“What’s on TV” Mary A. Patterson
1. PBS Program: Dragon Tales
The episode I watched was broadcast at 8:30 a.m. It is a favorite program of a family I know whose children are 3-6 years of age. This show seems to be targeted at that very age group.
This show (about playful dragons) involved Cassie going to Org’s house to play with ‘real children’ (Max and Emy) who have come to Dragon Land—along with their other dragon friends.
A. Positive Aspects
a.) Cassie desires to ‘show off’ her little sister, Kiki, because she is very proud of how cute she is. Cassie’s mother provides for Cassie’s desire by deciding to stay and drink tea with Org’s mother.
b.) When Kiki gets tired, Cassie and her friends asked for permission to put Kiki down for a nap. A variety of ‘child-care’ issues arose as this plot line developed.
B. Possible Effects
a.) According to the text (p. 363), “attitudes will be built on the basis of what they see and the attitudes will, in turn, will have an effect on their behavior.” Cassie’s acceptance and pride in her little sister, Kiki, could result in a positive, attitudinal behavior upon the part of a viewer. Instead of negative, jealous behavior, perhaps, an older sibling watching this episode might decide to accept and take pride in a new baby brought into one’s household.
b.) According to the text (p. 362) children learn “by observing and imitating behavior.” In the story, Cassie wants to ‘play mother’ to her little sister, Kiki, by putting her down for a nap. First, she tries to sing her baby sister a lullaby. Later, she realizes that Kiki will not fall to sleep without her Squishy (toy). Since Kiki’s Squishy had been damaged by Org, Cassie arranges to find a similar toy. Finally, she tries ‘rubbing her back’. Cassie had obviously ‘observed’ her mother’s caregiving skills and was now imitating her mother’s nurturing behavior. This series of ‘troubleshooting’ and problem-solving events could have a very positive effect upon young viewers who must adjust to having a younger sibling.
C. Negative Influences
a.) Max and Org (the males in this episode) demonstrated an outburst of aggressive action while trying to find the perfect Squishy. It could be argued that the female characters are caring, nurturing, and persistent, while the males threw items and were shown as ‘giving up’. Prior to the scene where the males ‘give up’ after their aggressive tantrum, the females were heard saying, “We can’t give up. We can do it!”
b.) This show make use of colors to depict sexual identification: (Pink and Purple for females; Blue and Green for males).
D. Possible Effects
a.) On page 363 of the text, the author states, “…young children are more willing to accept the aggressive behavior of other children after viewing violent scenes.” Although this cartoon was not intended to excuse aggressive action as acceptable, it did provide the viewer with a picture of males ‘throwing toys’ in frustration—rather than solving the problem constructively. By stereotyping the males as quick to give up and aggressively demonstrating their frustration, young viewers might be conditioned to think that ‘boys’ cannot take care of babies (and should even be ‘expected’ to ‘act out’ rather than peacefully solve a problem).
b.) In the text’s discussion of stereotypes (p. 369), minority groups claim that TV distorts or completely ignores them.” At one time, the color white was always used to represent ‘good’, ‘purity’, and other positive traits; whereas ‘black’ was ‘scary’, ‘evil’, and ‘negative’. Could this program’s use of gender-identifying colors ‘accidentally’ contribute to the continuation of ‘skin-color’ stereotypes? (For instance, that a white child might view a big,‘black’ man is ‘scary’ or ‘bad’). The program’s use of stereotypical colors for gender is unnecessary. Although I am not personally troubled by ‘pink for girls’ and ‘blue for boys’, I recently heard a little boy tell a little girl that she couldn’t have certain Legos because they were ‘boy’ colors. This shows me that children are, in fact, continually being conditioned by what they see and hear others say.
2. Entertainment Program: The Fairly Odd Parents
Timmy Turner, the main character, has two ‘fairly odd parents’ who can grant any wishes. He wishes his life to be like a comic book with superheroes who fight villains. During a complex plotline, Timmy desires to rid his world of villains. This desire becomes very difficult to achieve. So, for a portion of the show, he has accidentally removed the power of the superheroes leaving the villains in control.
