How to protect children from TV's bad influence
Anak-anak dan Televisi By Milton Chen, Ph.D. Published by Gramedia Pustaka Utama, Jakarta, 1996 219 pages, Rp 15,000
JAKARTA (JP): However busy you are in your daily work, I trust that as a responsible parent you exercise control over your children and know who their friends are to avoid their undesirable social interchange. But, have you ever thought that TV programs, when not controlled or supervised, can be bad friends of your children?
What is the difference between bad friends who teach your children sex and violence, and TV programs which do the same?
Dr. George Gerbner, emeritus dean of Annenberg School of Communications, University of Pennsylvania, and Nancy Signorielli of the University of Delaware, speaking of violence on TV, explained that regular and long-term exposure to TV had a bad influence on children's susceptibility, dependence and sensitivity to violence. Scenes of violence and sex on TV are said to accelerate the maturing process of children.
A survey conducted by the Indonesian Children Welfare Foundation on TV programs in March 1996, involving 269 respondents aged between 7 and 15 years, showed that the number of TV programs directed at children only is relatively small, from 2.7 percent to 4.5 percent of total air time. The study also shows that films telecast by private TV stations for children show more anti-social behavior (52 percent).
The "dark" side of TV was revealed in a finding of a Newsweek poll in 1992. The poll showed that 49 percent of people surveyed thought that TV had the greatest influence on children. Only 26 percent of the respondents thought that the greatest influence was exercised by parents. Forty-nine percent said that TV entertainment was a negative influence on children.
Assessing the "dark" side of TV, the book's author Chen, who has been involved with children's TV for 20 years, has tried to see the positive side of television as a neutral medium. He said that television still had constructive programs for the education and development of children. Chen believes that only the parents as the central figures and main decision makers can help make television a positive element in the life of their children. Parents should be able to prevent their children from watching scenes of violence and sex.
Chen says television -- the most important part of the book -- should be restricted. Drawing an analogy, he says that not all food served must be eaten, so not all TV programs must be watched.
The initial step in monitoring television's effect is to note the number of hours spent watching TV and the programs viewed. Then evaluate the data and limit the total time your children spend in front of the tube and select which programs are suitable.
Milton Chen's experience as a director at the Center for Education and Lifelong Learning (CELL) in San Francisco shows that clear limitation of the viewing hours and the programs children watched was important. Children will not normally violate their set boundaries.
Despite an agreed restriction, parents should remember that they are the main models for their children in TV viewing. Setting an example is the key. If you have fixed your TV viewing to two hours a day, but spend eight hours watching it, you cannot demand that your children limit themselves to two hours. It would be hypocrisy.
The book, written for parents to guide their children on TV viewing, finally suggests that parents can become the catalyst for their children to enjoy intelligent TV: from casual TV viewing to conscious viewing of selected programs. As a smart TV viewer you are capable of protecting your children from the aggression of the tube.
It should be stressed that your time is your children's time. The hours you reserve for them constitute real prime time for you to act as their educator. And these will be the most memorable moments for them in future.
-- Mubarok Agung Prasojo