BULETINUL Universitii Petrol-Gaze din Ploieti

Vol. LXII No. 1A/2010

44-49

Seria tiintele Educaiei

The Influence of Media on Education - a Socio-PsychoPedagogical Approach

Ana-Maria Petrescu
Universitatea Valahia Trgovite, Str. Moldovei, nr 5, Trgovite e-mail: anapetrescu2007@yahoo.com

Abstract
The work we intend to make is a realistic picture on how media influences the education act, in formal, non-formal or informal context. Thus, a theoretical approach together with a sociological survey will attempt to analyze issues such as: the role of media in society, the relationship between student adolescents and media, media effects in terms of psycho-social development at the individual and family life.

Key-words: media, socialization, psycho-individual development, education

Introduction
The issue of media and its impact on the general population and young people and teenagers in particular has been the subject of numerous studies in many fields of knowledge. Psychologists, pedagogues, sociologists, politicians, economists and journalists have analyzed this very complex problem both in terms of uni- and multi-field and through interdisciplinary approaches. Defining mass media is no longer clear cut or simple. The continuing explosion of digital communication technology is producing more than a little confusion on the subject. In his work Treaty of Sociology Raimond Boudon said that the media "includes all means of telecommunication which allow installation, remote and two-way, of a relationship of dialogue between two persons, or a relationship between one person, on one hand and a machine containing a pack of programs and services on the other hand.[1] Also, trying to draw a more complete image of the forms that media can take, Anthony Giddens said "MEDIA includes video games and television, but also newspapers, movies, magazines, advertisements, videos and compact discs." [2] Mass media is any medium used to transmit mass communication. Until recently mass media was clearly defined and was comprised of the eight mass media industries: books, newspapers, magazines, recordings, radio, movies, television and the Internet. Mass communicated media saturate the industrialized world. The television in the living room, the newspaper on the doorstep, the radio in the car, the computer at work, and the fliers in the mailbox are just a few of the media channels daily delivering advertisements, news, opinion, music, and other forms of mass communication. [3]

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The roles of the media

In the context of social life media plays various roles: informative: supplying information as news or public information about social events, political, cultural etc.; interpretative: analyzing everyday events or facts; expressive: consisting of a forum in which different people or social groups may present their points of view and gain cultural, political or social identity; critical: mostly towards the system of government or investigation or focusing on the circumstances or abnormal aspects of society and the confrontation of different currents of opinion; instructive-cultural: broadcasting of scientific and cultural information; social cohesion: because it presents a mechanism of social solidarity in the event of disasters or individual situations that require special support from other members of society; entertaining: by providing multiple forms of public leisure.

Teenagers relationship with mass-media

Adolescents, given their development due to age (curiosity, receptivity to new, to change, influentiability etc.) are a preferential receptor of media and especially a dedicated user of the computer and the Internet. A brief description of what the relationship is between adolescents and the media requires consideration of links between the four distinct but interrelated entities, namely: potential space to achieve formal education, the media with all sources and its forms of manifestation, the teenager and the world he or she lives in, the effects of media on adolescent with emphasis on educational processes, individual psychological development and socialization. Analyzing the psychological effects of television on children and young people, Virgiliu Gheorghe, in his work Effects of Television on the Human Mind says that "watching television inhibits the development of operating strategies of the left hemisphere, which leads to serious damage to the ability to use language, logical and analytical thinking. Language problems may be observed to those young people being unable to express ideas clearly, the misuse of grammar, in the presence of an abundance of stereotypes of verbal expressions, of jargon and exaggeration. "[4] The same author draws attention to the danger that it involves the assumption by adolescents of patterns of negative behavior and anchoring them in a virtual reality, or a pseudo-reality. Thus, we can speak both of the positive and negative effects of media on adolescents. Among the positive effects there are: information-documentation, relaxation through entertaining programs, remote communication, development of distributive attention, the assumption of positive behavior patterns, etc. Among negative effects there are: induction of passivity, uniformity of tastes, slowing imagination, desensitization of individuals on acts of violence, sometimes decreases of physical performance and school performance, poor communication with family and friends, promoting physical and verbal violence, etc. Regarding the impact of the media, especially television, on family life, are worth mentioning the following effects: decreases communication between family members, often substantially reduces the time for playing common activities, configures an ideal virtual world that