A. Positive Aspects
a.) By the end of this episode, the moral of the story has become that those who work in ‘normal’ occupations are actually the heroes who defeat the villains. These ordinary heroes include 1) an elderly janitor, 2) a woman firefighter, and 3) a milkman.
B. Possible Effects
a.) In the text (p. 370) “both young and old are represented differently from reality on TV). However, in this episode, the elderly janitor defeats a villain using his mop and other janitorial supply. So rather than being displayed as ‘old and useless’, the aging man is shown to be of great value and importance to the moral of the story.
A. Negative Aspects
a.) I counted 47 examples of physical acts of aggression during this 30 minute episode. This included a bully pounding Timmy’s face—leaving him bandaged. Later, the Bully throws Timmy up into a tree, so that his body hangs from his head stuck in the limbs. The Babysitter dumps milk on Timmy’s head.
b.) There were at least 15 examples of verbally abusive behavior against Timmy and other characters. When Timmy enters his class to find a roomful of his papers marked with F’s, his teacher says, “This is every F you will get until college!” and laughs with an evil tone.
c.) Since this show is about impossible wish-fulfillment, there are numerous instances of defying gravity, humans talking with animals, and physical violence against characters without any ongoing harm or visible consequence. B. Possible Effects a.) In the text (p. 364) it is stated, “research shows that repetition of violence in the media results in classical desensitization.” Obviously, the 47 acts of aggression prove that this show’s writers have to continually keep the action moving. Unfortunately, Timmy and others get beat up pretty badly during 30 minutes. It could be argued that children may demonstrate more acts of physical violence because they have seen so much of it on TV.
d.) “Children are more likely to remember the behavior learned by observation if they have tried it at least once.” (p. 363). In this episode, there were many examples of verbal abuse which is easily repeatable by the viewer—as children do.
Bully: “Hey Timmy, what time is it?"
Timmy: “uh….”
Bully: “Time to beat the lunch money out of you!”
I wonder if even one viewer somewhere decided to ‘repeat’ that funny line and intimidate a ‘victim’ out of his lunch money. Once an up-and-coming bully gets a laugh at the expense of a victim, the behavior might be ‘remembered’ again and again.
c.) Although the text refers to the matter ‘gullibility’ in reference to commercials (p. 365), I think that this principle might be applied to the potential dangers of kids ‘believing what they see on TV. “Young children take things literally, rather than figuratively—which makes them more vulnerable to advertising messages.” Although, children are regularly expected to use their imagination and accept fairy tales, there have been cases where children try to fly or hit a playmate on the head with a hammer. Children may not have any idea that flying doesn’t EVER work and that a hammer blow to the head will not be quickly forgotten.
3. Advertising Examples
Dragon Tales contained one Welch’s Grape Juice commercial (in conjunction with
pbskids.org). The Nickelodeon Program contained 30 ads during a 30-minute episode
including:
1) Five different ‘Bratz’ advertisements
2) Chou Chou (Baby doll that cries and grows teeth)
3) Nurf Gun
4) Fruity Pebbles
5) Trix Yogurt and Cereal
6) Movies showing in theatres (Nims Island and Magical Show: the Seeker)
4. Advertising Effects
a.) The text (p. 364) says, “children between the ages of 2-11 will be exposed to between 20,000 and 40,000 annually.” Obviously, this violent program is also filling the children’s minds with a desire for sugar, consumerism, and immediate gratification.
b.) (p. 364) “Children any youth today have money from allowances, gifts, and doing chores. They can be quite persuasive with parents too. They are open to suggestion and are impulsive.” This show’s advertisers are creating and sustaining a market for their goods which may not be in the child’s best interests.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Authoritative Parenting
Mary A. Patterson HD 1
I. Mother
1. The Authoritative Parent is very accepting and involved in child's life, lets child make their own decisions but at the appropriate time in their life. Sometimes they'll negotiate with the child, and hear them out. They're warm and accepting to their children. Very opposite to other child rearing styles. Appropriate autonomy granting, which is being flexible with privileges and rules as the child matures and becomes trustworthy. They form a good relationship that can be firm but caring at the same time. They give reasons for their expectations.
