television, texting, videogames, and the
internet have all limited outside interaction. Life is about living each day
throughout new experiences and when someone is bottled up in their
home talking to people through these electronics, they do not develop
the same relations like they would face to face with a person. Television
has started brain washing the children of our future, and with every
generation, children and teenagers are getting lazier and lazier.

Television has had a major impact on the youth. In terms of violence,

health and sex related issues. Over the past two decades, hundreds of
studies have examined how violent programming on TV affects children
and young people. While a direct "cause and effect" link is difficult to
establish, there is a growing consensus that some people may be
vulnerable to violent images and messages. Also a check needs to be

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kept on kids who behave aggressively after watching a particular show.
Since, these days’ people are so much into television the biggest concern
is that they sit in front of the TV set for hours thus most of their precious
time is spent sitting and munching without doing any physical activity
because of which kids suffer from various health problems at a very
young age. Kids today are bombarded with sexual messages and images
in all media—television, magazines, advertisements, music, movies and
the Internet. Parents are often concerned about whether these
messages are healthy. While television can be a powerful tool for
educating young people about the responsibilities and risks of sexual
behaviour, such issues are seldom mentioned or dealt with in a
meaningful way in programmes containing sexual content.

Objective - Impact of television on youth how the televison influence

the viewer.There are some positive and negative impact of television on
youth.

Positive Impact of Television on Youth- TV is not bad. When

exposed to the right shows or programs, your child can learn good
things. Research indicates that television can have a positive impact on
children. It can help them change their behavior and attitude for good.
Here are some more ways in which TV can have a positive influence on
kids.

1. Educational Content
A few television channels are dedicated to creating educational and
informative content for the audience, especially children. Sesame Street,
for example, is one such program which is aimed at preschoolers.There
are a few channels that broadcast only educational content covering
subjects like art and craft, science, history, geography and math. TV is
also a great medium that exposes children to different languages around
the world.

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Allowing your children to watch news channels, with a little guidance,
will help them stay updated with the current affairs and names of
significant people in the world.

2. Entertainment
TV is one of the primary sources of entertainment for kids. The sounds
and colorful images on the screen appeal to children and also retain
their attention. From movies to cartoon shows, there are several
programs to keep children engaged.

However, make sure that the content is appropriate for your kids, based
on their age and level of understanding.

3. Sports
The best way to expose your kids to sports is through TV. Encourage
them to watch different sports like tennis, soccer, baseball and
basketball, by co-viewing with them. Tell them about the gameplay,
rules and other interesting facts about the sport. If they show interest in
any, encourage them to play the game or sport.

4. Exposure to different cultures

Television lets you travel around the world without you ever having to
step out of your home. It takes your child to different countries and
educates them about various cultures in the world. With the right choice
of programs, your child can learn about people and their traditions,
lifestyles and attitudes.

5. Television Can Inspire

TV shows aimed at young children and adolescents are not only
educational but also inspiring. Educational TV programs encourage
children to try new things. For example, a TV show about creative fun
can inspire a child to try something new with clay, paints or paper.
Likewise, a documentary about famous scientists, artists and other
public figures can also inspire them to do good deeds or achieve
something big in life.

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With more and more ways of viewing TV available we now have access
to a plethora of both good quality and inappropriate TV content. In this
crowded television environment, the key is to provide young children
with a guided viewing experience and to model and teach them the
critical thinking skills they need to be active, engaged viewers.

Television offers lots of benefits to kids:

 Because of its ability to create powerful touchstones, TV enables

young people to share cultural experiences with others.
 TV can act as a catalyst to get kids reading—following up on TV
programs by getting books on the same subjects or reading authors
whose work was adapted for the programs.
 Television can teach kids important values and life lessons.
 Educational programming can develop young children’s socialization
and learning skills.
 News, current events and historical programming can help make
young people more aware of other cultures and people.
 Documentaries can help develop critical thinking about society and
the world.
 TV can help introduce youth to classic Hollywood films and foreign
movies that they might not otherwise see.
 Cultural programming can open up the world of music and art for
young people.

