Search Institute: Archives

By Eugene C. Roehlkepartain
(From January 1992, RespecTeen newsletter)

Bombarded by Media

Television: The Electronic Parent

Music Mania

Tied to the Telephone

Managing the Media

Media Awareness Organizations

What Branches Can Do

What Congregations Can Do

The normally happy family was frustrated, worried, and upset. "How are we going to live?" queried one of the teenage children. Dinner was sullen and silent. Sleep was restless. Tempers were short.

Something must be seriously wrong, right? Actually, a simple act had created all the furor: The mother had unplugged the television, and refused to plug it back in for three weeks. The daughter threatened to go to a friend's house to watch her favorite shows. The son and dad were upset that they couldn't watch the baseball game during dinner.

"My son became surly, my daughter nasty, and my husband wandered the house trying to find something to do," reports Lee Bayers Rapp in the Christian Science Monitor. The kids even began feeling left out at school because they couldn't participate in all the conversations at school that revolved around the previous night's shows.

Return to top of page

Bombarded by Media

The Rapp family's withdrawal symptoms illustrate how addicted our culture is to the electronic media. And teenagers are at the heart of the media culture. For many, their entire world is saturated with television, music, video games, and movies (see Figure 1). According to Search Institute's study Young Adolescents and Their Parents, the average fifth to ninth grader is exposed to the media four hours each day. Consider some of the specifics:

The RespecTeen-sponsored study titled The Troubled Journey found that, on an average school day, 43 percent of males and 38 percent of females watch television three or more hours, and 30 percent of males and 43 percent of females listen to music for three or more hours.
By the time they graduate from high school, teenagers have, on average, listened to 10,500 hours of rock music, according to the Journal of the American Medical Association.
A University of Chicago study found that the average ninth-grade girl spends three hours on the phone each day, while boys in that grade spend an hour on the phone each day.

The question is: How does all this media exposure affect kids? Is it a positive or negative influence? And how can parents, teachers, church leaders, and others who care about kids control kids' exposure to the media so the media doesn't control kids? To begin answering the question, let's examine what research says about the impact of various media-particularly television, music, and the telephone-on teenagers so we can develop helpful responses.

Return to top of page

Television: The Electronic Parent

"There is little doubt that throughout America television has become a substitute for adult supervision," writes Dr. Robert Blum. Today, children and teenagers are likely to learn about family life, friendships, sexuality, health, alcohol and other drugs, gender roles, and many other parts of life through television, not their parents. "TV takes our kids across the globe before parents give them permission to cross the street," says Joshua Meyrowitz, author of No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behavior.

Though television can convey and reinforce positive values, too often it has a negative, not positive, impact-particularly when it dominates a young person's life. The Troubled Journey found that young people who watch three or more hours of television on an average school day engage in more at-risk behaviors. Other studies highlight additional concerns:

Family Relationships--Television can bring families together to watch shows and to discuss issues that arise. However, this positive possibility happens less and less often, and the tube tends to pull families apart. People watch television alone or with people their own age.

Watching television together becomes even less frequent when families have more than one TV set (which 65 percent of American households do). In families with only one television in 1980, 41 percent of viewing was likely by the entire family. In families with more than one set, family viewing fell to 36 percent. With increases in the number of TV sets in families in the past decade and the boon in cable choices, we can deduce that family viewing is less frequent now.
Reading--Contrary to a common myth, TV viewing doesn't significantly reduce involvement in many other activities such as taking lessons, visiting museums, doing hobbies, playing sports, or participating in youth organizations. However, increased TV use does decrease reading. Researchers have found that children who read the most for fun tend to watch the least television. According to one study, 36 percent of light TV viewers read for fun at least five days each week, compared to 19 percent of heavy viewers. Furthermore, 13-year-olds who watch TV one to two hours per day read best, and reading skills decline as TV watching increases.
Gender Stereotypes--Young people who watch more television are more likely to hold stereotypes of gender roles. Because television disproportionally shows men and women in traditional roles, it tends to reinforce those beliefs in young people's minds. Men are most often shown as having authority, skill, and status. When roles are reversed (such as showing a male secretary), the reversal is used for humor, not as a positive image.
Obesity and Fitness--"Television induces a vegetative state," claims researcher William H. Dietz Jr. Young people who watch five or more hours of television a day are twice as likely to be obese as their peers who watch an hour or less. Kids who watch lots of television also tend to eat more snacks. Some researchers argue that increased TV viewing is responsible for up to 25 percent of the recent increase in obesity among teenagers. Similarly, teenagers who watch more television are more likely to be in poor physical condition.
Sexuality--Sexual references are becoming increasingly common on television. One study found that, in 1985, the average teenager was exposed to between 1,900 and 2,400 sexual references on television, depending on viewing patterns. These references don't reflect positive sexual values:
- Unmarried couples engage in intercourse from four to eight times more frequently than married men and women.
- Contraceptives are rarely used, yet couples rarely get sexually-transmitted diseases, and women rarely become pregnant.
- Sexual behavior is most often connected with violence and power; rarely is it depicted in the context of a loving, committed relationship or as an expression of mutual affection.
  
