Introduction to the Role of Electronic and Print Media:
Social learning, observation and imitation learning help in the development of various social and anti-social behaviour particularly in children, kids and youngsters. Many studies show children easily imitate their models either in real life or in the electronic media like cinema and television.
It is thus a circular process. Social disorganization takes place because of unfavorable and discouraging family environment as well as unfavorable environmental variables. ‘Bad models’ have tremendous disorganizing influence on human personality which also leads to hosts of anti-social behaviour.
Among the environmental variables producing maladjusted behaviour, films and televisions play a very significant role in elevating aggression, in creating the ground for violence and aggression as well as in controlling and reducing aggression crime and violence.
Then the electronic media like television and cinema have both the capacity of facilitating as well as controlling crime and violence.
Just as good parental behaviour, good parental training, and judicious child rearing practices help in the socialization process, development of stable emotion and social behaviour, bad and mentally maladjusted parents showing rigidity and authoritarian personality, strict control on child, puritan attitude, strict discipline and dangerous child rearing practices, prove to be bad models for the child.
But since the child loves his parents, he accepts their qualities and characteristics and characteristics and also develops anti-social activities. Exactly in the same way the television and cinema through their films and serials can stand as good models or bad models. The characters shown in these electronic medias have tremendous impact upon the personality, attitude and socialization of children.
Several decades back when television was not intensively and extensively used by Indian citizens, cinema halls made a roaring business and usually children were not allowed to visit pictures in the cinema halls because of Indian values and ethics that it will have bad effect on children.
Those films, which were free from aggression, violence and sex, (i.e., mostly children’s’ films like Jagrutee, Dosti, Kitab) the children were allowed by their parents to see. Mythological films without high degree of violence and sex but films with high Indian values were also considered fit for children. Thus the influence of cinema on children were limited and in the positive direction.
But with the availability of television in a large scale in Indian markets in reasonable prices about three decades back, television became a household name. It became a need than a luxury.
Even lower economic class families were tempted to buy a television, that too a colour television at the cost of other expenditures. I do remember till to-day, when we bought a Konark T.V. in 1982 during Asian games very few people owned a television.
Many of our neighbours came to our house to view Asian games. But to-day what of cities, even in rural areas every family owns a television. If some families do not have a television, they go to their neighbor’s place to see the programmes. This gathering also increases friendship and co-operation among the neighbours.
What I wanted to impress is that to-day a television is found in every family. Even in middle class families and above two/three televisions are available. Televisions are kept in the living room, in the bed-room and in the kitchen in upper class families.
Television to-day has become the best medium for entertainment and information starting from the urban to the rural areas, although in rural areas where there are no cinemas halls it has greater need and greater importance.
Television provides entertainment in one’s home at a very cheap rate, gives up to date information about the world. So many people can see it in a group. All the family members sit together and see the television. Now T.V. Channels are showing programmes for 24 hours.
Even if parents ask their children not to see television, they usually don’t listen. Since parents and other family members cannot segregate their children from the television and they also cannot check their urge to see the television.
In-spite of knowing that certain serials are harmful for kids and adolescents, children and parents become addicted to television. Now-a-days it is found that even a child of six months starts watching television with her mother.
Keeping in mind that television has both positive and negative effects on the viewers particularly on children and adolescents, let us start with the negative impact of television first. Under electronic media, television, cinema and video assets are important.
Role of Electronic and Print Media in the Facilitation of Violence and Crime:
Role of Television:
The impact of television has been so widespread as a popular medium of entertainment, that television is called Bed-room entertainer. In this world of anxiety, tension and stress television is a chief medium of providing entertainment and relaxation to a mind filled with stress and anxiety.
After the days heavy work when people return home in the evening they need some entertainment to relax their over burdened mind. With a cup of tea or a glass of cold drink the members of a middle class and upper middle class family enjoy watching television together.
The upper class family members, particularly the husband wife team, in metropolitan cities usually go to clubs for entertainment and relaxation. Television is the greatest source of pleasure and enjoyment for the lower and working class people.
In a life full of stresses and strains, needs and frustrations the only source of enjoyment and relaxation for economically disadvantaged people is television. Even if there is no T.V. in their house, they go to the next door neighbour to watch T.V. This is an everyday affair.
