Mass Media and Family Unit

The drastic changes in the socio-political relations throughout the twentieth century were the reasons for the transformation of social values. A new family morality, which is oriented to pleasure, self-development and individualistic system of values replaced the orthodox system of family values, when a man was the head of the family and the genus. The identification with the family, devotion, mutual aid, care about preserving the integrity of the family, the subordination of the interests of the family members to the interests and prosperity of the family group gives way to the values of the individualistic culture. Despite the fact that the family is the most stable and conservative element of society, socio-cultural conditions change and exacerbate the conflict between family and nonfamily relationships. The development of mass media contributed to the changes of family unit in both positive and negative way by setting the tone for a certain style of behavior.
The 21st century is characterized by the circulation of excessive amounts of information flows in the society through the active work of the media, improvement opportunities of the Internet, as well as the emergence of new digital technologies, their indispensability in the creation of the worldview. The invention of each type of media, which happened on the historical stages in the development of humanity, became one of the reasons for the transition to the new socio-economic realities. Each stage of formation of certain media (newspapers, radio, television, etc.) gradually changed socio-cultural framework of the society, its value orientation, ideals, ideas about the world, expanding the knowledge of it and the cultural integrity of an individual. The mass media added specific characteristics (ability to influence the unlimited circle of people simultaneously, quickly distribute information to any distance, etc.) in the process of its formation. Found in every home, changing lifestyles and being indispensable in people’s everyday activity, the mass media become its extension as a means of information, entertaining, training, warning that unites people. The media has a huge impact on society in shaping the public opinion of the masses.More about it you can read at https://essaysprofessors.com/ .
Therefore, it is almost impossible to imagine a modern man, who does not resort to everyday use and handling of the media. With the emergence and rapid development of the Internet and computerization of many areas of activity, it is unrealistic. Internet technologies has been spread worldwide within a relatively short period of time. The emergence and flourishing of new media in the twenty-first century (electronic versions of traditional media, TV and radio) significantly alter the absorption of the information in the society. Having the access to the Internet, everyone gets the opportunity to be in the course of the events in the world without reference to a particular place. Moreover, various forums (the opportunity to discuss issues of different nature by unlimited circle of people), social networking, online shopping, etc. give rise to new types of professional activities, new hobbies and leisure activities, communication and education. 98% of US homes have at least one TV, which is turned on for an average of seven hours a day.
People let media merchants abuse them unconsciously allowing them to intrude into family affairs and take advantage of the negative side of the human nature. The mass media plays a significant role in parenting education, as well as in the formation of attitude to family values among the youth. The current generation, which passed the stage of socialization in parallel with the increase in the activities of the new media, is the most adapted to their characteristics. Their socio-cultural values have been formed on the basis of all the features of traditional and new media. The youth, which is educated in modern information-cultural environment, becomes a carrier of values, norms, attitudes, behavior rules and forms of perception of the modern world. On the one hand, the young generation that was born in the present information and cultural environment is better adapted to modern conditions of life than the generation of their parents, who experienced the culture shock, the information boom and technological revolution. The new media becomes a huge information retrieval system for young people: from job search to the weather forecast, from the Bible to the comics and from new acquaintances to creating a family. There are of the role of media in forming positive attention to parenting has been strengthened. The media--including both informational and entertainment media--have important influences, in conjunction with other forces and strategies, on parents' attitudes and behaviors about child-rearing. The ways that parents use media may have a substantial effect on the structure and dynamics of the family, as well as an influence on the relationship with their children.
However, there is the other side of the coin. Scientists concern about the possible effects that mass media could have on young people. They included sense of lawlessness, violence, devaluation of moral values, etc. Moreover, parents began to use television as a perfect and safe baby-sitter, which negatively influenced the child’s mind. The modern youth, whose cultural values are still not fully formed, falls under the threat of a fundamental transformation of the spiritual and moral ideas and ideology by the influence of the media and the popularity of new media. Accordingly, growing more conscious, the young man, whose childhood was spent under the influence of the media institute, is less demanding to his environment and absorbs everything that fills information space of modernity via the filters of his cultural identity. Therefore, universal accessibility of information provided by the Internet and the media, is a feature of the modern society and, at the same time, a danger of this century for the cultural development of the young generation and family unit. As the culture of mass media captivates all spheres of human activity and blurs the line between permissiveness and taboo subjects, undermining the concept of the future and the value of constraints and disciplines, humanity will go back to medieval perception, it was liberated from by literacy.