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individuals tend to always report, which often induces frustrating conditions, arguments and even violence, produces discontent by comparison that viewers do between the spouses and their TV heroes, promoting material values, in this case money, in detriment of moral, authentic values. Strictly speaking of the effects of computer use on the physical, mental and social development of students we consider as significant the following: a) computer misuse can cause health problems such as: temporary myopia, headaches, blurred vision, irritated or dry eyes, increased sensitivity to light, double image, back, neck or wrist pain. To prevent and heal these effects experts recommend: small breaks for exercise, placing your monitor so that light sources are not directly reflected by the screen, the monitor should be within a distance of one arm stretched from the head, use of a sunscreen, use of an ergonomic chair to allow a comfortable position with feet placed on the floor. b) from the psychological point of view we can even speak of addiction in some cases. This is the urgent need to use a computer for periods of increasingly large periods, but not necessarily for business purposes. Above that, it is used as a means of escape from everyday life when problems or conditions such as anxiety, depression, hopelessness, lack of prospective guidance, guilt, irritability, low frustration tolerance etc. occur. Many adolescents prefer to use the computer when they feel abandoned by family or when they spend more time home alone, parents are at work or busy with various problems. c) from the social development perspective studies have shown that prolonged use of computer leads to behavior disorders such as: social withdrawal, introversion, verbal or physical aggression, explosive behavior, irritating when required to do something else. One out of five children aged between 8 and 18 years has a computer in the bedroom. This leads to isolation and reduces default allocated time for social activities. Research on students' exposure to violent computer games suggests the increase of aggressive behavior through the development of aggressive thinking and feelings while lowering pro-social behavior. Also, browsing the Internet tends to steal more time than ever from those using this service, thus limiting their general field of activity. Hence the deterioration of relationship with others, especially family members and friends. It is even more pronounced as the number of hours spent in front of the computer is greater. Some people may develop a tendency of loneliness and depression and their involvement in real life may decrease significantly giving rise to difficulties in establishing contact with others. Drawing attention to the effects of mass-media, often adverse, Gilles Ferreol said in his Dictionary of Sociology: "Mass-media, is often stated, are responsible for conditioning the public, for the passivity of the viewer, for the standardization of tastes. The child becomes an early adult, many adults become late children. From this moment, affectivity prevails over reflection and action. The TV set replaces the playground and the creation becomes obsolete. You live your life by permission: cartoon heroes serve as intermediate and promoting of the stars prevents critical reflection. "[5] A number of studies conducted both in the post-December Romania and other countries focused on the problem of exposure to violence through media. Thus, Aurora Liiceanu and Octavian Rujoiu, in an article published in Romanian Sociological Review, Volume III, No.1/2005 have identified several specific aspects of this problem: Financial considerations determine the media to transmit messages frequently shocking and even violent, attractiveness of informal education conducted by the media in relation to the sometimes tedious nature of the formal curriculum, the differential sensitivity of individuals to the messages conveyed through media channels, distribution and expression of social responsibility of filtering information and in particular

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those that reach children. Regarding the effects of the violent television programs, the authors state three, namely: aggressive behavior, desensitization and decreased sensitivity to violent acts and fear or anxiety in relation to life in a world dominated of violence. "Excessive exposure to TV violence can cause syndrome of a miserable world in which receptors overestimate the risk of victimization." [6]

The practice of research

The practical part of this research focused on the social, psychological and pedagogical impact of use of computer by adolescents. For this purpose we have developed and applied a survey to high school students to identify a number of aspects of how the media, and in particular computer, affects their lives, influences their behavior from the socio-psycho-pedagogic point of view. The surveys were applied on a sample of 120 students of grades IX and X from several high schools in Targoviste, covering a wide range of profiles and specializations, between the 1st and the 21st of December 2009. The processing of the results was done mainly using statistical, mathematical methods correlated with qualitative analysis based on data collected from focus discussions. Thus, we found that a majority of students surveyed (66.67%) have a home computer, while only 21.57% use the computer in the school computer lab, 7.84% use the computers of their friends and the remaining 3.92% attend internet-cafes. In terms of time spent by students on activities involving computer we found that 54.9% use the computer between 3 and 5 hours per day and 35,29% use the computer between one and two hours. The extremes are: a percentage of 5.88% of students surveyed who spend every day on the computer more than five hours and a percentage of 3.92% which do it less than an hour per day. The top activities that students carried out by computer and thus the internet, first, with a very high percentage (64.11%) are interactive games, e-mail correspondence, watching some movies or some music videos. Ranked second, at a rate of 17.84% is the browsing of some sites for information purposes but not reported as school requirements. On the third place is browsing information for school purposes, at a rate of 15.45% and on the last place is the browsing of entertainment sites. With reference to the role of parents to restrict the access to computer for children, we see that 54.9% of them do not impose any restriction, 33.33% of parents restrict children's access to several hours daily, while the remaining 11.76 % allow access to the computer two or three times a week and only after completing homework. Quantifying the extent to which students realize that computer use affects their behavior to some extent, we found that a percentage of 45.10% consider that computer use affects their behavior to a small extent, 23.52% to medium extent, 25.5% in little extent and 5.88% that are not influenced at all by using the computer. On the psychological view, with reference to basic needs (hunger, thirst) we found that among the students surveyed, about 84.31% fully disagreed the idea of hunger or thirst to continue surfing the Internet, 5.88% are undecided, 1.96% are perfectly willing and 7.84 partly agree. These data show that teenagers today have become more rational and more selective in use of the computer. It is no longer seen as an omnipotent ruler, able to govern their lives and shape their behavior but rather as a useful tool necessary to satisfy personal needs but not absolutely indispensable. From the reasons stated on computer use by students, we found that the first are those interested to information, but not necessarily those regarding school (41.17%), followed by spending free time (31.37%), and for entertainment (15.68%) and the last place, with 11.78% for communication.

