Children and the Small Screen in Albania

CHILDREN AND THE SMALL SCREEN
The role of television in child development and education, middle childhood.
Margarita Hido
Stela Dhima
Harallamb Margariti

INTRODUCTION

Television still seems to be the most widespread means of public communication having a considerable effect on children and adults, as well.
Television and the media in general: radio, magazines, computer and internet are factors of powerful influence on the esthetic education of children, their imagination development, different modes of behavior, ways of dressing or speaking, etc.
This big influence which not always is positive is the focus of our study, which is based on the used literature, observations and especially by the quantitative data processing concerning 100 interviews made to 10 year old children and 70 other interviews made to parents of 10 year old children in two different Albanian cities; Gjirokastra and Tirana.
In order to give an answer to various questions arising here, we have structured this paper in two main sections: 1. Television and children 2. Parents, television and children

TELEVISION AND CHILDREN

The society we are living in today is being led and controlled by the media and media culture. The everyday activity is being controlled by media, especially the television.
TV watching remains the main way of entertainment for the majority of people and especially children. As far as the television is concerned, as a concept the opinion is divided. Some consider it as a facilitator or an appeaser of the harsh realities of life, while some others see it as obstructive for the culture and mankind, having a harmful effect on the youth education, particularly on children.
Actually we should accept that TV plays a positive role and is necessary for the child development, his mental, intellectual and esthetic abilities development if used appropriately.
These priorities should be taken in consideration by parents and all other influencing factors and they should utilize them to the advantage of universal child development.
Unfortunately, parents and educators often do not teach their children how and what to watch on TV, in such a case it turns out to have negative effects and cause many problems, among which we would point out:

• The more TV a toddler watches, the higher the likelihood they will do badly at school and have poor health at the age of 10.[1]

Pedagogues and psychologist have come up with the conclusion that children:
0-3 years old – should not watch TV at all
3-6 years old – should rarely or never watch TV
6-9 years old – should watch TV for ½ hours a day, but not regularly
9-12 years old – 1hour a day, but not regularly
12-15 years old – 1 and ½ hours a day, but not regularly
15-18 years old – 2 hours a day, but not regularly

Many studies carried out also conclude that children till the time they become teenagers, watch TV approximately 15000 hours and spend more time on TV rather than other activities (excluding sleeping)
The findings of the interviews are very worrying in relation to the time spent on TV watching.
Thus: 76% children watch TV 0-2 hours a day and 24% children 2-4 hours a day.
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Whereas during school holidays : 33% children watch TV 0-2 hours a day, 53% children 2-4 hours a day and 14% children spend 4-6 hours a day to watch TV.
These demonstrate many hours in front of TV, which means less time on playground, sports or reading. This is coupled with the ensuing troubles like the tendency to lose concentration, obesity, aggressiveness, etc.
Through the comparison, we notice that children in Tirana spent a little less time in front of TV. This is defined by the big possibilities to arrange the free time. It is an impressive and interesting fact that out of 24 children that watch TV for about 4 hours a day, 20 are girls. This is due to the close relationship they have with their mothers and the limited activity they have outside the house.

• The nature of the programs that children watch on TV is another problem

The responses to the question “What do you like the most to watch on TV” were
37% of the children – watch musical programs for children
11% of the children – watch programs featuring music for adults
5% of the children – watch documentaries
28% of the children – watch cartoons
19% of the children – watch the program “Big Brother” (a reality show going on in the time interviews were made)
The fact that children prefer to watch musical programs in general (48%) and especially those for children, and the fact that they like cartoons, which are more suitable for their age, is a positive thing but, based on the amount of time that these programs occupy on TV and based on the data on the amount of time that children spend watching TV, we conclude that they spend time watching other programs also, not suitable for their age. There is not a variety of programs for the 6 -10 year old children and so they find themselves between the desire to watch cartoons or the adults’ programs, and consequently they are faced with a program content which clearly goes beyond their age limit and might have undesirable results. (Much as the parents might strive to explain, we do not think that watching for hours people who are under the surveillance of the cameras of Big Brother will have a positive effect on a 10 year old child).
In most of the families, during the evening hours people watch news, with children being part of this environment also. As we know different pieces of information are communicated there, but we have to add that prominence is given to murders, kidnappings, acts of terrorism, catastrophes, accidents and other such chronicles, which violate the normal journalistic ethics, sometimes journalists even “exploit“ children (We witness in several chronicles children who are interviewed about the death of their parents, children being photographed and filmed while in the same room with the dead body, to make the situation more dramatic. Also children being interviewed by the “uncle reporter” with questions such as: “How do you feel about not being able to go outside and play with other children, because you are now nailed in bed due to your illness?”). All these things have their impact on children and each one of them deals with “the bad news”, in their way .There are children who do not care at all about what they hear, and others who are affected, scared, or perturbed.
It would be a good thing not to watch news in the presence of children, especially when they are very young, but when this happens it is necessary to explain them what is really going on.

