Of the many agents of socialization (family, school, peer group, workplace, and so on), the mass media is gaining in importance at a rate faster than any other. Television, in particular, has become a critical force of socialization of children, often rivaling the family. According to U.S. media market research, the average child watches 1,680 minutes of TV a week, while they only spend 38.5 minutes per week in meaningful conversation with their parents. Researchers also found that the average American youth watches 1,500 hours of television a year while only spends 900 hours in school (AC Nielsen, 1998). In this week's Discussion, you will consider a specific issue in socialization that is affected or reinforced by the increasing amount of time children watch television.
To prepare for this Discussion:
Review pages 88 - 93 in your course textbook on agents of socialization.
Consider the different developmental stages of children and how that factor might affect their understanding of what is real on television.
Reflect on the idea that the media's functions are to entertain, socialize, and enforce social norms. How does violence, especially in cartoons fit into this definition?
With these thoughts in mind:
A description of potential implications for socialization that stem from discrepancies between television characters and reality. For example, research to determine whether the ratio of male to female prime-time television characters is higher or lower than the actual ratio in the U.S. population, and comment on why this might be important. Feel free to consider other measures to illustrate your points.
Be sure to support your ideas by connecting them to the week's Learning Resources, or something you have read, heard, seen, or experienced.
Self and Global Perspective
Last week you read about the significance of language in shaping the interpretation of our reality. Language is the foundation of every culture, as it communicates a culture's most important norms, values, and sanctions to people. In this Application Assignment, you will explore the implications of words that refer to the view of self and global perspective in the culture.
To prepare for this Application:
Review pages 84 - 93 in your course textbook on the self and socialization.
Make a list of words with the prefix "self-" (self-service, self-image, self-esteem, self-destructive, and so on).
Now make a list of terms that begin with "multi-" (such as multicultural, multimodal, and multinational).
Consider which list was easier to assemble.
The assignment:
Write a brief essay in which you do the following:
List your "self-" and "multi-" words from the above exercise in a table.
Answer the given questions:
What does this say about our culture and our socialization?
What does this reveal about our global perspectives?
RESOURCES
Course Text: Sociology: A Brief Introduction
Chapter 4, pp. 78 - 103
Chapter 16, pp. 414 - 437