Negative Impact of Televsion on Youth - Excess television viewing

can influence children’s physical and mental health. On one hand, it
could affect badly children’s physical health. It is easy for children to be
myopic if they watch TV more than two hours in a day. Children will
spend less time on sports and TV time also takes away from participating
in sports, music, art or other activities that require practice to become
skillful. And they may have high caloric intake if they are watching TV at

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dinner. A person would burn fewer calories while watching TV than
when just sitting quietly, doing nothing. So it may contribute to obesity
problems. Children who watch more TV are more likely to be
overweight. TV is a bigger factor than diet. Estimates of risk indicate that
more 60% of overweight incidence in this population can be linked to
excess television viewing time. Many TV ads encourage unhealthy eating
habits. Two-thirds of the 20,000 TV ads an average child sees each year
are for food and most are for high-sugar foods. After-school TV ads
target children with ads for unhealthy foods and beverages, like fast
food and sugary drinks. On the other hand, watching TV has bad
influence on children’s mental health, too. Children who are addicted to
TV are hard to communicate with their family members and classmates.

There are many serials that has positive impacts on the human thoughts
like Ramayana and Mahabharata while several other serials have
negative impacts too. The advertisements attract them while the reality
shows and interviews of television stars enchant them. There are some
channels especially music channels that show romantic dances and
erotic songs. These things easily spread their magic on the younger
generation, especially teenagers as their mental ability is too tender to
resist these things.

Obviously, there are some academic programmes on news channels as

well as on channels like 'Discovery', 'National geographic' etc. Television
has become so powerful that it plays a decisive role in shaping the
attitud e, character, personality and the ability of the youth to look at
the things. But unfortunately, the things are not going right. The
television channels have
adopted the policy of telecasting the cheap and sensational programmes
that will attract more and more youngsters to them. The interest of
these channels is just commercial and economic. These channels also
telecast some programmes like 'Aahat' that generate the
superstitiousness in the youngsters even in this age of science. The
television channels are busy in displaying violence, mysteries of
murders, human tendencies of commiting crimes, glorification of sex
and some other things which definitely have negative impact on our
present generation.

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Psychological effects

Research shows that watching television starting at a young age can

profoundly affect children's development. These effects include obesity,
language delays, and learning disabilities. Physical inactivity while
viewing TV reduces necessary exercise and leads to over-eating.
Language delays occur when a child doesn't interact with others.
Children learn language best from live interaction with parents or other
individuals. Resulting learning disabilities from over-watching TV include
ADHD, concentration problems and even reduction of IQ. Children who
watch too much television can thus have difficulties starting school
because they aren't interested in their teachers. Children should watch a
maximum of 2 hours daily if any television.
Many scientific studies has been published about the embedded use of
subliminal messages in songs, video and digital TV, trying to manipulate
the choices of watchers and the public opinion. This point of view has
hold up some countries to approve law, with the purpose of protecting
citizens and their children.

Health effects

Studies in both children and adults have found an association between

the number of hours of television watched and obesity .A study found
that watching television decreases the metabolic rate in children to
below that found in children at rest.TV watching and other sedentary
activities are associated with greater risk of heart attack, diabetes,
Cardiovascular disease, and death.

The Impact of Television Advertisements on Youth

"Today's youth are no fools and are far more sophisticated than they
were 20 years ago, when many of today's youth advertising guidelines
were written", says Jerry Mc Gee who ran perhaps the largest
advertising agency. Marketing to the youth is a delicate issue. Because of
the combination of color, sound and action, television attracts more

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viewers than any other medium (with the exception of cinema). TV is
perceived as a persuasive medium of communication. Moreover, the
youth is treated `special' audience. Besides these, gender-focus, gender-
orientation are used as advertising techniques and strategies. These
factors have provided the motivation to write this research paper.