Negative Impact of Television:
Children also join their parents and watch television. But sadly we observe that though television is an educational technology and a very important teaching aid, the cinemas, serials and other programme telecast in Indian television are full of violence and aggressive scenes.
About 90 to 95 percent of the television channels show such pictures and serials which are not only harmful for the personality development of the child, but also paves the way for violence and crime. More often than not aggressive models are shown in television, violent actions by the hero or character artists fill up the picture.
There are very few movies or art films which are idealistically depicted keeping in view the norms of the Indian society and culture. Hit picture means a picture full of violence, murder, sex and crime.
Most of the films produced in Bollywood are full of these vices and so much so that families with some amount of human value would like to switch off the television. I have often switched off the television when I find violent scenes like murders, attempted, murder, bomb blast, continuous shooting from rifles and pistols, rain of blood, hosts of dead bodies, women and children sobbing, crying, shouting, etc.
Similarly scenes containing rape and sexual abuse of women, women shown in scanty dresses, half necked women shown dancing in night clubs, pubs, children being kidnapped, women being abducted, for sexual harassment, children being beaten, kidnapped and taught techniques of various crimes like pick pocketing, bank robbery, theft etc.
All these scenes are so repulsive, so shocking that my language fails to express my horrible feeling about these scenes. Of course many get pleasure out of such scenes because of their aggressive mentality and sadistic tendency. Persons with sadistic and aggressive tendency identify with these horrible characters and enjoy their actions, counter actions and anti-social activities.
Most of the Bollywood’s hit films are said to be full of horror and terror, smuggling, corruption, prostitution and most shocking is that such activities are carried out by the hero of the film with which a child, a youngster or an adolescent identifies and internalizes the negative values practiced by the hero. Such characters are praised and rarely penalized in now-a-days films.
Thus the young mind thinks these activities of the hero of the film are socially acceptable and praise worthy. Subsequently they try to embrace these anti-social qualities and try to act in the society accordingly.
The hero in the picture becomes the role model for the young mind. Further as the hero’s anti-social, illegal activities are reinforced in the movie, the child is perceives them as justified and acts accordingly. Consequently he shows hostile and aggressive behaviour.
While the film producers and producers of serial consider that the public wants to watch more and more such pictures, the fact is actually not so. A few people who have low taste and who consider women as object of enjoyment they may like to see women being raped, being eve teased, being harassed, being tortured but the same is not the thinking of every person.
Is it not high time that producers should produce pictures keeping in view the high traditions and values of Indian society, keeping in view what would happen to the future of the country if its future citizens imitate violence, crime and sexual abuse from films shown in television and double or triple their aggressiveness?
Have they no duty and responsibility for their country? Are they interested only for money? Will they be remembered like great film personalities Satyajeet Ray, Bimal Ray, Raj Kapoor, Guru Dull, Devanand, Tarachand Barjatia etc.
Now the time has come for the film directors and producers to introspect and change their attitude towards the viewers. They see the mind of the viewers from their own angle, not from the viewer’s angle. They don’t know what the viewers really want and what is desirable for them, for their children, for their society and culture. For the objective assessment of the T.V. or human beings, several questions are raised.
They are, what effects does the expression of aggression witnessed on the television have on aggressive behaviour? Has it a cathartic value or does it arouses or aggravate aggressive tendencies of the viewers? Studies show that children imitate live or filmed aggressive behaviour in an experimental setting.
The study by Bandura Ross and Ross 1963 explains this point. Their famous “Baboo doll” experiment indicates how children learn to be aggressive by observing an adult aggressive model. They took two groups of nursery school children as samples.
The control group was exposed to a non-aggressive amiable adult model. But the experimental group was exposed to an aggressive adult model who kicked a big doll, scolded and insulted it.
Then the children of both groups were allowed to play in a room with several toys. Children of the experimental group showed more aggressive behaviour towards their toys and dolls compared to the children of the control group.
This is due to imitation learning. Social scientists explain the indiscipline, aggressive, unruly, violent and ruthless behaviour of many modern youths as a consequence of imitating the same from television, big screens and video films.
Electronic media is a much more natural setting than experimental setting. Here children and youths see things live or in a living setting. The extent of violence to which people watching television is exposed daily is a matter of great concern for the parents and society. Mass media is a great source of violence and unless something is done about it quickly, it will produce more and indiscipline and social disorganization.
