Debate

Violence on TV:

Broader picture

Ruth Rani Silva

Much has been said and debated about television in Sri Lanka and the channels that offer programmes mostly for adult viewing especially teledrama and news casts depicting crimes and violence, it is imperative that we should seriously consider the effects of these programmes specifically on our children and the youth.

When children have access to such programmes irrespective of their age and the time for study undoubtedly it can have adverse effects on them.

Readers

At this juncture let me highlight advantages and disadvantages of television on our children in such a way so that it will benefit our parents to use it wisely as a tool for educating and helping their children and complement their learning in the schools where they do not have much time to gain knowledge outside their textbooks.

As an educationist I agree with some of our readers that our children starting from preschool age in advanced and developed countries are exposed to the media of television and videos that depict crimes which no child or youth should be allowed. Suffice to say, it is not in keeping with the culture of a nation like Sri Lanka.

Far from being stimulating, the television has a mesmerising and numbing effect on such children as it cuts them off from the direct experience of their world which they need in order to develop educationally, socially and culturally and emotionally.

External distractions

Every parent knows that the television will quieten noisy children and often children will sit very close to the TV in order to blot out any external distractions.

It can be very tempting for parents to use the television to distract their children when they don't have time or energy to concentrate upon playing.

This unfortunately cuts down the amount of social contact with the parent, which is so important for social and linguistic development.

Television can be very educational with children's programmes helping to teach children how to read, count at their early stage and introducing them to creative and imaginative ideas and experiences rather than trying to imitate heroes in crimes with guns and pistols in their hands.

Information

Story time which ideally involves the parent and child following through a book together and the child using his imagination and beginning to recognise written words may become replaced by video time in which the child is isolated and is the recipient of information about his world contrary to his or her age which he might have more fund discovering himself.

Even thinking parents today may justify the time they 'buy' in letting their children watch television by kidding themselves that they let their children watch children's special programmes or educational programmes.

Parents may argue that television can stimulate imagination as children will often act out their favourite characters.

Certainly we all have or had characters which we loved to imitate as children but if stimulated in more active ways such as 'play-house', drama, 'dressing up', imitating mummy and daddy or grandpa and grandma, children can be brilliant at inventing their own characters especially for preschool age. All the more television provides a kind of imaginative laziness as it performs the function of imaginative invention.

Valuable experience

On the contrary, some television can be a valuable source of experience for your child as he or she can learn new concepts such as telling the time, activities on science and things to do at home and enjoy and have fun in doing so, at their own age.

It is another source of information for your child. However experts agree that about one hour of television per day is enough for a small child. Otherwise the time that should be spent in active play, discovering and communicating is lost and could limit your child's full-blown development. Parents have a responsibility to monitor the programmes the children are expected to watch.

Taking into consideration the above I would appeal to all interested authorities and parents to look into this crucial situation in our TV programmes to save our dear children, the future generation from cheap entertainment and idolising which do not foster their development in the areas of mental, emotional, cultural enhancement that will lead to a healthy nation of children growing in a peaceful atmosphere devoid of crimes especially child delinquency (juvenile delinquency).

Television programmes and channels could be created to expose our children to a variety of educational programmes such as 'Discovery channel', 'debates', 'discussions', 'world news' (censored), 'facts about environment', 'creativity and designing', 'art and crafts', 'children's drama and musical programmes', 'housewives cookery', 'flower arrangements' for mothers, 'sporting events' 'dialogues' and 'information technology' and so on for adults.

Unfortunately TV programmes in Sri Lanka can be monotonous with teledramas crowded with advertisements repeatedly which may not cater to all age groups.

Guide

If parents guide their children and youths to watch the correct type of programmes to maximally benefit from them by using creative and critical thinking to analyse and evaluate them they will be able to advantages and disadvantages the of the TV.

This will also mean a definite reorganisation of the channels and the programmes, with separate channels and programmes for children, youth and adults.

From research carried out by educationists and child specialists some of the disadvantages of TV can be summarised as follows - TV prevent your child from:

1. Scanning, sifting and analysing information.

2. Practising motor skills gross and fine.

3. Using more than two senses at a time to expand the appreciation of his or her environment.

4. Asking questions and receiving helpful educational answers.

5. Exploring and using his or her curiosity.

6. Exercising initiative or motivation.

7. Being challenged.

8. Solving problems and thinking analytically.

9. Using his or her imagination.

10. Practising communication skills.

11. Improving verbal skills according to their age.

12. Writing and reading.

13. Being creative or constructive for long periods because of the television flicker.

14. Engaging in logical, sequential thinking because the action shifts constantly backwards and forwards and laterally in time.

