Discussions
Virtual & Real Worlds & Kids' Morals
Posted by timethief • 3/08/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: children, cyber bullying, email threats, hacking, online behavior, pornography, privacy online, sexual language, videogame violence, violent language
ScienceDaily (Mar. 7, 2009) — Children’s moral behavior and attitudes in the real world largely carry over to the virtual world of computers, the Internet, video games and cell phones.
Interestingly, there are marked gender and race differences in the way children rate morally questionable virtual behaviors, according to Professor Linda Jackson and her team from Michigan State University in the US.
515 12-year-old children (one-third African American, two-thirds Caucasian American) to fill in a written questionnaire looking at their moral behaviors and attitudes in the real world, and their view of morally questionable behavior in the virtual world.
Measures of moral behavior in the real world included whether or not children had lied to parents and/or teachers, whether they had ever cheated, and whether they had ever bullied someone. Examples of morally questionable behavior in the virtual world were sending emails with threats, using sexually explicit or violent language in chat rooms and/or in text messages, hacking computers, and violence in video games.
...
The frequency of exposure to information technology also had an effect. The more children used the Internet, the more they found invasion of privacy online, videogame violence and online pornography acceptable.
The authors conclude that: “Educational interventions that are culturally sensitive need to be developed to assure that all children, regardless of race or gender, understand that certain virtual behaviors are unacceptable and in fact may be psychologically harmful, such as video game violence, or physically dangerous, like contacting strangers online.”
Read the full article here --> www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090302120102.htm
Jackson et al. Gender, Race and Morality in the Virtual World and Its Relationship to Morality in the Real World. Sex Roles, 2009; DOI: 10.1007/s11199-009-9589-5
Discussion questions
(1) Did the gender and race differences in the children's responses surprise you? If so, why and if no, why not?
(2) Do you think the results of this study indicate a need for more diligent instruction of children both in the home and in school about acceptable and appropriate online behavior?
(3) Will the results of this study have any affect on how closely you supervise your children's online activity, how often and for how long you allow them to enter the online world?
User Comments
-
I wonder too if the kids that were questioned all came from the same place - I'd bet that has an affect as well.
I don't see a need for young children to be online, save for maybe showing thing something "cool" (Hey, look a this picture of a polar bear!) and I don't believe that older preteen and young teens should be allowed to surf unsupervised.-
I agree. The more I read about the effects of being online on kids the more instruction and supervision I think they need.
-
-
My younger children are on parent approved sites. Like starfall www.starfall.com/ and Kidzui www.kidzui.com/ They are not allowed to do any real socializing on the computer. They have blogs and those get directed to my box. Everything is monitored as it should be.
Regardless of any study or whatever I will always be watching what my kids are doing.-
Regardless of any study or whatever I will always be watching what my kids are doing.
I couldn't agree more.
Sometimes I think that studies, safety devices and the like prove to be false senses of security - and when you trust something that can be used improperly, break, or has the ability to fail (or be wrong)....you could wind up with a worse situation than not. -
What is funny is my mom never had to watch me on the computer. Internet wasn't what it is now. I think as parents we have it a little tougher than parents in the past. My son uses computers in school. He tells me what sites they allow him on and those are the ones I allow the most. He gets other sites that are kid friendly too but I think if I were to allow him to chat like we do here at BC that's asking for trouble. Kids don't keep secrets real well and I am almost sure eventually our address would get out. That just freaks me out.
-
We didn't even have an internet when I was a kid
Also - just one more thing to worry about - the kids at school can easily bypass the school's internet controls. My brother and his friends used to do it all the time - they'd get caught in chat rooms and all sorts of places online.
-
-
I'm going to answer this in a different way, based on the research I have done and based on my expertise. My thesis centered on investigating social, psychological and biological influences on adolescent's aggressive and violent tendencies. Of course, one of the factors I looked into was media, including violent video games, television and movies.
What I found is this: there are certain children that definitely need more supervision when it comes to violent media.
What I believe is this:
*Certain children have more of a propensity toward aggression and violence than other children do. I believe this could be a genetic predisposition. (i.e. many families I interviewed stated their child had been aggressive almost from birth--and I found that most had siblings who were nonviolent/nonaggressive, so it was not pervasive in all the children in the household).
*I think the majority of children are not affected adversely by what they read, what they see, or what they do, online. The problem is that some children are affected negatively--and I believe this is a genetic predisposition, which is triggered by an environmental cause (such as viewing violent media).
*The only way parents will know if their children have adverse reactions is to monitor them very carefully. I don't think any child should go online from a very young age without close parental supervision. At some point, supervision can cease--once children are old enough to understand or if they have proven that they were adversely affected.