2. Examples:Acceptance/Involvement
My mom would take many pictures of my brothers and me. She also made many video recordings of us playing with our friends, and funny things we did as we grew up. In her family-of-origin, mom was one the fifth and youngest child. She feels like they stopped taking photos after the first four kids. This made her feel unloved and unaccepted. That is why she showed her love and acceptance--that she didn't experience in her early life. She tries to make up for that which was lacking in her own childhood.
One funny moment on the video camera in 1994, she recorded my brother holding me in a wrapped towel when I got out of the bathtub. She would always wrap me up and he would hold me like I was his little baby. He'd have me say baby things like "Goo Goo Ga Ga." That was back when he was sweet.
Control
Growing up in a Christian home, I was taught the 8th commandment Thou Shalt Not Steal. At age seven, I was caught with a whoopee cushion that I had stolen from the Grocery Store. After being taken back to the store and made to confess my crime to the Manager, I was punished with one major spanking consisting of numerous swats--counted one-by-one.
When I was in 8th grade I got caught stealing once again at Longs Drug Store. I knew what I did was wrong and felt terrible when my dad picked me up. When I got home my mom sat down with me and talked to me about how I knew what I did was wrong, and she forgave me, but I was grounded for a whole month. We also abided by the store’s ruling against me; I was not allowed to go into Longs without parental supervision.
Autonomy/Granting
Throughout my adolescence I have misrepresented the truth to my parents (lied) and this has caused them difficulty to trust me at times. The adaptive control has allowed me to watch their discipline in action. I've moved 60 miles away from my hometown. In this year they have trusted me to drive to Galt and stay over nights and transport people back with me to Auburn. This wouldn't have happened last year; some of my trust was lost back then. Some parents would simply say, "No." They have seen a lot of maturity in me the past year.
II. Father1.
The Authoritative Parent is very accepting and involved in child's life, lets child make their own decisions but at the appropriate time in their life. Sometimes they'll negotiate with the child, and hear them out. They're warm and accepting to their children. Very opposite to other child rearing styles. Appropriate autonomy granting, which is being flexible with privileges and rules as the child matures and becomes trustworthy. They form a good relationship that can be firm but caring at the same time. They give reasons for their expectations.
2. Examples
Acceptance/Involvement
My dad always liked to have one on one time with each of his kids. Our father-daughter time was my favorite. We've gone to the movies, batting cages, walks, and long drives when we can talk. He is really involved in my life. I was doing horrible in school and was not doing anything to bring up my grades. He decided to take me out and home-school me himself. He started working in Auburn and commuting a couple days a week. I would come up every other week with him. He taught me to I could do work on my own. In the first semester with my dad, we completed academic work, including doing my Driver's Ed online and getting my permit and license on the first time. Learning how to drive gave me many hours of quality time with my dad.
Control
My father was strict on making sure we were in the house by our curfew for the night; not going to parties; and knowing exactly where I was and If there was going be supervision. Those were some things I had trouble being honest when I was younger. Since I wasn't allowed to be out past 11 o'clock at the beginning of my sophomore year, I figured, "Why not just sneak out?" One night I was hanging out with one of my 18 year old guy friends down the street; it was 4 am. My dad does bed checks every once in a while when he wakes up. He woke up and saw that I was not in my bed and called me on my cell. I mistakenly answered it thinking it was my brother. I told him I was down the street with my friend. My friend ran to hide in his car and I saw my dad walking toward me wearing his police uniform (He's a Police Chaplain). My dad made me call the boy but it went to his answering machine. Dad left a message saying all kinds of things and ended with, "Be a man and come talk to me." The guy did come out of hiding and my Dad lectured him, then let him go. I was grounded for 2 weeks and I lost all my parents’ trust in me. When they grounded me, I was not allowed to go anywhere and had to come straight home each day after school.