15. Guarding against crimes and imitating criminals.

Assets turned into liabilities

Jayantha Senevirathna

"Take care of fire, learn from water, co-operate with nature," sounds a bit unusual as a motto. However, Komatsu, one of the world's oldest companies, adopts it. Still under the visionary precision of the 46th generation of a Japanese family, Komatsu's longevity is attributed to clear and creative communication based on family unity and trust.

Sharing

These closely knit families, examining one another over dinner tables, exchange traditional wisdom turning typically hostile generational succession into synergies creating brands reigning over centuries. As well, many Sri Lankan families still remember prime times spent sharing each others' feelings with the radio as a welcome companion.

In its social context, radio was never a disruptive technology, and was warmly welcomed by all irrespective of social status. It was never suggestive of anything obscene and rarely embarrassed members of a traditional nuclear family. In loving family reunions, parents made us more emotionally articulate, and the radio improved life-chances by way of many varieties.

But right from the beginning, television has not only been disruptive technologically, but also socially and politically. Television has hardly been the constructive force that civilised societies and political cultures. And, sadly, it has never been the counterweight against many vicious and adverse developments shaping up to destroy our social and cultural values systematically.

If truth to be told, it really is a temptation to attribute the decline to open economy, as many of our colleagues love to. But it's a cheap way of dealing with a serious problem. It's not only an easy escape for idle armchair scholars, but also detrimental in a world of endless opportunities. In a word, open economy is a great social equaliser where endless competitors take part in the same playing field.

But in any playing field, there must be policies, concerns and codes of conduct, as well as instituting a new social ethic. In a democracy, there are many possible constitutional constraints legislators could design to protect viewers and their rights. For instance, certain restrictions on Indian films had been a disappointment to some addicted viewers.

Authorities

It's clear that relevant authorities are not concerned. They have no sense of quality of life, and are still groping in the dark when identifying relationships between technology and society. It is the prospect of rising living standards that makes the masses to equip with technical competence even at home. But, however desirable it is, the quality of life has other prerequisites.

It's the toothless and senseless authorities who should closely follow this type of debate which has been providing them with valuable fodder for thought for several weeks. Such arbitrage is productive if and only if they are out to safeguard the traditional qualities of a democratic society.

If there is a systematic deterioration of culture and identity, especially after the introduction of the open economy, we must not forget the fact that there have been a plethora of officials who turned assets such as television into liabilities.

In any country, adults are aware of products superior in quality, services totally reliable, or personalities who are potential prototypes. Except for a few immature adults, the majority are a sensible lot. So unconvinced, they never expect these poor story tellers to offer clever narrative and special brands of homespun humour to entertain local audiences. It's not their fault.

Lifestyle

There is a big danger for children. For adults, at the outset, the essential elements of lifestyle images had been the suburban residence, car and the profession. But, now, many parents expect their children also to take part. Children have also becoming lifestyle images of adults. So are those innocent children parroting over television channels and advertisements at their tender age.

And peculiarly, contributors of this debate, though differ in tastes and views in many aspects, seem to agree on a theme revolving round a common thread. They all seem to be of the view that national channels are seldom being constructive, but often destructive to the nation. They all seem to sense the danger the television poses to children and are vehemently against it.

Though such shows draw huge audiences, viewers are increasingly becoming aware that they are just another lot who repeat melodies of the past non-stop. If you hum 'sound of silence', 'silent night' or 'top of the world', you would get an audience round every corners of the world.

Children's programmes have also become much controversial. Medical magazines attribute disproportionate amounts of time spent on television to diseases such as attention deficit disorder and obesity. So now parents who are depended on television to give them a break from managing their kids are increasingly becoming unwilling viewers.

Though the quantity of children's television has grown, parents are becoming more and more suspicious of it. Children generate an immense effect on advertising on television. Children's ability play and laugh in any favourable or adverse circumstance is a sweet wonder. You don't need an MBA in business management to use children in advertisements to win audiences.

Danger

Viewers all over the world tend to look down upon cheap sex symbols used on television, and on the other hand, women also resent the ignominy of being treated so.

And, authorities are realising the danger of using children in advertising in their formative years. Medical journals emphasise its impact on attention problems, and food adverts are being blamed for obesity.