A large body of other evidences also indicate that exposure to violence in the media, i.e., television, movies, newspapers have been found to be increasing aggression, hostility violence and crime among the viewers.
In hundreds of other studies such results have been consistently observed. Obviously when viewers witness scenes in which characters assault each other, attack each other, open fire at each other, they initiate such aggressive attacks as well as learn the techniques of these violent actions. Gradually they also acquire new and ingenious ways of assaulting others.
The frequency of aggressive and criminal acts increases with each and every violent scene witnessed. The viewers, particularly the children and youngsters also learn that such actions are an appropriate response to provocation and/or frustration. Now-a-days we find in any film or serial that when someone is harassed, provoked or frustrated, he immediately shows some violent action in the logical principle of “Tit for tat”.
We usually do not find any tolerance in their Behaviour. The characters in the T.V. rarely show any frustration tolerance. There aggressive emotion comes out like volcanic eruption. For examples if accidentally some one’s dress is splashed with water, or mud while going on the road, if some one’s way is blocked by another person chic to slight, mistake, immediately the violence starts.
One starts slapping the other, attacking his entire body and then the other person makes counter attacks. Then road side people gather and aggravate the situation by encouraging both the fighters, while some decades back people attempted to check or diswade them through physical and verbal means.
Even small children while playing with each other are found to fight with each other in “phantom style” or in “superman” style. Saktiman style. When asked where from you learn these techniques of fighting. Children immediately answer, “We saw these skills of fighting in the television. They are very interesting”.
Cartoon Network Craze:
Watching cartoon net work in television has become the latest i.e. craze among children. Children starting from one year to 10-12 years watch cartoon network when-ever they get even little time. It would not be an exaggeration to say that children between the age of 3-10 years spend their maximum off time in watching cartoon films.
Even when they are in school, many of them recapitulate the actions of the characters they last saw and wait eagerly for the time to go back home and see the cartoon pictures in the television. Now with twenty four hours television programmes in all the television channels honestly, it has become a difficult time for the parents to refrain and control their children from watching cartoon films.
I know a boy who is so much obsessed with cartoon films that even while studying in school, during eating, before going to sleep he only thinks about the various characters in various cartoon pictures.
He eagerly returns home to see a cartoon picture, but when finds that the cable network is out of order the electricity has gone out, he becomes frustrated and starts showing different types of violent behaviour like tantrums, throwing his toys here and there until he is explained the cause.
Many children are found not doing well in their studies, because of wasting their time in watching television and particularly cartoon net work, Aryaman, Saktiman, Phantom, Superman etc.
Children are found committing many silly mistakes in examination because the heroic characters and their actions disturb them all along the examination, if they don’t fare well in examination they are scolded, punished and even beaten by the parents who place tremendous importance on the academic achievement of their children.
This is more found in middle and upper middle class families who have higher goals and aspirations in relation to the academic success of their children. Because of continuous and rigid punishment on the above ground children take recourse to various anti-social activities and conduct disorders.
Continuous and constant irritation of parents towards the child for his T.V. watching habit creates frustration and anger in the child towards parents. As a reaction formation he develops various delinquent behaviour like telling lies, stealing, remaining absent from school and joining bad companions.
If the father forbids and scolds the child for viewing television the child develops a hostile attitude towards his father and genuinely wants the absence of his father from home so that he can watch his favorite channel peacefully.
This hostile attitude of the child leads to “father rejection” which is a major cause of delinquency and crime in boys. The other day a relation of mine was telling me how her son who was otherwise a very brilliant boy is not doing well in studies. He has probably attention deficit disorder for which he cannot concentrate in his studies. Starting from the age of 2 years he was obsessed with watching cartoon network in T.V.
But parents at that time did not check his continuous watching of cartoon films probably because the mother was busy in doing domestic work and there was no one else look after the child. Now she needs the help of a child psychiatrist for the problems of her boy.
Children throughout the world are very much obsessed to enjoy cartoon network, Blue Sclow, Barney show and the like. Though these films are made exclusively for children and children have to learn a lot from these films, what worries parents, child psychologists and psychiatrists is depiction of the character of certain films.
In certain films the characters are shown to be engaged in aggressive acts, quarrels and fighting’s which are definitely harmful for the flexible and growing mind of the child. But many cartoon network films are highly educative and children should see them.
