Research Prospectus

Introduction

`But the TV has spent so much more time raising us than you have

Lisa to Homer in The Simpsons

Children take time to grow up . Whilst each child is unique , life 's developmental journey - of learning to walk , speak , and think in the first three years for example - unfolds step by step . But whilst the stages and passages of children ' growth and development have remained essentially unchanged for thousands of years , for the first time in human history babies and children are now exposed to rapid , sometimes frenetic pace

of modern technology . Whilst children 's needs remain relatively constant and enduring for example , for loving relationships good food , time for learning and play , and a clam rhythmical family environment - the world is relentlessly speeding up . The result can be that children simply don 't have a childhood any more . TV programmes already designed to glue young eyes to the tube , give way to interactive computer games which are geared to keeping children on-screen and with children continually pestering their parents to buy more and more . The electronic media are increasingly used in schools , not just as tools but as replacement for teachers - and the marketers of such companies as Microsoft and MTV claim to `own children 's minds . At the same time electronic TV / cathode-ray tube medium is uniquely suited to gaining open access to children 's minds . And the content , whether it be advertisements or inappropriate programmes , can have a powerful influence on behaviour . One conclusion that derived from all the research that is done regarding this is that the needs of the young children and the demands of the electronic media are on a collision course .and with children and childhood being the losers , in all kinds of ways . Many parents are very concerned about the effects of television overload on their children . They are also worried about the effects of the toxic commercial environment , as marketers flood children with advertising , with the single-minded aim of creating and `capturing life long consumers . The food industry links soft drinks , junk food , and sports drinks to films , video games , videos , toys and celebrities

Children and televised violence

Media research around the world about the effects of the electronic media on children 's behaviour has disclosed so many shocking truths . The video games and media violence are teaching children to kill thus affording a plausible explanation for the multiple shootings at Columbine School in Colorado or Erfurt in Germany or the recent campus killings in Virginia . Child Psychologists like Urie Brofenbenner thinks that the socialisation of children stops when the TV is turned on , `so when you turn on TV , you turn off the process of making human beings human ' Researchers Jerome and Dorothy Singer of Yale University concluded that , ` .heavy television viewing puts children at risk of increased aggression and restlessness with all the negative cognitive and social consequences of such a behaviour pattern . Those of us who have been active over more than 15 years...