Media education, a misnomer Vinaya Kasajoo The Kathmandu Post 2003-11-13 09:05 NOV 14 – After spending years of time and tons of paper to find out the culprit who encourages people, particularly children and teenagers, to do all kinds of nuisances in the family and the society, social scientists are now pointing to a magic box that lives in the living room and which is loved by all the family members. As the communication technology develops it seems impossible to get rid of it. Media education is the only way to reduce its negative impact and benefit from it. But in Nepal media education has become a misnomer. Suicide by an eight year boy for a packet of biscuit, last week (November 10, 2003) has raised concerns among psychologists and pediatricians. Some of them have contributed the incident to sibling rivalry and family environment while some mental health experts have pointed to the mass media, particularly television. Scientific studies and reviews, abroad, conclude that significant exposure to crime, sex, violence and advertisements increases the risk of aggressive behaviour in children and adolescents. Violence appears in various forms of entertainment, such as movies, video games, and television news. The American Academy of Pediatrics recognises that exposure to mass media (i.e., television, movies, video and computer games, the Internet, music lyrics and videos, newspapers, magazines, books, advertising, etc) presents both health...
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