In addition to this, when the kids see that such actions are an appropriate response to provocation or frustration and these aggressive conducts often succeed, they are encouraged to practice them in real life situations and follow the same techniques to reach their goal. A child who is not allowed by the maid servant to watch Togo’ in television starts beating her and then he is allowed to see the television.
Now every time he is refrained from watching violent scenes in television he will use the same aggressive conduct (beating) to achieve his desire every time. Because beating here acts as a reinforce or means to achieve his goal, he is encouraged to apply this technique.
Thus, when aggressive action is rewarded either due to fear or favour people use this technique for attaining further aims and goals. In such cases aggressive behaviour acts as an incentive to achieve the end or goal.
In films and serials shown in television when it is repeatedly found that the violent crimes committed by the villains are rewarded and he is not punished till the end of the film, the viewers particularly the youths, children, and the juveniles are encouraged to commit as many crimes as possible. It is seen that the concept of natural justice is no more depicted in many films.
The child sees that innocent person is tortured by the police or is convicted by judiciary. Then the villains and smugglers rape and kill his wife, kidnap his small child and make him a criminal. Inspite of all these henius activities the villain or anti hero in the film is not punished, rather he leads a life of luxury with name and fame in the society.
The concept of natural justice is totally absent in such a theme. What the growing child in the formative age will learn from this, even when the adults are allured by the enormous wealth and prestige of a smuggler, a political criminal or a corrupt business man depicted in films will the child wish to be a honest policeman or executive who is nabbed in false case, given imprisonment for long years, his wife is raped and murdered and his son is kidnapped and made a criminal? Obviously the youngsters will like to choose the first path unless they have developed strong positive values.
But strong positive values rarely develop in very small children who have now become addicts to T.V. watching. Instead of developing positive values, they develop negative values which lead to more crimes and produce more criminals in the society.
Therefore, my humble submission is that story writers, producers and directors should consider these points while producing films to be suitable for telecast in televisions. They should select such themes for a movie to be released in T.V. which must have very less violence and which have depicted natural justice.
The T.V. channels should also select films very carefully keeping in mind their impact upon the viewers, particulars like the kids, youngsters and adolescents of the country. There are a lot of difference between the western culture and Indian culture, western children and Indian children.
Therefore we should not be guided by western influence while producing pictures for Indians who are basically peace loving and sociable. That does not lead one to say that courageous films should not be produced. But courage and violence are not same and one is not the alternative of the other. We should make the citizens of tomorrow courageous, but not violent, aggressive and ultimately criminals.
Various reports and observations indicate that many of the crimes and violent crimes committed today are influenced by the techniques learnt from various pictures and movies. In course of interrogation a one time criminal confessed before the interrogating authority that he has learnt the technique of making duplicate key from the television for the purpose of stealing.
He told that about a week back he saw in a film how a person was trying to make a duplicate key pressing the original key on soap, and then taking the picture of the key on the soap he went to the technician in the market who makes duplicate keys.
Similarly in another incident a 17 yrs. old servant working in an old couples house for about a year one day saw in the television how a servant is killing his land lady when she was alone by stringing his neck in an electric wire and run away with all the jewelries. Two days after he committed the same crime with the same method and fled away with the jewelries of the lady of the house.
A peon working in a private sector firm was in great need of money for the marriage of his daughter. He was otherwise a very calm, quiet and normal individual with good conduct. He could not arrange any loan from his office.
The marriage day got nearer. On this very fateful day he watched a serial in his black and white television set in the morning where a person went to a house at about 12 noon and pushed the calling bell.
The lady of the house opened the door. Immediately she was stabbed and locked in the bath-room and then the culprit went away with the valuables. Suddenly, at a flash this idea came to his mind to collect money for marriage. He went to the house of his Dy. Manager at about 12 noon when the children went to school and his wife was alone.
When she saw the peon through the hole of the door, she opened it. At once she was pushed inside and he stabbed her 3 times in a kitchen knife. The door was open. When the postman reached near the door to deliver a registered letter and saw what is happening, he started shouting. People of the nearby houses rushed to the spot, sent the lady to hospital and handed over the offender to the police.