It definitely is a healthy trend. On September 11th, Americans tasted both inadequacies and virtues of new media over old.

When the assaults took place, it was the television set which they could watch together to share their feelings.

It was not the internet, where a human soul searches in isolation.

A blessing and a curse

Thilini Pathiraja

The television is a dynamic medium with a combination of sound, vision, and moving images. Unlike the radio it has a more powerful impact. Sometimes the television can be a blessing as well as a curse.

A television is known to be a window to the outside world. Through news telecasts and meetings people can get to know a wide variety of political, economical and technological information. Of course not everyone can afford the time to go to watch the game shows, hence television is the only affordable way to have a peek into the latest happenings of cricket and football matches.

Lankan population

Evidently now almost half of the population in Sri Lanka has access to cable or satellite television. Having cable television can be a fine idea but only if you are smart enough to pick the correct choices.

Nowadays cable television mostly show scenes of violence and sex. Most of the TV channels spend millions of dollars for programmes on sex, violence and gender discrimination. Their main target is to attract children especially teenagers who are prone to accumulate everything shown in television.

kids

These days children go to school from the television and come home to the television, hence they become couch-potatoes. I know some of these kids may just ignore or avoid telling their parents about the homework and studies to be done, just to get a heavy dose of unhealthy shows.

Plus watching too much of television is a passive activity, and we shouldn't allow these kids to waste their childhood just because of some television show. Furthermore I have always observed that the Indian teledramas shown in certain channels do not actually show the picture of the real world.

The so called heroes in these unbelievable soap operas, who do good to the others only get cheated and face jealousness, and stress in return. The most hilarious thing is that our people do producing the local teledramas in the Indian style.

The sad part of this is that our children try to imitate these parts in real life, especially during arguments with their parents, by getting angry for no reasons, enlarging their eyes and raising eyebrows to show their emotions and throwing anything that gets into their hands. Where has the innocence of these young children gone? Parents are clueless of what is to be done to their children.

However I am glad that some of the channels have very good historical, scientific and technological programmes. It is true that even news telecasts feature loads of violence but what is to be done if our world is actually filled with violence? The news telecasts report what is happening in the world. It is in the hands of the leaders of the whole world to realise that all this war, murder, shootings should be halted to cut down violence.

Violence

There are teenagers who come from abusive homes or have witnessed violence at a young age and have accepted violence as their lifestyle. Adding more spices to these troubled lives is the media which often glamorises and glorifies in typical films. But on the other hand the media cannot be fully blamed for an unhealthy youth culture, because there are other factors too such as having access to the internet, and the friends these children associate.

Moreover the home environment plays a very important role. Some parents have strict rules regarding the types of programmes their children should watch. For example, from the time when I was a kid, my father did not allow me to watch teledramas especially ones with romantic and murder scenes. Instead he brought me children cassettes such as cartoons and good English films form the library.

Now I do not watch any of these Indian or Sinhala teledramas with meaningless stories. Certainly, I am not asking all those parents out there to do what my father did. Besides there are different types of children, some understand what is right and wrong even when they are small, and some need to be told what to do.

Also punishing these innocent children just because they never listen to you, will never bring you good results.

Whatever it is, those who are obsessed in television need to understand that there has to be a control in everything you do. Naturally the young are not that matured to understand these complicated theories.

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Global food crisis: Causes and solutions

As we end the debate on Violence on TV: the Broader Picture, we embark on another topic which has filled our TV screens during the past few weeks: The global food crisis. Food prices have been going up around the world. Asia has been particularly affected because of the rise in the prices of rice, the region's staple.

Several reasons have been cited for the unprecedented rise in global food prices: The use of crops for biofuel, which has robbed the hungry of various food items. The rise in oil prices has also driven up food transport costs, which are reflected in the customers' bill.

The changing climate patterns have adversely affected agriculture, as droughts and floods continue to destroy crops. But what are the answers ? The Government has initiated the Api Wawamu Rata Nagamu (let us grow more food to develop the Nation) programme.

Likewise, Governments around the world are proposing or implementing solutions to the food crisis. Many world leaders are also calling for a moratorium on biolfuels.

Do write in (less than 1,000 words) with your views on the subject and any solutions you espouse on 'Global Food Crisis: Causes and Solutions' on or before May 5, 2008 to Daily News Debate, Daily News, Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited, PO Box 1217, Colombo, or via e-mail to debate@dailynews.lk
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