Introduction
In the twenty-first century, a sufficient number of new technologies and systems have received large-scale development. With the evolution of psychology, a variety of different methods and ways of influencing human consciousness has been discovered. Transferring this experience to the media, people have received the full impact of the media on society. The purpose of this paper is to summarize the main issues of the article, analyze the results, and identify the problem.
Summary of the core issues
The presented article describes the influence of the mass media on the formation of the student’s personality. Thus, the relevance of this topic is obvious: communication has changed, and accordingly, with it, new means for users and goals appeared. Mass communication, or in other words – the media, has become a translator of the entire information environment of society. Wahab, Othman, & Muhammad (2017) claim that “the mistake in using this facility will become a threat that can contribute to the social problems in society (p. 166). The purpose of the article is to describe the influence of mass media on the current generation of students.
As a research procedure, the literary method is used. A study of the literature provides an opportunity to find out which aspects and problems have already been studied thoroughly, on which scientific discussions are being conducted, what is outdated, and what issues have not yet been resolved. However, it cannot provide such reliable information, as, for example, the survey method or the collection of statistical data. Using the literary method, the author analyzes the opinions of experts from around the world and receives a specific conclusion.
The problem
Firstly, in my opinion, mass media provides a significant opportunity for a person to receive the latest news about any event that may occur and to learn about the situation in the world. It should be noted that at present, the media have become a significant factor in the recognition of new facts – adolescents try to demonstrate knowledge in certain topics that they saw on TV. In this case, there are many opinions about the impact of social networks on the personality of a teenager.
Mass media both positively and negatively affects society. According to Wahab, Othman, and Muhammad (2017), “Media is a tool that can stimulate and influence the attitudes and behaviors of individuals or communities that embrace all aspects of human life” (p. 168). Young people are more curious than adults, and they want to keep abreast of all the events taking place not only in their city but also throughout the world, so they use the media daily.
The authors argue that due to the influence of the media, the values of youth, such as patriotism or respect for elders, have changed. Parental attitude toward the child is a major factor in his or her further resistance to the outside world, but this issue is not addressed in the article. If the authors conducted a study in this direction, they could conclude that children brought up in strictness, for example, in eastern countries, are more affected by the media. Thus, it would be right to note that the degree of influence of the media on adolescents depends on many reasons, and a parenting style is one of them.
The article mainly addresses the impact of television on the younger generation. Considering the relevance of the study, it would be more appropriate to focus on social networks such as Twitter and Instagram, as they are most popular among teenagers. Since youth is culturally separated from the older generation, television and social networks, using western programs and films in their broadcasts, successfully promote a wrong way of life and perception of the world.
Findings
The article traces both negative and positive aspects of the influence of the mass media on society. The authors consider a positive change of values in people. Respect for the rights of minorities is increasingly being promoted through mass media; as a result, entirely new social norms are being formed. It serves to inform the authorities and the population, as well as to notify people of all social changes. The authors also identify other negative aspects of the influence of mass media. However, they do not mention the possibility of a positive impact on the education of adolescents, as new technologists provide a lot of tools for comfortable learning.
Among the negative aspects, the term “television violence” has long been used in the scientific vocabulary and it combines the demonstration of damage to the characters of television programs or films (Condry, 2017). Thus, this becomes the cause of further aggression. However, if this issue could be considered from a historical point of view, it could be seen that adolescents have always been more aggressive (Ang, Li, & Seah, 2017). If earlier they took out aggression in fights on the street, now it is manifested in bullying on social networks. It can be argued that bullying brings more negative consequences than fights.
The article describes the elements of attraction and push. The attraction is online entertainment and various pleasures that cannot be obtained at home. In turn, the push factor is a house in which a teenager eventually becomes bored and uncomfortable. The authors argue that the behavior of adolescents depends on their idols, which they most often see on social networks. Students and schoolchildren may try to copy their behavior in a bad way. This argument of the authors is contradictory since nowadays, the pursuit of idols can have a positive impact on the development of talents in children, such as singing or acting.
The constant use of social networks can also lead a teenager to depression. The authors hypothesize that the more time a person spends talking with online friends, the higher the risk of becoming depressed (Calvete, Orue, & Gámez-Guadix, 2016). The situation is tragic because adolescents are more susceptible to insults than adults, but the authors do not mention that communicating with Internet friends can also help fight depression. Psychologists even recommend making online friends with reserved and shy teenagers to overcome the barriers of communication in the real world.
Conclusion
To summarize, the Internet and the media can become a source of endless information only when used correctly, which will significantly help students in their studies. However, most teenagers use new technologies to search for prohibited information, thereby quenching their curiosity. The main idea of the article is to prove that the negative influence of the mass media prevails over the positive in the life of a student. The authors make several arguments about this effect, and they also put forward hypotheses about the connection between social networks and the appearance of depression in adolescents.
The article analyzes the previously published literature on this topic, respectively, using scientific reports. The discussion uses only analytical data, although it would be appropriate to use examples. Thus, all arguments are value-oriented and have no practical confirmation. The target audience of the article is psychologists and sociologists who deal with the issue of the influence of the mass media on society. The article describes only theoretical information based on the work of scientists studying this issue, but not all sources are relevant. Given all of the above, one can agree that mainly the media negatively affects the current generation of teenagers, but also positive aspects of its influence can be found.
References
Ang, R. P., Li, X., & Seah, S. L. (2017). The role of normative beliefs about aggression in the relationship between empathy and cyberbullying. Journal of cross-cultural psychology, 48(8), 1138-1152.
Calvete, E., Orue, I., & Gámez-Guadix, M. (2016). Cyberbullying victimization and depression in adolescents: The mediating role of body image and cognitive schemas in a one-year prospective study. European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 22(2), 271-284.
Condry, J. (2017). The psychology of television. Routledge.
Wahab, N. A., Othman, M. S., & Muhammad, N. (2017). The Influence of the Mass Media in the Behavior Students: A Literature Study. International Journal of academic research in business and social sciences, 7(8), 166-174.