My six year old grandson one day saw in the T.V. how the Spiderman was hitting his enemy. After the serial was over, immediately he rushed to me and started hitting my belly in the similar way. When I asked him where from he learnt this, he instantly added, “where from? It is only from the television Maa.”
In the “crime file” of E.T.V. (oriya) a serial is shown everyday on the criminal activities in Orissa. In one serial I saw a new technique of murder. A man was shown killing his wife by pushing her neck in the big hole of a sugarcane crusher. I’m sure someone must have learnt and remembered this technique of murder for his own use in future.
There are in- numeral instances occurring everyday where pictures and serials shown in television have a very negative repercussion on the emotional life of growing children, adolescences and even adults.
Some of the pictures are very good. They are very ideal for one’s personality and character. They are produced with high regards for our positive cultural norms and good traditions. Such films should be released in television. Child friendly pictures should be more and more produced and shown in the television.
Censorship for television should be as per rules. The Censor Board should see strictly that violence, sex and crime oriented films should not be telecast in T.V. which is a family and bed-room entertainer.
However, superstitions and prejudices present in our culture should be given negative propaganda in television. It must be kept in mind that television is a mass media and a means of propaganda. We can propagate against the superstitions and injustices of our culture through the television.
The supporters of television and some spoke men of the television industry claim that by watching violence in television viewers discharge their own aggressive impulses. This reduces the chances of their aggressiveness in future. By viewing aggressive actions, of others, people also may experience reduction of their own restraints and inhibitions about aggressive behaviour.
This view has the support of the instinct theory of aggression of Freud which holds that aggression builds up until it is discharged by some form of aggressive act, either actual or vicarious. The social learning theory of Bandura and Dotter on the contrary maintains that a state of arousal or anger can be reduced by behaviour which is non reinforcive than by aggressive acts.
Exposure to continuous television and media violence (T.V. and cinema) is most dangerous and alarming as it may lead individuals to become densitized to the harm produced by violence. However, the supporters of T.V. and cinema violence accept electronic media violence as a good weapon of achievement and they feel it is not socially rejected.
So scenes in which others are harmed have no emotional impact on the viewers, supporters say. But several experimental studies have been conducted in which children viewing of commercial T.V. were controlled.
Two groups of children were taken in which the experimental group watched violent cartoons for a specified period of time each day while the control group watched non-violent cartoons for same period of time every day. The aggressive drives that children of both the groups showed in their daily activities after seeing the cartoons were also recorded carefully.
Results indicated that repeated exposure to aggressive cartoons increased the children’s aggressiveness in their day to day interactions with their friends and peers the second group which was exposed to non-violent cartoons showed no change in their interpersonal aggressive behaviour.
A number of other correlational studies have revealed a positive relationship between the amount of exposure to televised violence and the degree to which children can use aggressive behaviour as a means of solving interpersonal conflicts. But the possibility of more aggressive children preferring violent T.V. programmes may not be ruled out.
A longitudinal study which traced T.V. viewing habit, for more than 10 years attempted to test the possibility of aggressive children preferring more aggressive T.V. programmes. More than 800 children were studied when they were 8 to 9 years old.
Information’s were collected about these children’s T.V. viewing time, the types of programmes they preferred to watch, the number of family characteristics, positive characters and aggressiveness noted by the school mates.
One of the major findings of this study was that those subjects who preferred violent T.V. programs were much more aggressive in their inter-personal relationship than those who preferred programmes which exhibited little or no violence. But the question raised by some here is whether aggressiveness increased due to T.V. viewing or it was there earlier and made them to prefer violent T.V. programmes.
After 10 years, i.e., at the age of 18-19 yrs. more than 400 of the original subjects were interviewed about their preferred T.V. programmes. Then they were tested on delinquency tendencies and their peers rated about their aggressive behaviour. Results showed that high exposure to violence on T.V. at the age of nine was positively related to aggressiveness in boys, at the age of 19 years.
The results further show that the initial level of aggressiveness (at the age of 8-9) may be the single best predictor of aggressiveness at the age of 19. This study however did not find much correlation between viewing of televised violence and anti-social behaviour of the viewers.
Further-more, no consistent relationship was observed between the T.V. viewing acts of girls and their aggressive behaviour either at the age of 9 or 19.
