MEDIA

STRESS
Dr Samir Parikh

I n our media-saturated environment, every individual is bombarded by thousands of media messages

each day with instant messaging, social networking and television perpetually jostling for attention
and mind space. Often referred to as ‘screenagers’, adolescents today are the single largest consumers of
the new media, spending about 6-8 hours on multimedia each day.
The Role of Media
Whether the media plays any role in spreading exacerbating aggression and violence has been an
intensely-debated subject for decades now. Media and culture share a dynamic and reciprocal
relationship. It would be naïve to believe that the media simply represents our reality; in truth, it goes a
long way in shaping our reality too. In an environment where school shootings and copycat crimes are
more common than ever, the possible contribution of the media can’t be ignored. Analysis of television
content has found that about 50-60 per cent television programmes contain violence. This aggression is
not restricted to crime shows or horror films; it finds its way into seemingly harmless videogames and
cartoons, catering almost singularly to the child and adolescent population. References to violent films
and video games have surfaced time and again following every school shooting incident anywhere in
the world. What is more worrying is that research has estimated that a pre-schooler, a child of about
3-5 years of age, who watches about 2 hours of cartoons each day would be exposed approximately to
10,000 violent incidents per year.

Children seldom misquote. In fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said. ~ Unknown

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 Portrayal of violence
Media portrayal of violence is grossly skewed; far removed and greatly dramatized in relation to real
life violence. Not only is violence depicted more frequently in the media, a majority of aggressive acts
are depicted to be committed by perpetrators who are attractive and idolized. It’s not just the ‘bad guys’
who turn to violence; even the ‘good guys’ resort to violent means to resolve the problem at hand. As is
seen in many cartoons and slapstick films, aggression is often juxtaposed with humour; and more often
than not, the portrayal of the consequences of aggression is ominously absent.
To add to it, aggression in the media is not limited to obvious acts of physical violence. Other forms
of aggression make their presence felt through the media in a more insidious manner. Dressed in
the garb of harmless entertainment, thousands of aggressive media messages are absorbed unchecked
and unfiltered. Aggressive acts are glamorized and viewed positively when carried out by idolized
sportspersons. Healthy competition is replaced by outright hostility with reality television encourages
youngsters to use abusive language to gain popularity and stardom, making it the norm. A careful
attention to music lyrics and videos will reveal the extent to which the average adolescent, swayed by
the popular music of the day, is exposed to violent, aggressive, and hateful messages.
Intent and interpretation
So what is it about the media that enthrals us and influences us the way it does? The concept of hyper-
reality has been proposed as a hypothetical inability of our consciousness to differentiate reality from
fantasy. The manner in which a single message is perceived, interpreted and assimilated varies from
person to person, based on their social background, psychosocial experiences, cognitive abilities, and
most importantly, their age. The ability to distinguish between fact and fiction is not a given feat;
rather, it is a developmental feat, one that most pre-schoolers have not yet attained. Therefore, even
while most media messages possess no intent of propagating or encouraging violence, they are often
misinterpreted by naïve and impressionable children.
That humans learn through imitation and observation has been widely established over decades of
research. Albert Bandura, a pioneer in the field of social psychological research found that children
who view aggressive acts are more likely to behave aggressively themselves. Taking it a step further,
it has been noted that this kind of observational learning is influenced by the consequences of the
viewed aggression, i.e., if children observe negative consequences being meted out for an aggressive
act, they would be less likely to imitate the same. What is unfortunate, then, is that most violence in
the media is not followed up by a depiction of its consequences – the aftermath of violent situations
depicts no remorse, guilt, or penalty for the perpetration of violence. Neither do they show non-violent
alternatives to resolving the same problems.
Desensitization against negative effects of violence
The second aspect related to violence in media is the effect it has on children. Typically, viewing violent
acts leads to some amount of psychological and physiological arousal, and this sense of arousal is
usually undesirable and a source of discomfort. What has happened now, however, is that with the
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 repetitive viewing of violent acts, this arousal has weakened. Children have become increasingly
habituated to violence, desensitizing them against its negative effects. The media has made violence
usual and mundane. Very often, violent situations in the media present no harm to the victims and
many depict no pain. Put these two together, and the situation that arises is a lack of empathy and
relatedness for the victim of any kind of violence.
Our role as parents, educators and citizens
Today, the media has created a culture that normalizes aggression and glorifies violence. Violence
and aggression in the youth is no longer a far-away, nebulous concept but a stark reality that begs
our attention and a serious re-examination of our social and educational fabric. The media has made
many positive contributions to society. The media is extremely powerful and is guided by principles
