Mass Media as an Agent of Socialisation
Mass media as an agent of Socializations
According to the reading, “Socialization and Culture” from the book “Interdisciplinary English” by Loretta F. Kasper, Socialization is the process in which a child learns how to behave in life and participate in a group in society. Socialization has four basic/main agents: family, school, peers and the mass media. Each one of these agents plays a role in our lives. However, in my opinion, the most important agent of socialization for the development of the child is the Mass Media.
The Mass media is a significant force in modern culture. Sociologists refer to this as a mediated culture where media reflects the behavioural pattern of some individuals within a society.
Media are the different processes that facilitate communication between the sender of a message and the receiver of that message. It may also be defined as any communication—whether written, broadcast, or spoken—that reaches a large audience. Mass Media therefore plays an important role in the socialization of children. In fact, there are many types of media; these include newspapers, billboard, magazines, radio, films, CDs, Internet, television and so forth. These kinds of media, especially television, affect children’s and adult’s behavior in different ways. According to the article, “Socialization: From Infancy to Old Age”, “The average family has at least one television turned on for at least seven hours a day.”
Television is known to be the medium with the greatest socialization effect, surpassing all the other media by far in its influence on the young child. The very fact that television is not an interactive agent is greatly significant to the development of young children. While watching, children have the feeling that they’re interacting, but they’re not. That’s one of the disadvantages of television as a socializer—it satisfies social needs to some extent, but doesn’t give children the social skills (or the real-life practice in those skills)
According to the reading, “Socialization and Culture” from the book “Interdisciplinary English” by Loretta F. Kasper, Socialization is the process in which a child learns how to behave in life and participate in a group in society. Socialization has four basic/main agents: family, school, peers and the mass media. Each one of these agents plays a role in our lives. However, in my opinion, the most important agent of socialization for the development of the child is the Mass Media.
The Mass media is a significant force in modern culture. Sociologists refer to this as a mediated culture where media reflects the behavioural pattern of some individuals within a society.
Media are the different processes that facilitate communication between the sender of a message and the receiver of that message. It may also be defined as any communication—whether written, broadcast, or spoken—that reaches a large audience. Mass Media therefore plays an important role in the socialization of children. In fact, there are many types of media; these include newspapers, billboard, magazines, radio, films, CDs, Internet, television and so forth. These kinds of media, especially television, affect children’s and adult’s behavior in different ways. According to the article, “Socialization: From Infancy to Old Age”, “The average family has at least one television turned on for at least seven hours a day.”
Television is known to be the medium with the greatest socialization effect, surpassing all the other media by far in its influence on the young child. The very fact that television is not an interactive agent is greatly significant to the development of young children. While watching, children have the feeling that they’re interacting, but they’re not. That’s one of the disadvantages of television as a socializer—it satisfies social needs to some extent, but doesn’t give children the social skills (or the real-life practice in those skills)