Since most aggressive roles in T.V. are performed by males, women are girls are less likely to find aggressive models to imitate. So in this study no consistent relationship was found between the T.V. viewing acts of girls and their aggressive behaviour at either age 9 or 19.
Studies show that girls tend to initate aggressive behaviour much less than boys unless they are specially motivated and rewarded for doing so. In most societies of the world girls are rarely reinforced for showing aggressive and violent behaviour because the cultural standard does not appreciate it.
The authors of this study finally conclude that there is a critical period in a boy’s development when he is susceptible to the influence of violence on television to a maximum degree and regular watching of such programmes during this period leads to the development of a more aggressive life style.
We have not forgotten how a number of children died trying to emulate a television character “The Shaktiman”. This is called Shaktiman syndrome. The most important conclusion of their study is that a boy’s preference for T.V. violence at eight years age influences both his current level of aggressiveness as well as the one ten years later.
However, the time, he is 19 years old, his T.V. preferences are not related to his aggressiveness. No correlation was found between preferences for T.V. violences at the age of 19 and the current level of aggressiveness nor between early and later viewing habits.
Children must be sensitized to the dangerous consequences of television and cinema. A child’s mind is very imitative. He imitates the adult world very minutely. Children sometimes try to enact if they are facinated by some scene they see in the T.V. without knowing its consequences. Take the example of ‘Shaktiman’ serial which was shown in the national network about a couple of years back.
The hanging episode of Dhananjay Chatterjee which was given undue importance in the media is said to have sent shock waves throughout the city of Kolkata. In the immediate past most of the children have been constantly exposed to this hanging episode. Children saw in the print and electronic media the image of the hangman with the rope.
This hanging appeared to them as some type of game. As already indicated a number of children have lost their lives imitating Shaktiman, the hero of (lie popular T.V. Serial. In this situation the parents’ role as a counselor is very important. Rather than hiding real facts, they should try to help the quires children by clearing their and curiosity and allow them to know the consequences as much as possible.
The counselling to a child should be done individually as the imagination of one child varies from the other. Even the aggressive violent scenes shown in some films under cartoon network are enacted by some children. Children therefore should be explained about the consequences of imitating dangerous actions of aggression and violence.
Counselling must be individual specific and certain cases may require re-orientation.
Results vary from study to study. Day to day observations of behaviour of T.V. watching children have also their importance in research. A society in which large numbers of people are frequently and regularly exposed to scenes of violence in films and televisions definitely suffers and subjected to social disorganization, tension and violence.
Some people question if exposure to violence in electronic media has harmful effects and it helps in the rise of violence then why there is no end to it, why government is not putting a complete ban on it. The answers are very simple. The advertisers who sponsor the T.V. programmes believe that violence is one way to increase the number and size of audience which is again a wrong notion.
If all channels show I’ll MIS with minimum violence viewers will not only be bound to see them it will also be gradually addicted to them and will appreciate art and non-violent films which usually get awards and prizes in international and national festivals.
Once people start seeing non-violent films in large numbers in the T.V. producers will be compelled producing non-violent, culture friendly, society friendly and youth friendly pictures I lice the earlier time films which touched the heart and influenced the brain of the viewers.
So the key to the success of non-violent culture friendly films which can prevent and control crime and violence in society ties with the people controlling the television channels.
Though many films and T.V. producers view that violent films are hits as more see them, it may be true in its face value. Bushman (1998) has a different view. He has suggested that television violence may actually back fire from the point of view of increasing the sales of products advertised on the television shows.
He found that audiences who watch violent programmes are significantly less likely to remember the contents of the commercials and ads shown during these violent programmes than those who watch non-violent programmes.
The explanation is, violent images on the small screen (T.V.) remind memories of other violent scenes. Such thoughts distract the attention of viewers from paying attention to commercials. These findings suggest that sponsoring violent television programmes is not only harmful for the moral and ethical point of view, it may also bring little financial gain to the sponsors.
In a welfare country like India, the welfare of the citizen should get top priority. For this purpose the profiting mentality should be given away and welfare should be given prime importance.
It is a proved fact that aggressive and violent programmes in the T.V. increases crime and violence and incites particularly children, adolescents and adults to take recourse to crime keeping other factors constant. Television programmes as it stands today may not be the only cause of violence, but it is a major cause.