Youth are considered to be passive viewers who watch all that flits
across the screen, and swallow every message. It may not be true. They
deserve special attention because they are prone to accept and orient
their views of life according to the dictates of TV programs and the
advertisements shown on TV. At the same time a good number of them
are often smart enough to see through the tall and misleading claims of
advertisers. Several brands are targeted specifically at the youth. In the
Indian context, however the purchasing power of the majority of
youngsters is limited that most advertising has little relevance to their
buying behaviour. The impact the TV has on them depends on many
factors such as- how much they watch, their age and personality,
whether they watch alone or with adults, and whether their parents talk
with them about what they see on TV. Advertising is useful not only for
the advertiser but also for the consumer. It provides the advertiser a
mechanism to interact commercially, economically and conveniently
with the target audience. It also provides the consumer the knowledge
about products and the launch of new products.

A young age group of 18-21, youngsters in India is a regular viewer of

television. They spend most of their free time in front of television,
watching programs and channels of their choice. The majority of young
generation believes television advertisements to be informative and
most of them respond to them favorably. Marketers, who take
advantage of young people's power to influence family purchase, choose
commercials or television programmes that reach children or teenage
youth together with their parents .The teenagers have become a strong
influencing group and even have the ability to influence the purchase
decisions in the family from cakes to cars.

The marketing of unhealthy products, including unhealthy food as well

as alcohol and tobacco, is linked to various negative outcomes for
youth.Research show that food marketing increases children immediate

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and future consumption, food brand preferences are influenced by
product placements and advergames, and childhood obesity is related to
viewing commercial television

Youth exposure to alcohol advertising also delivers unhealthy

consequences. Alcohol advertising increases the likelihood that
adolescents will start to use alcohol and increases consumption among
adolescents who already drink alcohol.This is particularly concerning
because early alcohol use increases the risk of future alcohol
dependence.
Although tobacco marketing has been banned from television for more
than 40 years, youth exposure to television advertising for electronic
cigarettes(e- cigarettes) doubled from 2011 to 2013. contrary to the
suggested positive aspects discussed by the manufacturers, research
shows that e-cigarette use does not prevent and may increase
conventional cigarette use among adolescents.
If we look further into, television progams do indeed affect the attitude
of today youth as it enhances negative social development amongst
Youth, which may lead to aggressive or violent behavior, and they tend
to affect self- development and self-esteem.

Research Objective-

 To study the attitude of today’s youth towards television programs.

 To identify how television targets our children to stay hooked up.4

Objective Research Questions

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To identify how television targets
children instantly
Q1:what is serial strategy to keep
audience hooked up to television?
Q2: why people show interest in watching
same serials further episode?
Q3:what is so appealing in tv programs?
Q4:How TV serials is boon or cures to
mankind?
Q5:what are the purposes to watch TV
serials on regular bases?

To study the attitude of today’s Q1:How television creates awareness

youth affected by television amongst youth?
programs. Q2:what are the social aspects of
television relevant to society?
Q3:How television helps the children in
distance education?
Q4:Why adult education programs are
meant for an audience?
Q5:How television helps in providing
ethics & moral values to youth?

Hypothesis

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 Objectives Hypothesis

To study the attitude of today’s Aggressive attitudes,values and

youth affected by television behavior can be increased by
programs. watching entertainment violence,
particularly in children.

To identify how television targets Television is used as a source of

children instantly. knowledge and healthy
entertainment and encourage
today’s youth to watch programs
that reinforce family values.

