Main argument
In the beginnings of the TV channels activities in India in each city appropriate to its localities, there were planned a number of TV programs. For instance, in New Delhi, many broadcasted TV programs were totally different from those broadcasted in, say, Bombay, both culturally and ethically. By the time many of the television channels started, due to the restrictions of the available programs, there were not many various kinds of programs suitable for a miscellaneous variety of audience. But currently, paying attention to the 500 hundred available channels all working nationally and internationally in India, the non-various of TV programs are highly rich regarding the contents and formats, as well.
In India, because of the limitations in broadcasting specific programs for children, many of the youngsters are being exposed to the inappropriate programs intended for an adult audience, which in near future brings them nothing but an alienation towards their people and their society. The TV programs in India are broadly divided into two major groups; the ones in connection with the local ethics of the people of the region, that normally cause less bad effects on the younger generation, and also the programs designed internationally, which are mostly in contrast to/with people and in particular the youth have in mind. The second group mostly includes many of the factors to push these young people to forgetting themselves. Authorities and the policy makers for Media in India, having a look upon the their nationalistic trends, mostly follow two different attitudes to the TV programs. On one hand, the nationalists emphasize on the programs matched with their culture and label them as identity shapers for the national identity of the people, mainly the youth. Quite the opposite, the liberalists, weaken the national making policies and focus their main aims on western programs usually the secular ones. These people believe that these programs may en lighten the minds of the younger generation in the process of their liberation from the fixated national identity ideas.
At this time of the year regarding the influence of the liberalists on the power authorities in India and mostly those in charge of Media, the main trends of TV programs are towards the western ones. Of course, this has an exception in some states of the country. Mnay of the programs, while keeping the appearance of being Indian, have western contents.
Three main problems for the kids is firstly their pure emphasize on consumerism, sex, and violence. Knowing these, one has to search for some styles and methods to decrease the shortcomings and the problems, if one wants to reform the bad impacts of such programs.
Disadvantages and decreasing negative effects
What a little child mainly learns from TV goes back to the essence of the programs he/she mostly watches. Not differentiating the rates of the programs in regard to the audience it has, could actually end into vary bad results. That is many of the standard ratings, i.e. PG, G, NC-17, when not taken seriously would end into bad impacts on the minds of children, regardless of the accurateness of these currently available ratings in the MPAA system. Brutality, violence, profanities, thematic imageries, etc. are the most common issues children are exposed to while following a program not suitable for them.
Due to the very lasting established relationships between children and the television, a great part of the personality of the kids is shaped and formed through the channel of television, meaning that TV forms their thoughts and ideas both verbally and non-verbally. One more important point that indicates the problem dramatically is the not well-shaped personality of children in early stages of life. Thiscital factor means that they act mainly as blank slate and everything by everybody might and in fact can shape their understanding of the world. Unfortunately, in this very case, children do not have the power to resist the influences, and even if they have such a thing, they are not ably to recognize the truth and the essence of the intended programs.
Using these methods, one can reduce the negative effects of King Telly better:
1. Parents have to accompany their children while they - children - are watching a program. In these times, parents have to elaborate on strange concepts or any unsuitable area for their children, while explaining any puzzleing happening in the course of the story.
2. Parents have to confine their children in watching television by providing them with alternative choice, which are more entertaining and eye-catching for children. These positive activities could be going to amusement parks, or following a short trip in search of discovering new things.
3. De-privatization of television and its usage for children. This means that parents has to set the TV in a place which is accessible to all, rather than placing it in their kid"s bedroom.
4. Parents can guide their child to act selective in choosing some TV programs. How to select a TV-show, for example, can be really helpful for children.
5. Parents can also provide their children with similar alternative choices. For instance, they can give their child a recorded cartoon to watch while an adult movie is being shown in one of the channels he/she wants to watch.
6. Parents should make their children aware of the real intentions behind each screen. This can help child to understand that the world of characters, their dialogues, and their actions differ from the real meaning of the program.
Advantages and reinforcing positive effects
In short, we can say that TV has some usefulness for children as well. Some examples could be setting their free time, increasing their general knowledge, teaching the social and family roles to them.