Hence the following precautions should be taken by television and film industry:
1. All the programmes to be shown in television must be duly and legitimately censored keeping in view not the interest of the advertisers or sponsors, but the interest of the citizens of this country.
2. No favouritism out of fear or pressure or pecuniary gains should be made while censoring the programmes.
3. Children’s’ programmes like cartoon films should not be telecast for 24 hours. It should be telecast for 2-3 hours a day preferably in the evening hours the reason being not only 24 hour telecast disturbs the study atmosphere of students, children also do not want to play and make some exercise.
Studies show that continuous T.V. watching spurs attention disorder. A study published on Monday (Wasington based print media) suggests television viewing by children at age 1 and at age 3 increases their risk of having an attention disorder by the time they are 7. The authors speculate that watching television makes changes in the wiring of the developing brain which undergoes rapid growth in the first few years of life.
Those changes may make children more susceptible to attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). However, clinical psychologist at the Child Development Centre at the Connecticut Children’s’ Medical centre or Robert Riccio holds a different view. “I would not change my behaviour based on this study”.
This study conducted on more than 2500 children who have participated in a long term children’s’ health study was published in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics. Researchers at the university of Wasington found that 10 percent of the children had attention disorders at age 7.
Analyzing further tin? Television viewing habits of children at age 1 and at age 3 they found that television viewing increased the risk of having the attention problems by 9 percent for every hour of television watched a day.
However, this study did not take in to account the content of the T.V. shows viewed, and depended upon the reports by the parents on their child’s viewing habits. It was recommended by Zimmermen that children should not watch T.V. below the age of 3.
Zimmerman further said “I think watching television is fine. The older the child is, the more he or she can fully participate in the true purpose of television which is education and entertainment.”
There is a clear relationship between television and obesity. So why could not there be an association between T.V. and ADHD? said Dr. Sahi. But further research in this area is necessary to support the view.
4. The television industry would render a valuable service to the society if it includes it in its programmes a few heroes who successfully overcome the obstacles not in an aggressive manner but in a calm, firm, confident and non-violent manner since effective way of reducing aggressive acts in more aggressive boys is to make them observe models who behave in a restrained and non aggressive manner inspite of provocations and interferences.
They must see models that tolerate frustrations and provocations, so that they will learn behave in a non-violent and decent manner. This would ultimately help in the control and prevention of crime.
5. Television programmes should not be influenced by western ideas which are against our cultural norms, tradition and social standards. Women and men in scanty dresses, vulgarity, sexual exposure, showing scenes against our cultural sanction and going against the high standard of Indian tradition should be avoided.
Scenes showing taking alcohol, assault and atrocities against women, depicting women as second class citizens and having no status in the society, too much dominance of men on women and minority, poor working class people, atrocities of the rich over the poor should be avoided.
6. Adult Content Films on T.V. Recently a Mumbai based professor, Pratiba Naithani, filed a petition in the Bombay High Court challenging the telecast of adult contents on T.V. She claimed that the vulgarity on T.V. was shocking and easily incite young viewers.
The Ministry of Information and Broad Casting in its affidavit said the telecast of adult films on T.V. could attract criminal prosecution. For all telecast of films clearance from the Censor Board is required the ministry said.
The ministry further confessed that it had no man power 1.0 regulate adult programmes screened on various cable T.V. channels. The court has asked some advocates to frame rules and set up a regulatory body to Censor T.V. content. The hon’ble division beach observed that the channels owed this to the society.
Television is considered as a means of family entertainment. All members of the family starting from mother, son, daughter in law to father in law, brothers & sisters watch television together. Under these circumstances, showing adult films full of sex and violence should be banned by the Censor Board.
The cable channels should have also to be abided by rules and regulations. They cannot pollute our cultural atmosphere with their nasty, dirty and vulgar programmes. The inhibitions prevailing in our society should not be given a free play in the T.V. programmes. Sex and violence should be particularly omitted in television programmes, whether it is an adult film or a children film or an entertaining film.
We cannot spoil the future of our country and make it a hail with nasty T.V. programmes. Indian values should be expressed in clear terms in various T.V. programmes. Adult films may be shown in Cinema Halls, but under no circumstances in television.
Television to-day stands on the way of communication at home and among the family members. Members whenever get time, see T.V. and don’t talk often. Talk helps a lot in reducing the stress. Talk acts as a therapy.