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 Literature Review on the topic

Ali HASSAN, Muhammad DANIYAL

Islamia University of Bahawalpur, PAKISTAN

Introduction

Television is the most powerful and influential medium of

communication around the globe. Due to its powerful effect, most
advertisers rely on television for advertisement of their products to
attract the teenagers as they are their target audience in most of the
cases. This is due to the fact that teenagers are easy to be persuaded to
buy any particular product which is being advertised on television. In the
same manner, overall television viewing influences the life style of
adolescents in different manners.
The adolescents in America spend on the average 28 hours per week in
watching television (UNESCO statement, 26th July 2000). Thus television
is the most powerful medium which affects through its content i.e.,
infotainment. The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of T.V
programs and ads on attitude, behavior and life style of adolescents.
An ideal advertising is aimed at providing positive information in order
to gain commercial benefits through a stylish, attractive and refined
way, which can persuade and compel the users to buy the product
which is being advertised (Kotler & Armstrong, 1993). T.V ads are very
vital in expansion of business, especially in marketing. As television is
the most popular medium due to its sound with picture, it is the best
tool for selling brands and services.
It is often said that a picture can tell more than thousand words, that’s
why television advertisements are the best to demonstrate the product
in an attractive manner. Television contents saved in the minds of
viewers with jingles 28 and voices of different characters, which seem to

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be attached with a particular product, being advertised. Positive and
negative impact of television contents may vary from child to child. It
might be harmful for one and useful for other (Cantor, 1998). Food
preferences of children depend on T.V ads. There is a positive
relationship between advertisements of eatables memorized by children
and different food items like soft drinks, savory snakes, noodles and
biscuits that children eat . Children often try to imitate the models
presented in advertisements because they are appeared on T.V as smart,
attractive, powerful and having a profligate life style. Children who
spend more time in watching T.V become obese because they are lazy
and do not like to have any physical exertion. Moreover they take food
which is high in fat and sugar which is the main factor in obesity .
Violence in television programs and movies is creating social problems
as many children tend to follow those violent and dreadful contents
which are not acceptable and recognized by society and their families
because their families follow somewhat traditional life style.Its almost
impossible that the childhood purity and innocence can become intact, if
children are exposed to violent and adult contents which are being
presented in T.V programs (Jo-sephson, 1995). It is to be claimed that
children eating habit can be influenced by television advertisements. The
brand awareness injects sense of security to the lives of these children.
Advertisement is aimed to promote different products and its features
but if someone perceives differently, it may have larger sociological
influence (Barron et al., 1989). On average a child views almost 12
thousand violent scenes on televisions per year, majority of them are of
murder and sex scenes. Excessive exposure to the violent contents of T.V
programs, as highlighted in more than thousand studies, may make the
boys more hostile (Johnson et al., 2002). Young children get inspiration
more than any other age group from the T.V commercials, as they
believe what they see. The liking for advertisement by the children
depends upon simplicity and 29 clarity of the message being presented
in the advertisements (Rice & Woods-mall, 1988). There is a lot research
work on the inter-relationship between watching violent programs and
aggressive attitude of the viewers especially children. Due to children
importance in buying decision, advertisers target the children not only in
homes but also in classrooms and schools (Barcus, 1980). A single
advertisement may effect a little whereas repeated exposure to
advertisement may create a strong will for the advertised product as
compared to others (Robertson & Rossiter, 1979). In addition to
advertisement, the purchasing decision can be influenced by parents,

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teachers, friends and direct experience. Other factors may include
socioeconomic status and cultural background of the children and also
the education levels their parents (Galst & White, 1976). There are two
paradigms of the research on effects of advertising on children, the one
is empowered child and other is vulnerable child paradigm. Children are
considered as skilled consumers, in empowered child paradigm, which
can critically evaluate the message being presented in the
advertisement. Children are more vulnerable to the seductive influence
of advertisement than adults. On the other hand the vulnerable child
paradigm tries to find out the harmful effects of advertisements on
children and how to intact them from these effects. A longitudinal study
of teenagers shows that advertisements have both short term and long
term effects on the materialistic attitude and values of adolescents
(Moore, 2004) Shin (2004) in his study on television viewing and its
effect on the performance of the students established three hypotheses
for its negative impact.
The first hypothesis is the time displacement which means that
television watching diverts the students from the intellectual thinking,
which is why the performance and grades of students are affected.
Another hypothesis named as the mental-effect hypothesis in which
watching television can lead to the laziness of the mind. Shin proved that
watching television do not requires more mental attention as compared
to other form of communication i.e., reading and 30 writing, which
mean that less mental capabilities are utilized during television viewing
than any other activity. The third hypothesis is arousal hypothesis which
concludes that television viewing can deteriorate the academic
performance as it encourages spontaneous behaviors and discourage
sustained activities. The third hypothesis also concluded that television
viewing can lead to damage the intellectual process of the children as
the result children are fail to concentrate on their studies in classroom.
Effects of television programs on students, depends upon the amount of
television they watch. the research showed that there does not exist a
negative relationship between watching television and the performance
of the students in their classroom until they start watching more than 10
hours or more per week and the situation will be worsen when the
mount of watching television exceeds than 30 hours or more per week
(Thompson & Austin, 2003). In the other research it is concluded that
there is a positive impact of watching television until react to a particular
level, but can have a negative impact if it exceeds to a certain level.
Television programs like action movies, cartoons and music may have a