The mass media turns a family into a business partnership between two adults, whose thoughts are focused on self-realization, freedom of choice, personal development, personal lifestyle and emancipation. Partners who get married look not so much for favorable union that is based on the interests of family, tradition, but for opportunities to meet individual needs. This fact reveals the vulnerability of modern family, as any shock can destroy marriage based not on objective factors, but on subjective categories of sensuality.
Valuable personification of media space increases the effect on the consumer. A mechanism of projection acts, when the weight of the charismatic hero carries an additional burden on broadcast information. Personified value, as the value is propounded by a significant person, causes the feelings of high definition and translates the message from the category of abstraction in the sphere of limiting specification. As the media shows its audience what is good and correct on the illustrative examples, these values are quietly cultivated in viewers, readers and listeners.
Modern media, at least in the US, are a bizarre combination of complete freedom and traditional conservative norms. This combination is mostly manifested in areas that are related to the topic of family morals and values. Today, there are different models of the family. In 1975, the comedy One Day at a Time appeared on the screen. It portrayed a divorced mother and her two teenage daughters. It was the first sitcom in which the life of a single woman was showed realistically. Today, television not only depicts children from wealthy families, who have a father and a mother. In recent years, American comedies were presented by a variety of family situations, including children, who live with divorced parents. There are also unusual families, including a widowed father, single uncle and coming lover (Full House) or widowed father, a divorced woman, the mistress, her child and the mother (Who's the Boss?).
However, there are positive trends in the influence of mass media. Thus, in general, a family in television is portrayed positively. This is a perfect couple, in which there are no contradictions and conflicts. All members adhere to traditional gender roles; the children are developed and intelligent. The relations of cooperation and assistance are established between family members. There is mutual care and respect in the family. Family happiness does not depend on the financial situation. Probably, solidarity is the most common of all the family values on television. This is most clearly seen in the family comedies. Their main theme is the message that the family is more important than power, money, career, greed or status. Even the most disunited family shows family cohesion, which confirms ultimately traditional morality. For example, when Homer (in the film Simpsons) has lost his job, the whole family came together to help save money. Family solidarity is manifested in other groups, not only in the families. TV shows that depict a group of friends, such as Friends, Seinfeld, Cheers, Melrose Place and Beverly Hills 90210 mainly support a group of friends as family de facto.
Sexuality in the family is one of the most important aspects of carrying a moral and emotional burden. In advertising, on TV and in magazines, it is one of the most common themes. The standards on television are stricter and more conservative than on the radio, which, in turn, is more conservative than records (cassettes and CDs). These differences are clearly visible especially while listening to rock music or rap. In television news and entertainment shows, the question whether or not to have sex until marriage is discussed superficially at least. However, , the traditional morals and values usually win. Even if young people agree to have sex, there are a lot of moralizing discourses on this topic. This restores the traditional values more or less. However, sex between adults outside marriage is not discussed. In television dramas and shows, numerous sexual contacts between single and unmarried people became the norm. Television characters do not care about moral side of relations, protection against pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. 75% of shows contain sexual references or content, but only 10% mention the need for contraception or sexually transmitted infection protection. Sex before or outside marriage is portrayed as conventional and not contradicting the beliefs of the characters.
Technologies shape family interactions in unprecedented ways, but there is a lack of strategic commitment to the stewardship of technology. In order to avoid the negative influence of the media, it is important to recognize that media could be both informative or beneficial and demolishing. Therefore, it is necessary to learn how to use its good aspects and avoid the bad ones. To overcome the crisis in the family, the active position of the state and all state and public institutions is required. Current national information policy for the promotion of family values should involve not only the institutions of the executive power, which have the least impact on young people, but also representatives of the legislature, as well as the general public, institutions of higher education, party leaders and leaders of youth organizations. In the implementation of public policies for the promotion of family values, it is crucial to take into account the basic principles of the theory of reference groups, maximize the use of opinion leaders in the promotion of family values via information space, act creatively and informally and consider the demographic characteristics of the audience.