Sheltering children from the media is not the answer.
By Mars Thera Pope
It is not uncommon for people to boast about how violent video games and movies are making young men more aggressive or hear the complaints about the TV commercials that contain barely dressed women. Filtering digital media seems to get more and more support as it becomes more and more available, infiltrating most of the average person’s day. However, these possibly negative effects fail to consider the
positive ones.
Media are not always a bad influence, even when they contain some mature content. For example, YouTubers like Shane Dawson and Tyler Oakley are known for helping young teens cope with depression, body dysmorphia, and anxiety despite their sometimes adult themes. YouTube is a popular platform used by more scandalous outlets as well as educational and helpful ones. Sometimes, these can be intertwined.
This includes violent video games such as Call of Duty, a first-person shooter video-game franchise. The game does depict some graphic images, but it also allows players to learn multitasking, directional, and communication skills. Possibly even exercising their hand-eye coordination as well. Many studies that claim to find a link between violent behavior and violent video games fail to incorporate other factors such as mental illness, home life, and other influences in the child’s life beyond video games. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, people between the ages of 15 and 19 spend more time working as well as participating in educational and household activities in total than in leisure and sports, which would include consuming media. Games can be used as catharsis, releasing any stress or anger the player has into the game instead of directing it toward a peer or family member.
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As for the more mature TV shows, they, too, can provide advice or helpful knowledge through adult themes. Series such as “The Fosters” on Freeform showcase many serious and often real challenges that teens may face. Scenarios such as peer pressure, cyber bullying, and gender/sexuality-identity questioning are played out on the television show. Through the characters, the show is able to demonstrate the unhealthy and healthy ways to cope with these scenarios. Through witnessing these scenarios, teens are able to know more without getting into real-life risky situations.
Parents may want to see digital media as the bad influence, but the truth is that the issue is not all black and white. Modern society is a lot more open to mature themes and behaviors. This openness may be a result of media influence. Regardless, a sheltered child is still bound to witness these things, just in a much less controlled real-life situation with no knowledge on how to handle it.
When teens know their parents are trying to shelter them from information, it becomes evident that those topics are off-limits for discussion. Which means teens are left with all this knowledge and no intel on how to sort it. Media are not made to harm anyone but rather made to entertain and inform. The flaws in how media entertains and informs are there; however, that doesn’t mean they are a bad thing altogether.