Ethical Media: An Oxymoron?

Media has a profound influence on our life. It is the most exciting & influential new medium of communication, an integral part of modern culture envisioned and designed to reach a large audience. It has the ability to create powerful touchstones, and enables people to share their experience. Internet has excelled beyond our expectations and reduced the earth into a Global Village.

Many commercials are helping the youth and children to learn the consequences of misbehavior that can ruin their future. Media has doubtlessly changed our lives in many ways making information more effective and memorable.  Nonetheless, it has made us realize the global responsibilities.

 Exposure to internet is both a boon and a bane.

Of late, rather than we mastering the internet, the internet has controlled our lives. We just cannot overlook the harmful influence of the internet on children and youth. There are no regulations and censorship on the material placed on the internet. The violence and unethical issues placed on the internet result in real life violence, stimulating fears, disturbance and night mares. Violence has been used by the media to capture & captivate the attention of viewers.

The physical and psychological violence has just not increased in quantity, but has become more graphic and sadistic. Parents are having a difficult task before them to protect and getting their children influenced from media bloodshed, crime and unscrupulous elements. The level of such unpleasant stuff is disturbingly high.

Researchers have proved the link between media violence and real life aggression in children, which affects them as adults’ years later. It also results in increased heart rate, faster respiration and higher blood pressure. The internet comes as a threat to children also because there are a lot of web sites designed for adult user which contain pornography and other crude pictures.

US parents rate Internet safety as being a more serious health threat to children than school violence, sexually transmitted diseases, abuse and neglect. Horror, torture and cruelty much beyond parents’ imagination,  are being viewed daily by kids. The amount of violence that children see affects them negatively and can have lasting effect on an unsuspecting and unprepared child. Such children become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others and more fearful of the world around them.

 Nevertheless, we cannot overlook the unlimited possibilities the internet offers. The illegal & immoral activities are frustrating for all Internet users, so we should make an effort to try and stop these activities to make the use of internet much safer,  for the advantages of the Internet far outweighs the disadvantages and millions of people each day benefit from using the Internet for work and for pleasure. Therefore, we must take into consideration before we let the virtual reality directs our life

Media education, should give young the tools to respond thoughtfully and critically to media contents. It should be an eye opener for the children and the youth to realize that the main reason for the proliferation of internet violence is money. Media education has the potential to reduce the harmful effects and catastrophe. Parents & teachers play a vital role in advocating good habits to make better use of the internet. Severe censorship may solve the root cause of many such problems in the society, but its’ up to individuals to decide what is appropriate for them and their children.

Internet is like a knife. A knife can be used to cut vegetable and at the same time it is a lethal weapon. Internet can be used to speed up communication & development but at the same time it can create a havoc when not put in proper use.