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Analyzing the social impact of computer use we found that 80.39% of students who responded to the survey expressed their disagreement against the idea of refusing the invitation of friends to go out, for continuation of computer games. 11.76% of students are undecided and only a relatively small, 7.85% expressed agreement with respect to this idea. Also 33, 32% said they have friends whom they met over the internet and have never met in the real life and the remaining 66.67% disagree with this idea. This data shows that teenagers prefer the company of other individuals, especially those of the same age, compared with solitary or isolation behavior in a virtual world created by computer. Mass media play an important role like an agent of the secondary socialization process and can contribute to successful socialization of individuals into existing social life. When I asked students to express their agreement or disagreement in relation to the notion that life without a PC and Internet would be depressing and meaningless, only 15.68% agreed, 23.52% partly agreed and the remaining 60.8% expressed disagreement. Approaching the question of pedagogical point of view we asked students to quantify the extent that use of computer facilitates learning, it increases efficiency and speed. Thus, 33.33% of students say this is achieved largely, 37.25% in average, 25.49% to a small extent and the remaining 3.92% that learning is not influenced by computer use. These data reveal that students perceive computer mostly as a useful and necessary tool in their learning. Also, regarding the approach of the Internet as a source of knowledge we found that 74.5% of students prefer to read information from the Internet rather than from books, 11.76% are undecided in this respect and the remaining 13,73% give priority to books for primary reference. Here we can make some speculations about the quality of material searched for study and, if taken from the internet, often has poor quality. Also, by correlation with data obtained from the previous question, it can be explained the high percentage of students who choose to search information using the Internet on the basis that the information can be found here much faster, in a form already structured, processed and even edited. All these reduce substantially the time spent by the student learning and on homework preparation. Prioritizing on a scale from 1 to 5 (position 1 most frequently nominated effect, 5 the least nominated position effect) positive effects of the use of internet, students surveyed felt that the position 1 is the information and documentation, number 2 communication, 3rd entertainment, and the places 4 and 5 respectively to avoid boredom, quick resolution of homework. In the negative effects, on the first place is affecting the eyesight, the second is addiction to computer, on third place is obtaining false or dubious quality information, on the 4th is time losing and 5th place is influencing the individual behavior and life in general. A study in America in 1995 on students of class VII and VIII showed that computer use can improve their cognitive performance. Research conducted were focused on highlighting specific skills to develop a set of visual intelligence, involved the use of computer. Thus, it has been shown that students who had regular access to the PC have had better school performance in mathematics and English compared with those who did not have this opportunity.

Conclusions
As a conclusion, based on objective analysis of all these factual data, we can say that, overall, the media influence both in the positive sense and, unfortunately, in the negative sense the act of education. Towards the multitude of media sources, the teacher must have a firm and equally balanced attitude. They must not put an impenetrable barrier before the influx of new information technologies and information transmitted by the media but also must not leave full access of these media to the educational environment. We live in a society that depends on information and communication to keep moving in the right direction and do our daily activities like work, entertainment, health care, education,

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personal relationships, traveling and anything else that we have to do.() We have put our trust on the media as an authority to give us news, entertainment and education. However, the influence of mass media on our kids, teenagers and society is so big that we should know how it really works.[7] Finally I will try to present some advice for parents and teachers: The television should not stay permanently on and accompany the family activities because by the power of the messages transmitted it will soon attract the interest of everyone in the house, instead of other activities; You should agree with other family members the schedule for watching a TV program or accessing the computer according to the interests, concerns and schedule of each member; Learn how to be selective in regard to information provided by various media channels, develop your critical spirit and help your children to do so; Turn your TV into an authentic educational collaborator, the information that a child collects from the media must be filtered and explained by parents and educators in order to be properly understood; Do not leave the computer always available for children, it is preferable to place the computer in a room where the family has access and which is under constant observation to prevent access to sites containing messages inappropriate for their age.

References
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. B o u d o n , R . Tratat de sociologie, Editura Humanitas, Bucureti, 2005 G i d d e n s , A . - Sociologie, Editura All, Bucureti, 2000 www.beyondintractability.org G h e o r g h e , V . Efectele televiziunii asupra minii umane, Editura Evanghelismos, Bucureti, 2005 F e r r e o l , G . ( c o o r d i n a t i n g ) Dicionar de sociologie, Editura Polirom, Iai, 1998 L i i c e a n u , A . , R u j o i u , O . - Exposure to Violence through Media. A Psycho-Sociological Perspective, Romanian Sociology Review, volume III, p.130, no.12005 www.hubpages.com

Influena mass-media n educaie - o abordare socio-psihopedagogic

Rezumat
Aceast lucrare intenioneaz s realizeze o imagine realist asupra modului n care mass-media influeneaz actul educaional n context formal, nonformal sau informal. Astfel, o abordare teoretic cuplat cu un studiu sociologic practic va ncerca s analizeze aspecte ca: rolul mass-media n societate, relaia dintre adolesceni i mass-media, efectele mass-mediei asupra dezvoltrii individuale psihosociale precum i asupra vieii de familie.

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