Television help to learn social skills and transits many of various messages these messages could only be basic patterns for the children"s social interaction and they are showed in simple ways and never of a great complexity. The TV can also make a educational teaching for indirect lessons and lead to best approach for Socialization, especially sex role socialization and role of a good member of every unit in society. Television can be a powerful tool in developing value systems and shaping behavior. However, in this process should be controlled many of TV program disadvantages such as extreme consuming culture, sex and violence that these cases are the most prevalent features of today"s TV programming. In addition, weaken these features increase the TV role as a value agency to forming the norms, customs, habits and thinking. Result of many studies emphasis on this point that TV attend beside children at the early of their ages. The studies provide strong support for the potential of television to teach children following the approach of television literacy and supporting the theory of television as a socialization agency. (Anderson et al, 134)
A large number of our children are a affective audience for television programs four to five hours daily. The importance of role of television in socialization can be observed in the children behaviors. One other positive point about TV is its educational programs. For instance,
"Gyan-Darshan Educational Channel (2000) Ministry of Human Resource Development, Information & Broadcasting, the Prasar Bharti and IGNOU launched Gyan Darshan (GD) jointly on 26th January 2000 as the exclusive Educational TV Channel of India. IGNOU was given the responsibility to be the nodal agency for up linking/ transmission."( Olson, D. and Bruner, J., 1974) It started out as a two-hour daily test transmission channel for students of open and conventional Universities. This duration was increased in February to nine hours a day. The time slot transmission was further increased due to good response upto 16-hours by 1st June and by 1st November it turned out to be 19-hours channel. Within one year of its launching, 26th January 2001, it became non-stop daily 24 hours transmission channel for educational programmers. "The programming constitutes 23 hrs of indigenous programmers sourced from partner institutions and one hour of foreign programmers. Transmission of 12 hrs each for curriculum based and enrichment programmers is being made. The programmers of IGNOU CIET-NCERT including NOS are telecast for four hours each, IIT programmers for three hours, CEC-UGC programmers for two and a half hours and one hour each for TTTI and Adult Education." (IGNOU Profile -2002) The signal for Gyan Dirham transmission is uplinked from the Earth Station (augmented as one plus one system for redundancy) set up at IGNOU HQs New Delhi, and downlinked all over the country through INSAT 3C on C Band Transponder. Although Gyan Darshan has made its presence felt in all Open Universities and most of the prominent conventional Universities /schools, it still has the potential to reach to the door steps of learners through cable TV network. At present Gyan Darshan through the cable transmission covers about 90% in Kerala, most parts of Tamil Nadu, a few pockets in the North East, Nashik, Ahmedabad and Pune. AsiaNet has been providing it free of cost in Kerala. Efforts are being made to make Gyan Darshan available through terrestrial transmission.
"The teletext service in India, popularly known as "INTEXT" (Indian teletext), was started by the Doordarshan Delhi on November 14, 1985. Similar to other teletext system, in INTEXT also the data are organized into pages in the form of text and graphic symbols. The information is pooled and transmitted on a few predetermined lines in vertical "blanking" interval of television signals. The information is in the form of magazines, each of which contains about 100 pages with details of contents of the magazine appearing on the first page, like news items, sport events, financial trends, timings of arrival and departure of important trains, weather forecast, city engagements, AIR and TV programs to be telecast, etc. Though, teletext has the potential for delivering educational instructions, no such experiments have been reported in India. Teletext uses the television for information display, which is almost universally present in homes or community centers. Thus it has the potential to become mass media for imparting education to students in general and deaf and hard-of-hearing viewers in particular. Teletext provides the educational content in a very concise and effective manner and thus makes learning appealing, interesting and less burdensome. Further, the facility of quick updation keeps it"s viewers informed of the recent happenings. It can be a very good media for career counseling along with providing information about courses-in-demand, hot careers, job opportunities, etc."( NCAM ,2002.)
Conclusion
Hence, paying attention to the aforementioned ideas and discussions, by enforcing the strong points of the western-produced programs and the local ones, one can suggest an applicable method in shaping a framework for the socialization of Indian children suing television. The best approach for children socialization by television in India is an approach that has advantages of western TV socialization and based on main features local Indian culture by admit the mentioned shortcoming and with emphasis on essential social point: for example: moderating The amount of time children watch TV, and planning the time spent on more beneficial activities.
In addition, pay attention to the programs children are watching and parents should be planned their time for TV watching with their children and tell them which TV programs are useful and profitable and which of them are useless.
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