Basically, I don't feel young children should watch TV, go online, or anything without an adult who is monitoring what they are seeing. Even cartoons can be very violent and this can be confusing/influential to some kids. But all too often, parents use media as a babysitting device rather than an educational tool.
Melinda-
and this is exactly why my kids don't do Batman, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers I could go on and on. Only educational stuff. My son told a kid that he was going to squish his brain (he was just kidding and playing) I asked him where he came up with that idea. Another parent says probably Power Rangers. My kids have no idea what a Power Ranger is. We don't allow it.
-
Shirley--exactly! And honestly, it's not even the cartoons sometimes but also the commercials. I like public television much better because of the lack of advertising. All that advertising influences children to 'want, want, want' (raising little consumers in the process). That's not good either.
-
@Shirley & Anok
I ♥ your take on parenting.
@Melinda
Thanks for your sharing your research an posting such an insightful response.
... it's not even the cartoons sometimes but also the commercials. I like public television much better because of the lack of advertising. All that advertising influences children to 'want, want, want' (raising little consumers in the process). That's not good either.
IMO every parent who allows their young child to become an unsupervised online user is a negligent parent who needs to smarten up. TVs and computers are not "good" electronic babysitters they possess brainwashing potential that is scary as has been witnessed in the recent studies that have been done on the effects of advertising on children. Task force recommendations included this:
Restrict advertising primarily directed to young children of eight years and under. Policymakers need to take steps to better protect young children from exposure to advertising because of the inherent unfairness of advertising to audiences who lack the capability to evaluate biased sources of information found in television commercials.
www.apa.org/releases/childrenads.pdf -
It always makes me laugh when people say TV and other media doesn't affect children if this is true why do all the major corporations spend billions on advertising.
Children are sponges and if you allow the TV or the internet t bring your kids up don't be surprised when they turn out violent sexually perverse misfits with no concentration span and a love of junk food. -
@mtyler the "wants" I have a solution for. When we move into our home I am building a lemonaide stand. I've come to the conclusion that even other children are advertisements. My son now want a car you can ride in and a Nintendo DS I have no clue where this comes from my kids aren't exposed to it. I told him if he wants it he will have to make an awful lot of lemonaide.
@anin You speak from experience? -
Of course you don't want your kids to be me do you? I am so affected by television I even had the "Rachel" haircut.
-
Of course children are easily manipulated by what they see, but the Media alone is not what causes these problems. It's crappy parenting.
If more parents paid attention to their children's behaviors and what their kids were doing and watching the MEDIA would have less of a strong hold.
We're responsible. My husband grew up on the TV and later the internet. Not because it was the only thing to do. But because his parents didn't take an active interest in him. He has anger issues and has been diagnosed bipolar. As a parent how can you not notice these damaging behaviors? Unless you're just happy their into something else and not bothering you? -
Lol! I actually did have that haircut. I though it was cute.
-
@TT--I agree completely.
@Shirley--that's the way to go. When children learn the value of buying something with money they earn, it is a life lesson that will help them enormously throughout their lives.
@210Betty--I think that parents who don't supervise their children's viewing of media are neglectful--and that IS crappy parenting. And of course, media isn't to blame. I am 100% against censorship--BUT I know that *some* children are greatly influenced by media--to a point where people don't even realize it.
When I was collecting data for my study, I interviewed over 200 children who were locked up in juvenile detention centers as well as adult prisons (some were 16 and over). These kids were all convicted of *very violent crimes*--such as murder, attempted murder or felony assault. I will never forget one kid that I interviewed. He was in a gang and had shot and killed a rival gang member--and he had been shot himself in the process. This is what he said about the experience.
"I couldn't believe how bad it hurt when I got shot! I mean, it never LOOK like it hurt so bad when you see people get shot. You know, how they can get up and run away even? I couldn't move when I got shot--it hurt that bad."
This is the desensitization that can go along with watching too much violence. For some kids, this is a trigger that really does cause aggression and violence to manifest.
Melinda -
To echo some sentiments already expressed, and to add my own - I also feel that media in and of itself is very different now than it was when we were kids.
Violent video games, movies, even cartoons have become hyper realistic. Sure, when we were growing up, Bugs Bunny and Wile E Coyote did some crazy things with dynamite - but compare that to what we have today...what was once a 2-D drawing with fictitious animals, is now a 3-D rendered human with realistic side effects and overly realistic details.
It's much easier for a kid to differentiate between reality and a talking cat - than it is to differentiate between reality and a realistic rendering of humans.