Autonomy/Granting
My dad has a lot of trust in me now; since about a year ago. I started talking classes at Sierra College Spring semester. My dad trusts that I’ll go to my classes be on time and that I will strive to do my best in each of my classes.
3. Results:
As outlined above, both of my parents exercised authoritative parenting styles. Looking at the research it would seem that I would display strong characteristics in these areas of competence an upbeat mood, self-control, task persistence, cooperativeness, high self-esteem, social and moral maturity, and favorable school performance.
Although neither of my parents were overtly permissive, I seem to exhibit some of the less-desirable traits. I will first describe specifics of development in these areas, and will attempt to explain the possible reason for what contradicts the research.
One trait I exhibit is my upbeat mood, I'm happy most of the time and I love to laugh. I was a cheerleader before I got taken out of Galt High. I was the captain on the JV Warriors. Being a cheerleader requires self-esteem, and to be in leadership; enough self-esteem that others follow my leadership.
In the area of self-control contrary to the research, this has not been one of my strong traits. Perhaps this is an area I will grow into. Recently I've been trying to work on my self control. I'm trying to get in shape for summer; that means going to they gym everyday; staying on the treadmill for a certain amount of time, etc. My impulsive self makes me want to have McDonalds or candy (or ‘something’ to eat on my way home). Recently I've been working on controlling these impulses through.
I've come to realize that the great confidence others place in me as a childcare giver (babysitter) is due to my high self-esteem. I am confident in my abilities and others see that, the parents that hire me acknowledge that fact regularly. My own parents always commended me for being great with kids. They're regular affirmation instilled positive self-esteem. When a mother of 4 children was in the hospital for their 5th baby, I was asked to watch her kids for a whole week while she was recovering from her Cesarean.
Being a pastor, my father's intent was to raise me with a strong sense of morality. I feel very strongly that babies should be protected, even if they are not yet born. I stand up for my convictions and discuss issues openly when they come up. For instance, recently I was at my friend Christina's house and abortion came up in our conversation. Christina and I feel very strongly about our Pro-Life stance. We ended up having a 2-on-2 debate with our friends. Later, Christina's dad could not resist joining in on the conversation. He had many facts that refuted their arguments, and mentioned a few things I didn't know. It was a good way to practice what I learned, and try to make other change their mind.
The text says since I was raised by authoritative parents I should have high task persistence. That is quite different than how I have behaved. I've always lacked the desire to do my school work (and other chores), until my dad took me out of school. He held me accountable for completion of my academic tasks. My first major assignment was to do a oral interview in which I discussed the semester project, recorded, edited it uploaded the final audio project on the Internet. Perhaps, I will become more task-oriented due to my father’s discipline.
My emerging morality as a young woman, has been tested recently. A long time friend told me she had leukemia and could die within 9 months . She didn't want me to tell anyone because her mom told her not to tell anyone. I felt the need to tell my parents, because I needed someone to be praying alongside me for her. My dad brought her up in front of our church and lifted her up in prayer. For months she would cry to me about her pain, and I would cry with her. It was a very emotional time in my life. One weekend my parents decided to go to Galt to pray with her parents about her leukemia, and discovered that it was a total lie. It has been a challenge on my morality to wait upon her for an explanation and to be able to forgive her.
Conclusion
As stated above I received some traits of being raised by Authoritative Parents. The traits that didn’t resemble me were from me doing what I wanted to do, and not following the way they intended to raise me. I feel great about the way the raised me and hope to raise my children the same way. The traits that didn’t resemble me are changing already, as I’m getting older and maturing.