of profitability. And the media is a reality that we can’t escape. It’s not just children who get swayed;
look within and we realize that even as intelligent and responsible adults, we too get swayed by media
messages – we all get taken in by what we otherwise know are unrealistic promises of fairness, good
health and popularity. The media, we all know, is a powerful force. It is then up to us, as parents, as
educators and as responsible citizens, to help children learn the skills necessary to navigate through
today’s media influence, to filter the good from the bad, and to grow up to be responsible adults
themselves.
Media isn’t all bad; there is a lot that students can learn from media exposure. However, the problem
that has arisen is that while media and technology are bringing about societal changes at a pace that
is difficult to keep up with, we have not equipped today’s generation with the skills necessary to cope
with the changes and challenges these developments bring forth. The need of the hour then is to make
children and adolescents media literate. Media literacy is a relatively new concept that is increasingly
gaining popularity. Central to the concept of media literacy is the ability to think critically. Media
messages are tailored to appeal to our biases and our gaps in processing. Media literacy is the ability to
reverse this natural and instinctive human thought process – to encourage children to stop and think
about what is really being communicated – consciously or subconsciously. Rather than being passive
receivers of unprocessed and unfiltered information, encourage children to take a step back and ask
themselves some questions. Who produced the message? What is the purpose of this message? Who
might benefit from this message? What might be the gain? Are all reports unbiased? Is it possible that
different people might perceive this message differently than I might? What stereotypes does this kind
of media promote? What kind of lifestyle does this media message encourage? Media literacy is not
necessarily about having all the right answers, but instead, about asking the right questions.
Parents often complain that their children spend too much time in front of the television, playing too
many videogames or spending too much time on the internet. As a potential solution, parents may
impose a ban on watching certain kinds of television programmes, or maybe ban viewing television
altogether. The problem that arises with this technique is that it isn’t possible to monitor a child
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 24 hours a day. Added to that, banning one particular show is only going to add to the child’s curiosity
and desire to watch that programme. Instead of imposing restrictions, a better idea would be for parents
to watch such programmes with their children and use otherwise objectionable scenes as learning
moments. Be it in a cartoon or a film, it’s important for parents to talk to their child about what they’re
watching. Encourage them to think about the consequences of aggression. Ask them to think about
how they would feel if such a thing were done to them. Engaging the child in this manner can help the
child appreciate the complexity of aggression, understand its adverse conflicts, both for the perpetrator
and the victim, and eventually foster empathy and relatedness towards others.
Imparting appropriate skills
At the same time, it’s essential for parents to impart skills of healthy conflict resolution. Through the
modelling of appropriate behaviour in the home environment and by discussions around viewed
experiences, children can be taught the difference between communicating and behaving assertively as
opposed to aggressively. The ability to tolerate frustration, to navigate differences in opinion, to reconcile
interpersonal conflicts and to express one’s feelings and concerns without resorting to aggressive or
violent behaviour are all skills that children can be taught through healthy media exposure.
At the same time, media literacy must be introduced as a part of school curriculum across the board. It
would be a good idea for teachers to take some time out of their packed academic schedule to discuss
what children watch on television and what they hear on the news. Children need to be given hands-
on experiential training on how to critically analyse media messages, to weigh the pros and cons and
to make active and informed decisions. This kind of training can only be effective if it’s practical,
application-based, grounded in the experienced reality of the youth.
We have been conducting workshops on media literacy as a part of our Peer Moderator workshops,
and have seen adolescents been keen to learn this, and enjoy becoming more ‘media literate’! I believe
the media literacy work needs to be done with schools across all segments as we need to empower the
youth with skills to be able to prevent the harmful effects of the media and at the same time, learn to
pick up the beneficial aspects.
A need for change
To tackle the problem of growing aggression in children and adolescents, the change has to be brought
about at every level. We need to introduce workshops and interactive discussions on the subject in
schools, and in the community at large. A particularly effective strategy is for students themselves to be
transformed into effective role models for their peers and juniors; to encourage pro social attitudes and
behaviours. At the same time, change can only come about if parents and teachers come together to
lobby against current social media practices. What we need is stronger censorship and what we deserve
is more sensible content.
What is most important to remember is that aggression is a learnt response. Children do what children
see being done around them. What children need are positive role models. If the media can’t provide
today’s youth with such role models, social responsibility of being effective role models falls on each
and every one of us.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Samir Parikh
Head, Fortis Mental
Health Program

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