A comparative study between the impact of media and the actual expected roles of the family regarding the early adolescence stage [electronic resource]

Includes bibliographic reference

The family is supposed to be a group of trusted persons that can direct and motivate children's behavior. Surprisingly, the internet and satellite TV channels grow up in children's mind with different thoughts and relations. The current research presents a new vision for the contest between the tradition family education versus media influence on adolescents' tendencies and orientations. New measures were developed to attain this view assuming three stages of media influence on adolescents. The first stage is the "Green Zone", where the media is used mainly for fun, and entertainment. The second is the "Yellow Zone" or the "Cautious Zone", where children have built confidence in materials presented by the media. The third region is the "Red Zone" or the "Dangerous Zone" where the media materials can direct and motivate the thoughts and behavior of the kids. This study measured the influences of the media versus active participations of the family in adolescents' activities using scales of 3 terminates i.e. involvement/entertainment, confidence and motivation. Measures of self-esteem, social isolation and violence were also considered. Three hundred and forty-one adolescents (l0 to 14 years old) were invited through personal communications to take place in this study across Gharbia Governorate and Menufia Governorate, Egypt. Results show that the media proved more significant influence on adolescents than the family on subscales of involvement/entertainment and confidence. No significant difference was detected between effects of media and family motivation. In general, the active participation of families was much lower than expected. Selfesteem, social isolation, and violence were significantly correlated with confidence and motivation subscales of the family scale. No significant effects were detected on the corresponding subscales of the media The demographic factors have showed significant effect only on parenting participation. In conclusion, parents should be more involved in their children's lives and gain more trust. Motivation without considering enough engagement in children's activities might not be enough to improve their lives.

Summary in Arabic