I. Mother
1. The Authoritative Parent is very accepting and involved in child's life, lets child make their own decisions but at the appropriate time in their life. Sometimes they'll negotiate with the child, and hear them out. They're warm and accepting to their children. Very opposite to other child rearing styles. Appropriate autonomy granting, which is being flexible with privileges and rules as the child matures and becomes trustworthy. They form a good relationship that can be firm but caring at the same time. They give reasons for their expectations.
2. Examples:Acceptance/Involvement
My mom would take many pictures of my brothers and me. She also made many video recordings of us playing with our friends, and funny things we did as we grew up. In her family-of-origin, mom was one the fifth and youngest child. She feels like they stopped taking photos after the first four kids. This made her feel unloved and unaccepted. That is why she showed her love and acceptance--that she didn't experience in her early life. She tries to make up for that which was lacking in her own childhood.
One funny moment on the video camera in 1994, she recorded my brother holding me in a wrapped towel when I got out of the bathtub. She would always wrap me up and he would hold me like I was his little baby. He'd have me say baby things like "Goo Goo Ga Ga." That was back when he was sweet.
Control
Growing up in a Christian home, I was taught the 8th commandment Thou Shalt Not Steal. At age seven, I was caught with a whoopee cushion that I had stolen from the Grocery Store. After being taken back to the store and made to confess my crime to the Manager, I was punished with one major spanking consisting of numerous swats--counted one-by-one.
When I was in 8th grade I got caught stealing once again at Longs Drug Store. I knew what I did was wrong and felt terrible when my dad picked me up. When I got home my mom sat down with me and talked to me about how I knew what I did was wrong, and she forgave me, but I was grounded for a whole month. We also abided by the store’s ruling against me; I was not allowed to go into Longs without parental supervision.
Autonomy/Granting
Throughout my adolescence I have misrepresented the truth to my parents (lied) and this has caused them difficulty to trust me at times. The adaptive control has allowed me to watch their discipline in action. I've moved 60 miles away from my hometown. In this year they have trusted me to drive to Galt and stay over nights and transport people back with me to Auburn. This wouldn't have happened last year; some of my trust was lost back then. Some parents would simply say, "No." They have seen a lot of maturity in me the past year.
II. Father1.
The Authoritative Parent is very accepting and involved in child's life, lets child make their own decisions but at the appropriate time in their life. Sometimes they'll negotiate with the child, and hear them out. They're warm and accepting to their children. Very opposite to other child rearing styles. Appropriate autonomy granting, which is being flexible with privileges and rules as the child matures and becomes trustworthy. They form a good relationship that can be firm but caring at the same time. They give reasons for their expectations.
2. Examples
Acceptance/Involvement
My dad always liked to have one on one time with each of his kids. Our father-daughter time was my favorite. We've gone to the movies, batting cages, walks, and long drives when we can talk. He is really involved in my life. I was doing horrible in school and was not doing anything to bring up my grades. He decided to take me out and home-school me himself. He started working in Auburn and commuting a couple days a week. I would come up every other week with him. He taught me to I could do work on my own. In the first semester with my dad, we completed academic work, including doing my Driver's Ed online and getting my permit and license on the first time. Learning how to drive gave me many hours of quality time with my dad.
Control
My father was strict on making sure we were in the house by our curfew for the night; not going to parties; and knowing exactly where I was and If there was going be supervision. Those were some things I had trouble being honest when I was younger. Since I wasn't allowed to be out past 11 o'clock at the beginning of my sophomore year, I figured, "Why not just sneak out?" One night I was hanging out with one of my 18 year old guy friends down the street; it was 4 am. My dad does bed checks every once in a while when he wakes up. He woke up and saw that I was not in my bed and called me on my cell. I mistakenly answered it thinking it was my brother. I told him I was down the street with my friend. My friend ran to hide in his car and I saw my dad walking toward me wearing his police uniform (He's a Police Chaplain). My dad made me call the boy but it went to his answering machine. Dad left a message saying all kinds of things and ended with, "Be a man and come talk to me." The guy did come out of hiding and my Dad lectured him, then let him go. I was grounded for 2 weeks and I lost all my parents’ trust in me. When they grounded me, I was not allowed to go anywhere and had to come straight home each day after school.
