Television & Children

When I think about something that really caught my eye about chapter two I would have to say it was the information about television and children. I personally believe that television can have a major effect on children because the mind is still developing. I thought it was interesting that as early as the 1950s a study was preformed by Wilbur Schramm and his colleagues at Stanford University. The text said that most children begin watching television when they are two years old and are regular viewers by the time they are three.



These statistics to me are very eye catching. A three year old is very impressionable and picks up a lot more than what you would think. Many people when thinking about a three year old would think that three is an age where they are still very “baby” like and television cannot have that huge of an effect.
However, three is an age when the child can walk and talk and is a time when they learn basic skills and develop a lot of knowledge of what is right and wrong. They repeat back phrases of songs that they heard in the car, they can tell you why the power rangers are so awesome, and most of them can tell you why they love Hannah Montana on the Disney channel.


Wilbur Schramm said, “From ages three through sixteen children are likely to devote more time to television than to any other activity except sleep.”

This quote is hard to think about because to me it is somewhat sad. However, when I read this quote I thought right away that it was most likely true. I know that Wilbur did this study in the 1950s but I think even more so now adults can abuse the television and use it as a babysitting tool.


When I was younger I remember going to my grandmother’s house where my dad lived and anytime I would say I was bored the response was to go put in a movie. When children are young they are still very impressionable and school work isn’t something they hate. I think if the response would have been lets work on an activity book or lets color would have been more beneficial. Learning these skills at an early age are so helpful and probably would have done more good then watching different tapes of Barney’s Adventures.




The text also stated that children with high IQs tend to be heavy television viewers when they are young but light viewers as they get older. Then it said less intelligent viewers showed the opposite pattern. The conclusion I gathered from this are the children that maybe need that extra push towards school and academics are actually the ones that tend to be watching hours of television daily. It said by the age of twelve the kids were averaging four hours of television a day.

Four hours a day to me seems like a lot of television. If you think about an average day for a school aged child they are at school from anywhere between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. so if they began watching television right when they came home and watched for four hours straight it is already 7 p.m. when do these kids have time for anything else? It seems as though television replaces any other activity or hobby that they might want to do. As someone who works with children and only wants them to succeed and do great things in life these statistics are sad and for the kids sake I hope that they are not true for a lot of children.

International Student Tell All

Finally, I have my blog looking somewhat decent. I was beginning to question whether or not I am really part of Generation Y. Anyway, enjoy the new layout.


When we were first given the assignment to interview an international student to find out about how the media is in their country I knew immediately who I wanted to interview. My friend Teia who is a junior here at LU is from the Bahamas. She and I frequently talk about her home compared to America. First I asked her some questions about what the celebrities are like in her country because I realize that everyone here seems to be infatuated with Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, and Angelina Jolie. So my question is it like this in the Bahamas?

She said in the Bahamas celebrities are not huge like they are here in the United States. Caribbean music is the choice over American artist. However, there are some popular cross over artists but they are mainly rappers like 2Pac, Lil’ Wayne. She also said that Beyonce is popular as well. Teia tells me again and again that really movies, music, and entertainment and what people are interested in really depends on the person you are talking to everyone has their own opinion. When movies are released in the Bahamas there are not only American movies but movies from around the world. She said they show movies that are released world wide and often they show a lot of Canadian movies. When I asked her if she learned everything about American culture from movies and TV she answered with a quick “no.” Teia told me that the Bahamas is so diverse that she never only learned about American cultures. Often she would learn a lot about many different kinds of people. I asked her about the news and what she learned about America. She said in most cases she would hear Bahamian news first and then hear about other cultures news.

The news stories she would hear about the United States were almost always about politics more than anything else. Teia also remembered hearing about big US news such as 9/11 and hurricane Katrina. She said that it was huge news there but she believes that those stories were big world wide. She also noted that it is ironic how anything that is a big problem in the US will make world wide news however, if there is huge problem that is newsworthy in a third world country most of the time it is not covered in the United States.

When I asked her about the upcoming American Presidential election she said that Barack Obama is well known in the Bahamas and many people there are hoping that he is the next American President.
From my interview I gathered that American media is not a huge power everywhere as it is in the United States. However, I think the Bahamas have maybe more freedom as far as media then other countries so maybe that is why American media doesn’t play a huge part in their lives.

Just for fun I thought I would add some music videos from the popular music people. Really America should be so proud of these artists like Lil’ Wayne.
Just a warning this isn't censored.

Is There Something Wrong With My Generation?

As I am sitting here typing my blog I am surrounded by other people in the computer lab. While I type I have my i-pod in my ears and my phone close by. I am surrounded by technology and it is so normal.
Then when I watch the 60 minutes episode I say “that’s not me.” The way my generation was described on that show I felt like other generations look down on us because we are “lazy”. It gave the impression that no one in my generation is capable of holding down a full time job and that we all have to be bribed in order to work hard and to have a constant flow of new ideas. I personally feel like this isn’t true at all. I know that I can only speak for myself but I have always felt like I am a hard worker and have a decent work ethic. Although I do not think I would have to work at a place that throws parties all the time like what we saw in the video I guess it would be a cool experience.
It is weird to hear the older generations talk about the somewhat special treatment my generation is getting. However, I feel like my generation is so different because there are more corporate jobs and many jobs where you are in front of a computer or in an office all day. I think the work force is adapting to changes. The forty hour work week is different now because the jobs are different. So maybe the problem is not completely with my generation but just with the changing times and people have trouble adapting to that.
There are some things that I do completely agree with when talking about my generation in relation to the media. I think it is probably correct when it said that we never buy a newspaper, or magazine. I don’t think it is because we don’t care about the information that is being offered but we are able to find these things online for free. I can always go to stl today website for local news or if I want to hear about the latest celebrity gossip I can go to People magazine website and find the same stories online that are in the magazine. I would also agree that there is a lot of pressure from other generations for my generation to succeed. In the past it seemed as though a college education was optional. However, today, although higher education is still an option a bachelor’s degree does not even seem to be enough. My parents never went to college and they both have the impression that my college degree is a golden ticket. I feel like with every generation there will be differences it is just all about learning to adapt.
As I think about advantages our generation has with the internet I am pretty sure that I spend a lot of time looking at pointless things. For example, this video of this little boy laughing has already taken up a minute of my life but it is hilarious. Other generations weren't lucky enough to have videos like these to pass the time!