  What effect do these images have on young people? Some studies suggest that high exposure to these images can result in more relaxed views on sexual promiscuity, as well as greater likelihood to trivialize rape and other sexual violence.
Violence--George Comstock writes in Television and the American Child, "The most persistent and controversial of all questions regarding television and young viewers has concerned aggressive, antisocial, or delinquent behavior, and their link, if any, with violent television entertainment." In reviewing all the research on the subject, Comstock concludes that violence on television can have a small, but socially significant, impact anti-social behavior among teenagers, depending how the violence is portrayed. The violence is more likely to influence anti-social behavior if, among other things, it is . . .
- rewarded or left unpunished;
- not commented upon critically;
- portrayed without showing the pain, suffering, and sorrow that result; or
- portrayed as realistic, not fictional or fantasy.
Alcohol Use--There is some evidence that alcohol advertising on television increases adolescent beer and wine consumption, and it may influence drunk driving as well. A study of high school males found that heavy TV watchers tend to drink more than light TV watchers, and they are much more accepting of alcohol consumption than others.

It's clear from these issues that television is a powerful force in shaping young people's views of the world. Yet these studies also show that television isn't an uncontrollable negative force. Just as television often gives negative message, it also has the power to give positive messages. Furthermore, researchers have found that giving young people opportunities to talk about television can make it an important vehicle for learning and education. The challenge, then, is to find ways to make it a positive influence, not just a negative one.

Return to top of page

Music Mania

As teenagers grow older, they spend less time watching television and more time listening to music. Between seventh and twelfth grades, the average teenager spends almost as much time listening to music as the entire number of hours spent in school since kindergarten. Older teens (15 to 19 years old) account for 25 percent of all recording sales in the United States.

Despite its widespread use, music's impact on teenagers is much less clear-and thus even more controversial-than television. This may be due, in part, to the fact that music rarely has kids' full attention; they tend to be doing something else with music in the background. It also reflects that music is so pervasive in youth culture that it's difficult to isolate music's effect.

Psychologists generally believe that music tastes reflect a teenager's personality instead of shaping it. In other words, kids choose music that reflects how they already feel about the world and themselves. One study of troubled teenagers found, for example, that heavy metal listeners tend to have a deep sense of isolation from others, while folk music lovers tend to have lower self-esteem and lack of communication with parents. Acid rock lovers show a lot of conflict and anger.

And while there's no doubt that some popular music conveys negative, harmful messages, there are questions about whether kids hear those messages. A California State University sociologist surveyed junior and senior high students about their favorite music. Only 7 percent perceived that their favorite songs were about sex, violence, drugs, or satanism. Twenty-six percent indicated that the songs were about love. And 37 percent said they didn't know what their favorite songs were about. They just like the melody or beat.

There is evidence, however, that heavy a music subculture-particularly heavy metal music-can signal problems. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, "Teenage immersion into a rock subculture may be primarily symptomatic of alienation and hostility toward adult society . . . . The music may be both a portrait of their alienation and an unflattering reflection of their perception of moral and ethical duplicity of adult society."

For most kids, however, music is a natural symbol of young people's search for independence and autonomy. Dr. Laurence Steinberg and Ann Levine conclude in You and Your Adolescent: "Today, as in the past, parents worry about the effect of music on their adolescent's behavior. . . . There is little evidence that adolescents listen to lyrics, much less use them as a guide for behavior. . . . Like light reading, music is a harmless way of escaping from everyday life and indulging fantasies. If you find your adolescent's taste in music offensive, ask them to close the door or treat yourself to a pair of headphones for them."

Perhaps even better advice would be to insist that they listen to music at reasonable volume levels. There's clear evidence that listening to loud music on personal stereos for long periods of time can cause permanent, irreversible hearing damage. "I would never tell a kid not to go to a rock concert now and then," says Dr. William W. Clark of Washington University Medical Center. "But listening to a headset at maximum volume for hours at a time . . . means trouble."

Return to top of page

Tied to the Telephone

Teenagers and telephones are the source of endless stories, constant parental complaints, and frequent jokes. Kids appear always to be on the phone talking with friends, arranging dates, planning parties. But unless telephone time interferes with homework or family time, it's probably more helpful than harmful for teenagers. Talking on the phone allows teenagers to talk about sensitive topics and to get honest feedback from a safe distance. The phone gives them a sense of privacy, while also helping them develop social skills.