• The consequences of violent scenes (in movies intended for the adult viewership, but not only)

Violence is very harmful, and the saying, that violence breeds violence is justified in this case. Violence seen today on TV, according to the Academy of American Pediatrics, sidesteps the centre in the child’s brain responsible for judging and is impressed on his brain without undergoing a moral judgment. There is a general consensus among the scientists that violence on TVs especially in some people increases the tendency for violence in everyday life. Researchers have shown that children up to their teens:
Gradually accept violence as a way to resolve their problems, are not frightened by the violence they witness, try to imitate violent scenes and violent characters. More affected by the violence on TV are the abducted children or those who are rejected by their peers and those who have poor results at school.
Parents should try to explain their children the violent scenes. They have to make it clear to them that they disapprove of the violent scenes, and explain them that violence is not the best way to resolve the problems, not even a way to resolve them. Experience shows that the bad effect of violent scenes might manifest itself after many years, where least expected, even when the child was brought up in quiet family settings.
It came as a surprise to us that to the question “Do the violent scenes of horror movies scare you 49% of the children answered “Yes” and 51% answered “No” (and to think that they are only 10 years old).

PARENTS, TELEVISON AND CHILDREN

Children should be taught how to watch TV. The first and most important teacher should be their own parents. Are all parents ready to fulfill this role? Do they recognize the full impact media has on the development of their children and the dangers it hides if not used wisely? Parents should try to teach their children good habits of watching TV, starting from a very early age, (with the passing of time it is more difficult to inculcate them good habits of watching TV).
In the interviews made we noticed that parents see TV mostly as entertainment for their children and the less as an obstacle on their duties:
50% see it as entertainment, 30% as a source of information, 9% as a medium of reward (it would be better not to use TV as a medium of reward or punishment), 11% see it as an obstacle to duties.[pic] Many parents are aware of the dangers of watching too much TV. They say they try to offset this thing by giving advice or offering their children other alternatives like participating in other extracurricular activities.
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When parents were asked “What does your child like to do in his free time” most of the answers were “to read books”, which, compared to the answers of the children is more of a desire than a reality.
The issues we would like to raise to discussion are:
How much do parents control the TV watching of their kids?
100% of the parents answered “Yes” to the question “Do you know what kind of programs does your child watch when you are not home “- which doesn’t match with the reality (in fact even when parents are at home they might not always know what kind of programs their children are watching, at a time when most of the children have TVs in their bedrooms; 40%)
Control has more to do with the nature of the programs children watch on TV. Both children and parents admit that the remote control is held more by the parents, less by the biggest brothers and sisters and least by the small children and grandparents. (This does not mean that the best suitable programs are chosen for the children, for as long as parents like to watch the news, soap operas, and movies which are inappropriate for their children, and when children admit that during their holidays they watch TV even after 11 o’clock at night, a time when none of the programs are appropriate for them)
The answers to the question “do you talk about the TV programs you watch with your parents /children” were:
Children: 4 never, 48 sometimes, 40 often, 8 always Parents: 12% sometimes, 71% often, 17% always
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We would have had better outcomes if the situation would be as presented by parents.
The important thing is that parents should view TV not as a babysitter and that the child in the process of growing up should select the program he watches and acquire by his parent good habits of watching TV in the same way he asks permission to go to the house of a friend. (Only in this way the dangers and bad effects of watching TV but also the conflicts about the kind of program, the amount of time they are allowed to watch it, can be minimized)
Parents also shouldn’t forget that more than with their words, rules and explanations they set an example with the way they watch TV and what they watch on TV.

CONCLUSIONS

✓ TV like everything else has also its side effects, is the parents’ responsibility to filter the “blots” of the waves coming out of the little box.
✓ Parents should protect their children from the harmful effects of the small screen.
✓ NGOs and government organizations which deal with children education should be more active to protect children rights and sensitize parents to the bad effects of the TV.
✓ Schools should use TV more and in a more appropriate way in the process of education, through discussion, debates, etc.
✓ The laws on the private and public televisions, on children protection from the programs which threaten their physical, moral and mental development should be fully enforced.
✓ We all admit that the TV has become an inseparable part of everybody’s life and of the children also. Let us all try to transform it into a useful force.

REFERENCES
- BBC News; “'Long-term harm' of too much TV for toddlers”, http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8654963.stm
- Graham, J. “How television viewing affects children”, Cooperative Extension Publications - http://extension.umaine.edu/publications/4100e/
- Kappatu, A. "Megaloste eftihismena pedia", (p. 129-131), Athens 2003
- Llambiri, S. & Dervishi, M. "Ruajtja nga ekrani i vogël", (p. 87 , 104-106), Tiranë 2002
- Steinberg, L. "The 10 basic principles of good parenting", (p. 43-48), Dioptra, Athens 2006
- Save the children "E drejta për zhvillim", Tiranë 2004
- Josephson, W. L. Ph.D , “Television Violence: A review of the effects on children of different ages”, http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/research_documents/reports/violence/tv_violence_child.cfm
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[1] BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/health/8654963.stm, Published: 2010/05/03 23:03:30 GMT

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Still there are many parents who see TV and computer games as the only way of entertainment, feeling safer that their children are at home, and so neglecting their other needs. Children answered to the question “What do you like to do more in your free time”:
22% to watch TV, 15% to play with my computer, 49% to play with my friends, 14% to read books.