Autonomy/Granting
My dad has a lot of trust in me now; since about a year ago. I started talking classes at Sierra College Spring semester. My dad trusts that I’ll go to my classes be on time and that I will strive to do my best in each of my classes.
3. Results:
As outlined above, both of my parents exercised authoritative parenting styles. Looking at the research it would seem that I would display strong characteristics in these areas of competence an upbeat mood, self-control, task persistence, cooperativeness, high self-esteem, social and moral maturity, and favorable school performance.
Although neither of my parents were overtly permissive, I seem to exhibit some of the less-desirable traits. I will first describe specifics of development in these areas, and will attempt to explain the possible reason for what contradicts the research.
One trait I exhibit is my upbeat mood, I'm happy most of the time and I love to laugh. I was a cheerleader before I got taken out of Galt High. I was the captain on the JV Warriors. Being a cheerleader requires self-esteem, and to be in leadership; enough self-esteem that others follow my leadership.
In the area of self-control contrary to the research, this has not been one of my strong traits. Perhaps this is an area I will grow into. Recently I've been trying to work on my self control. I'm trying to get in shape for summer; that means going to they gym everyday; staying on the treadmill for a certain amount of time, etc. My impulsive self makes me want to have McDonalds or candy (or ‘something’ to eat on my way home). Recently I've been working on controlling these impulses through.
I've come to realize that the great confidence others place in me as a childcare giver (babysitter) is due to my high self-esteem. I am confident in my abilities and others see that, the parents that hire me acknowledge that fact regularly. My own parents always commended me for being great with kids. They're regular affirmation instilled positive self-esteem. When a mother of 4 children was in the hospital for their 5th baby, I was asked to watch her kids for a whole week while she was recovering from her Cesarean.
Being a pastor, my father's intent was to raise me with a strong sense of morality. I feel very strongly that babies should be protected, even if they are not yet born. I stand up for my convictions and discuss issues openly when they come up. For instance, recently I was at my friend Christina's house and abortion came up in our conversation. Christina and I feel very strongly about our Pro-Life stance. We ended up having a 2-on-2 debate with our friends. Later, Christina's dad could not resist joining in on the conversation. He had many facts that refuted their arguments, and mentioned a few things I didn't know. It was a good way to practice what I learned, and try to make other change their mind.
The text says since I was raised by authoritative parents I should have high task persistence. That is quite different than how I have behaved. I've always lacked the desire to do my school work (and other chores), until my dad took me out of school. He held me accountable for completion of my academic tasks. My first major assignment was to do a oral interview in which I discussed the semester project, recorded, edited it uploaded the final audio project on the Internet. Perhaps, I will become more task-oriented due to my father’s discipline.
My emerging morality as a young woman, has been tested recently. A long time friend told me she had leukemia and could die within 9 months . She didn't want me to tell anyone because her mom told her not to tell anyone. I felt the need to tell my parents, because I needed someone to be praying alongside me for her. My dad brought her up in front of our church and lifted her up in prayer. For months she would cry to me about her pain, and I would cry with her. It was a very emotional time in my life. One weekend my parents decided to go to Galt to pray with her parents about her leukemia, and discovered that it was a total lie. It has been a challenge on my morality to wait upon her for an explanation and to be able to forgive her.
Conclusion
As stated above I received some traits of being raised by Authoritative Parents. The traits that didn’t resemble me were from me doing what I wanted to do, and not following the way they intended to raise me. I feel great about the way the raised me and hope to raise my children the same way. The traits that didn’t resemble me are changing already, as I’m getting older and maturing.
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