Tanya Batson, staff reporterE. B. White, children's writer, predicted that television "is going to be the test of the modern world... We shall stand or fall by television". A local study conducted by Dr. Maureen Samms-Vaughan and published by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) suggests that at this stage, the Jamaican society is more likely to fall by television than stand because of it.
The recent study suggests that spending hours glued to the tube can do more than ruin your eyes. The results of Dr. Samms-Vaughn's study have linked large amounts of television watching to learning and behavioural problems in Jamaican children.
The study focused on behaviour patterns in 11 and 12 year-olds. Their cognitive skills and educational achievement were considered. These factors were examined in relation to the socio-economic status, family environment and exposure to violence, as well as health and nutrition of the children in the study.
Television has long become one of the major sources of entertainment in today's society. Despite this or rather because of its influential position television has constantly come under scrutiny. It has often been questioned whether television is responsible for the increased violence and/or decreased morality along with several other ills which continue to plague society.
Particular programmes have often found themselves the target of social outcry. For example Comedy Central met much resistance when it decided to air South Park, the animated series which deals with the exploits of four foul-mouthed children. The show first aired with the disclaimer that no-one should watch the show for any reason.
Beavis and Butthead, the MTV comic teenager slacker icons, also met with their own share of controversy. In fact, their fiery (huh, huh, huh, fire! cool!) obsessions were once blamed for a young boy's burning his little sister to death.
On the other hand, the Fox network animated series The Simpsons, has constantly satirised the effects of watching too much television. Not only does the fact that the Simpson children are being brought up by their television set account for Bart's anti-social tendencies, it is also to be blamed for his lack of a short-term memory.
The crimes that television has been accused of, do not stop at children. David Koppel, in Massaging the Medium: Analysing and Responding to Media Violence Without Harming the First Amendment, notes that different shows have been linked with several violent crimes. His theory is that by watching television about fictional foul deeds, potential criminals get inspiration. Among the famous criminals who were supposedly inspired by celluloid is John Hinckley, who attempted to shoot United States President Ronald Reagan based on the encouragement he received from watching the movie Taxi Driver.
Koppel also states that the rebirth of the Klu Klux Klan was inspired by D. W. Griffiths' 1915 film Birth of a Nation, which was based on Thomas Dixon's novel The Clansman.
Therefore, while researchers have not yet determined that watching television is a direct cause of social mayhem as in the Dr. Samms-Vaughn study, the two have been linked.
Of the children surveyed by Dr. Samms-Vaughn, both rural and urban, 95.4 per cent of them were living in homes which housed televisions. Of this number, 55.8 per cent, or just over a half, had access to cable or satellite television. According to the report, the penetration of television has exceeded the spread of refrigerators and telephones.
While on average the children spent more than 14 hours a week glued to the boob tube, some spent more than twenty hours. Additionally, most of their TV time was spent watching cartoons, with a whopping 93.3 per cent of boys and girls turning on to animation. Comedies, children programmes and sports programmes followed.
Dr. Vaughn's study also suggested however, that the problem was not simply a case of watching television will make you go bad. Instead, it represented that watching too much television can be harmful, especially in terms of academics.
A child who spends over 20 hours watching television uses more time on television during the week than he/she does in school.
Additionally, the content of the films being watched also seemed to affect the children. It was noted that children who spent significant amounts of time watching action films did not compare well with their peers in terms of reading, spelling and arithmetic. The survey also suggests that children dedicating their free time to action shows were prone to withdrawn behaviour, social problems, thought disorders, attention problems, delinquency and aggression.
Watching too many soap operas does not seem to be a particularly bright idea either. According to the study, watching the same people get involved in a myriad of love affairs meant to last forever, but which only last a few episodes; seeing villains who can do every thing but switch brains and seeing kids miraculously age from 12 years old to 16, in the space of one year, does not help cognitive development. The study showed that avid soap opera watchers (in large part girls) got lower results than their peers in verbal comprehension and deductive reasoning tests.
Despite these findings, a survey conducted by the Broadcasting Commission revealed that Jamaican parents believe that they should be responsible for controlling what their children watch on television. The study showed that 86 per cent of those survey placed parental responsibility above the radio and television stations.
In this scenario, the V-chip technology, which has been recently adopted by the United States, would come in handy to parents who want to control the television shows their children watch, without always being present. While The Sunday Gleaner was unable to determine conclusively if V-chip television would work locally, the possibility was not ruled out.
The V-Chip is an electronic chip which works in conjunction with a television, VCR, cable box os a stand-alone retrofit device. The V-chip reads the transmitted ratings code for all programming and will automatically deny access to programming which exceeds preset ratings limitations.
This would of course, necessitate a ratings code for television programming. The Broadcasting Commission is at present proposing such a code. They have approached several large industry players, including cable operators, over the adoption of a code, which is now in its draft stage.
The Commission has said that the rating system is proposed because mass media is very influential and should accept the attached responsibility. This is revealed in the document which shows the need for the rating system. "Although parents are primarily responsible for the socialisation of the children in their care, the media is also encouraged to accept that with their great influence come a large measure of responsibility," the paper read.
While the public seems to place great responsibility on the parents, it do not relieve the media of all responsibility for influencing children. The Broadcasting Commission survey also revealed that the public agrees to 'safe zones' when children are most likely to be watching television. Outside of the safe zones, content restriction was also supported. The report revealed that 89 per cent of participants voted that airplay not be given to violently homophobic songs and music videos.
Additionally, 90 per cent of respondents voted against the playing of songs and music videos that use derogatory terms to describe women. The same percentage voted against broadcasting advertisements containing nudity and sexual intercourse simulations. Interestingly, the survey also revealed that 70 per cent of those surveyed thought that cable services should not be held to the same standard as broadcast services.
Nonetheless, it must be noted that Dr. Samms-Vaughn's survey does not suggest that coding will solve the situation. This is due to the fact children would still get to watch some of the most violent programming, cartoons, which are geared toward them.
A running cartoon gag, which has receive a myriad of incarnations, is for someone to get crushed by a very huge object, or to explode when they unexpectedly get hold of a bomb. In fact, the Children and Television website reveals that while five violent acts can be found in 1 hour of prime time television, 20 to 25 violent acts can be found in each hour of Saturday morning television.
It would therefore seem, that more proactive parenting is called for. Rather than allowing television to babysit children, they need to be encouraged to get involved with society, which includes their family, as well as to take up other activities which can stimulate their minds.
It would appear that television is not the real villain. It is simply the fall guy.