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negative impact on their (students) minds which can result in decrease
of their academic performance and grades.

Literature Review - 2

A study on TV advertising and low income children suggested that even

one exposure to a commercial produced favorable attitudes towards the
advertised product. Additional exposures were necessary,however, to
influence the children to expend more effort than the control group to
obtain the advertised product.(Gerald J. Gorn Marvin E. Goldberg)

Recent research has shown that connections between children playing

violent video games can cause later aggressive behavioral problems. In
retrospect studies have also shown a twelve percent increase in
aggressive behavior after watching violent television as well. Some
parents ans psychologists have said that there are children who benefit
from the proficiency and coordination of playing video game while other
disagree. Critics of video games claim that watching violent television is
less detrimental due to the children not physically playing out the
violence. Research has also shown heavy viewers, which is four or more
hours a day, putin less effort at school, have pooer reading skills, play
less friendly with friends, have fewer hobbies and activities, and are
more likely to be overweight. The American psychological association
says there are three major effects of watching violence in the media
(i.e.: video games/television) children may become less sensitive to the
pain and suffering of others, children may be more fearful of the world
around them, and children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or
hurtful ways towards others.

A new self- report measure of children’s attitudes toward TV advertising

is described. The self- report scale was administered to 300 8- to- 10-
year-old children, and their parents completed a questionnaire

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evaluating socio-economic status, educational level, and peer influence.
Result of a factor analysis supported three identifiable factors reflecting
theoretically based constructs of children attitude towards TV
advertising: enjoyment, credence and behavioral-intention. The scale
showed good convergent validity and internal consistency. Credence of
TV advertising decrease significantly across age groups. Environmental
factors also are significant predictors of children attitude towards TV
advertising. The implications of the findings for future of theoretical and
empirical development of research in this field are discussed.
(Dr.Gail Gross)

Questionnaire

Name – Gender-
Occupation - Age –

Q1 Do you think electronic media project violence?

Yes- No-

Q2 Is media important for a better society?

Yes- No-

Q3 How much hours do you spend watching TV in a day?

 Less than 2 hrs.

 2-3 hrs.
 4-6 hrs.
 More than 6 hrs.

Q4 Which category of shows do you enjoy to watch?

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  Reality shows
 Television serials
 News channels
 Sports

Q5 Do you think the TV makes an impact over your behavior or in your routine work?

Yes No

Q6 Do you think there are certain things fake in reality shows?

Yes No

Q7 Form past few year the rate of murder and kidnapping has increased , Do you
think TV shows have influence the youngsters in participating in such crime?

Yes No

Q8 Name any 3 TV serials which you should be continued for the sake of
entertainment and time pass?

 Big Boss
 Splitsvilla
 Rising Star
 Daily soaps

Q9 Do you think reality TV purposefully aimed towards a specific audience?

Yes No

Q10 Do you try to imitate your favorite TV celebrity?

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 Yes No

Q11 Do you have any suggestions on how we can protect youth against TV serial
exploitation?

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