Of course, these benefits are of little comfort to parents who get constant busy signals or when long-distance phone bills add up. Experts suggest that this conflict should be negotiated. Some parents add a separate phone line for the teenager (which he or she can pay for). Others add call waiting. Still others develop a phone schedule and time limits. These solutions can deal with the problem (family conflict) without cutting off the benefits for teenagers' socialization.

Return to top of page

Managing the Media

Clearly, the media is an important part of teenagers' world. The question is how best to respond to that influence. It would be impossible-and generally counterproductive-to try to isolate young people from the media. What are some better alternatives?

Use the Media as a Tool--One teacher in New Orleans uses television as a jumping-off point for young writers to develop their own stories and plots. These young people prime their own creativity by building on the creativity of the screenwriters and actors. The same approach could be applied to music and movies. Or media can become "case studies" for family, classroom, or youth group discussions of important issues.
Monitor and Limit Media Use--Most of the problems with the media occur with overuse. Selecting programming carefully and turning off the television or the radio for certain periods allows time for other activities as well as quiet time for reflection.
Help Kids Become Critical Users--Ask teenagers about the messages. Are the characters portraying negative stereotypes? Is the writing and acting creative or canned? How might the story have been written differently to show positive values? What does the incident teach us? Is a songÕs message positive or negative? These questions remind kids that the dramas, comedies, songs, and videos aren't real, and that there are other ways of looking at the world.
Use Media as Families--When parents and teenagers use media together and talk about it, young people develop critical media skills and sort out their own values in healthy ways. Keeping the television in family areas-not bedrooms or other isolated areas-makes discussion more possible and likely.
Exert Positive Influence on the Media--The media have gained much of their influence by being responsive to their audience-by "giving people what they want." When families and groups make their preferences clear by turning on or turning off various programming, they send important messages. And when they voice their opinions to producers, stations, and networks, they can have a positive impact.

Return to top of page

Media Awareness Organizations

The following organizations and resources for educators, parents, and congregations help teenagers and children use the media in appropriate ways.

Center for Media and Values--A media awareness organization that provides resources for critical media use. Publishes a quarterly magazine. (213) 559-2944.
Kidsnet--A clearinghouse for children's audio, video, radio, and television that advocates positive use of the media. The organization's primary service is an electronic mail subscription service via computer for schools, libraries, and other institutions about media programming, resources for media use, and other information. (212) 291-1400.
Media Project of the Center for Population Options--An information clearinghouse that supports positive messages about sexuality in the media. Produces resources such as Talking With TV, a guide for parents and teenagers to make television a conversation starter about issues of sexuality. (818) 766-3561.
Parents' Choice--A quarterly newspaper that reviews various media (including television and music) suitable for families and children. (617) 965-5913.
Parents Music Resource Center--An organization dedicated to address concerns about lyrics in popular music through education and advocacy. It seeks to raise consciousness about levels of violence, racism, brutality toward women, glamorization of alcohol and other drugs in lyrics, music videos, and stage shows. (701) 527-9466.

Return to top of page

What Branches Can Do

Lutheran Brotherhood branches can raise awareness about media concerns and promote healthy media use in a number of ways:

Promote RespecTeen's "Straight to Parents" PSA Contest--By getting involved in producing public service announcements, kids learn to understand and use the media critically. In addition, the PSAs themselves add positive messages to the media.
Sponsor Media Awareness Workshops--Help parents and teenagers set mutually satisfying guidelines. Let parents and teenagers hear and learn from each other.
Provide Resources--Encourage parents, educators, and church leaders to take advantage of the organizations listed in Figure 2. Provide media reviews to interested people.
Promote Positive Media--Most homes have video cassette recorders (VCRs). Offer some of the numerous videos available through RespecTeen for family and church use.
Become Advocates for Positive Values--Applaud producers, networks, and stations when their offerings reflect healthy values. Challenge them when offerings are offensive.

Return to top of page

What Congregations Can Do

Churches can respond to the media's influence in many of the same ways branches can make a difference. In addition, congregations can:

Sponsor Family Movie Nights--Watch movies together, then lead discussions about the movie. These events give families practice in using the media critically.
Use Media in Programming--Choose a top-40 song that reflects (or even contradicts) a discussion topic to be a discussion starter for a youth group meeting or parent meeting.
Publish Music and Movie Reviews--Focus on the values being promoted. Include discussion questions for families. A movie or music buff in the congregation would be delighted to be your "critic." Or simply clip and post reviews from denominational or ecumenical magazines.

Return to top of page