-
-
Children are watching more television today than years ago, and they are spending more time online. Therefore viewing more commercials on TV and being exposed to more advertisements online. One study suggests that children in America are spending more time watching television each year than they are spending in school (Bagdikian). The American Academy of Pediatrics says within their web site that they believe that advertising to children is deceptive. Studies have shown that children recall ads on television whether it is a commercial for a toy or a product placement in a movie. Children are even remembering and able to identify the alcohol and tobacco ads that are geared toward their parents: the Budweiser Frogs, Joe Camel, and ‘hard’ lemonade (Kunkel).
To change the effects on children, their desire for unhealthy fast food, their insistence on having the latest toys, and a growing dependability on material items - there are thoughts of creating laws to prohibit advertising marketed towards children. Already in Europe, there are laws in place to regulate advertising to this young market. Article 16 of the Television Without Frontiers Directive gives guidelines that include:
a. it shall not directly exhort minors to buy a product or a service by exploiting their inexperience or credulity;
b. it shall not directly encourage minors to persuade their parents or others to purchase the goods or services being advertised;
c. it shall not exploit the special trust minors place in parents, teachers or other persons;
d. it shall not unreasonably show minors in dangerous situations.
Tile: The Unintended Effects of Advertising on Children
Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Review Method: Peer Reviewed
Buijzen, M. and Valkenburg, P. M. , 2003-05-27 "The Unintended Effects of Advertising on Children" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Marriott Hotel, San Diego, CA Online . 2009-02-06 from www.allacademic.com/meta/p112146_index.html -
It seems to me that I'm experiencing more and more adults online, who lack a decent moral code, and who have no appreciation for what's appropriate and what's inappropriate, let alone what's legal or illegal. In these guides, you’ll learn all about the legal and privacy issues that concern bloggers.
100 Essential Legal and Privacy Guides for Bloggers
www.criminaljusticeusa.com/blog/2009/100-essential-legal-and-privacy-guides...
And IMO every blogger ought to study them and learn the boundaries so they can pass that knowledge onto their children.
What should you do when you become aware that your children are being exposed to other children and even adults who are into unhealthy and even illegal online behaviors such as: sending threatening emails, posting defamatory comments in chat rooms, forums and game sites, using sexually explicit or violent language in chat rooms, forums, game sites, and/or in text messages, watching pornography, participating hacking computers, and violence in video games?
Surely no parent wants to be distinguished by the legacy of raising a filthy mouthed, violent tempered, defamer or cyber bully, who thinks that anything goes on the net. My answer is teach your children well, monitor their online behaviors, and insist that they make behaviors corrections when and where they are required. -
// off-topic // @timethief ...
Did you notice that your avatar here in the thread is the new one but the one on the front page is the old one?-
@petlvr
off - topic
Yes, I noticed the avatar reversion and it's happening with other members avatars too. Currently in both forums and in the shoutboxes, old avatars are being displayed. I assume this will be rectified when the work begun in Phase 1, which was just a change to layout and colors is complete, and we move into the next phase.
-
-
I can tell you that I am not surprised with the article. For a long time I felt it was the responsibility of the parents to "police" what children see. That was until I had kids of my own and realized that as much as you try to keep them from being exposed to things, they will be exposed.
I am in favor of changing the advertising laws in the United States to prohibit targeting children under the age of 8. They really can not distinguish at that age fact from fiction.
Studies have also shown that children exposed to food advertising have feelings of hunger upon exposure. We can't afford this in our society with childhood obesity at an all time high.
As for on-line behavior, as I said an earlier thread, I would never let a 12 year old girl sit alone and chat with a 40 year old stranger at a McDonalds especially without being present. Why would I agree that same scenario would be acceptable in an internet chat room? I have a responsibility to keep my children safe.-
Thanks for your comment. Good for you. You are actually parenting. Sadly not all parents are monitoring and supervising their children behaviors online.
BTW it's not only about keeping children safe it's also about teaching them morals and legalities. Some kids clearly do not understanding that threatening anyone by email or in online chatrooms and/or forums is a criminal act. They also do not understand the laws that relate to defamation (libel). I posted the link to 100 Essential Legal and Privacy Guides for Bloggers above and I really think that all bloggers should read the posts, bookmark the main link and be sure to pass the knowledge about what's right and what's wrong onto their kids.
-
-
When our kids were young, we absolutely forbade them from watching any movies that were violent. Catching a little nudity I could live with. Watching gratuitous violence, no way.
I know that as they got older, they would sneak over to a friend's house to watch Halloween or Friday the Thirteenth, but I think they understood our reasoning. I think it is impossible to raise your kids to value other people's lives if they see movies that are violent just for the sake of violence, as opposed to violence that illuminates, such as what you might find in To Kill A Mockingbord.
Add Your Comment
Login to leave a message.