Therefore the T.V. should be switched off in between so that family members can sit together and talk about each other’s personal problems, worries and difficulties. This is why in our culture it is the rule that all family members must eat their dinner together.
Studies on Violence Imitated from T.V:
Several studies indicate that T.V. and cinema encourage the aggressive tendency of the child. Hussman and Eron (1980) view that many T.V. programmes having violent scenes produce violence and aggressiveness in people, particularly in children. In the later stage they experience more guilty feeling.
They indulge in all sorts of violence when they grow-up. In a significant study Hussman (1984) found that those who show aggressive behaviour during childhood show more guilty attitude in their later age. When a child sees violent T.V. serials, he thinks it is socially acceptable, so he is encouraged to show the same behaviour.
Hence T.V. and film producers should not produce pictures or serials with too much sex and violence and should be very careful in this regard.
These pictures and serials should be constructive, investigative and should fulfill the curiosity of the child. Except a few exceptions Modern T.V. and cinemas instead of being helpful and educative become harmful for the Childs personality development. They make him learn techniques of theft, criminal behaviour and robbery. They incite him to be violent at slightest provocations.
Role of Films:
Film producers of India owe their existence both socially and economically to the film viewers of the country. They can exist if people want so. Hence they have greaterst responsibility to this welfare state that is India. Earlier heart touching dignified films were produced in India which emphasized great Indian values and tradition.
Films were produced on untouchability (“Bandini” by Bimal Roy,) woman’s cause, woman’s empowerment, social cause, national cause and great heroes of Indian independence like Saheed Bhagat Singh, Mahatma Gandhi and these producers and directors of these films will be ever remembered by the society.
These films did not have much violence and sex as is found in modern entertaining cinema influenced by materialistic culture. I wonder why most of the modern Bollywood films are full of sex and violence ? One really feels sick to see such films. I may be called a conservative but I always go by my culture. I believe in the high traditions of India.
India is rich with novels and dramas and stories of high standard depicting our moral and human values.
Why should we not produce more and more films based on the writings of Prem Chand, Rabindranath Tagore, Maheswata Devi, Kalindi Charan Panigrahi Kanhucharan Monanty, Sarat Chandra Chatopadhya and many more who have brought name and fame to Indian culture, who have upheld the prestige of India in the literary map of the world.
Not only sex and violence, underworld Dons are also shown in many Bollywood films now-a-days. What would our children learn from a film fully based on the activities of underworld Dons, smugglers, murderers, anti-socials and anti-nationals ? Is it not high time, we realize our mistakes and do not repeat the mistakes in future ?
Prior to the arrival of television in India people completely depended on Radio for education and entertainment. Though Radio is an audio aid many people particularly the lower and working class people depended on it for relaxation. But unlike T.V. radio has a very limited role to play in crime and violence. T.V. being an audio-visual aid has greater influence 011 the viewers.
Even then Radio programmes can incite violence and crime. For example, take the case of riots and communal violence. People believe the news broadcast in radio because it is controlled by Ministry of Information and broadcasting. T.V. has many channels mostly controlled by private cable network on which operationally the Ministry has no control.
It is a vast network which is indeed difficult to control on the part of the government. The news of communal violence or riots if broadcast in the Radio, it will spread like fire all over India and it would be difficult to control. The All India Radio having station at different places of India sti’ictly controls and censors the programmes.
So rarely its programmes have any negative effect on the people relating to sex, violence and crimes. Various programmes are broadcast relating to the culture, society and traditions of the state. These programmes help in the control of crime and violence in the following way and play a positive role in preventing aggression violence and crime in the society.
Educational Value:
Various educational programmes telecast and broadcast in T.V. for school and college students have great educational value. U.G.C. programmes, programmes by NCERT and NICT prove as successful educational programmes.
Even various distance education programmes help the students in their learning. Television has been a great teacher for the children and youths. In several channels like geographical channel, national network programmes with educational value are telecast.
Various pornographic and blue films are rampantly found in black markets though these are banned by law. Sometimes police raids various shops on the basis of complains and sometimes nothing happens to these black marketers who commit one of the greatest crimes by driving the way ward, off the beaten track youths to sexual crimes.
These illegal literatures provoke and motivate the youths and young adults to fulfill their sexual urge through prostitution, rape, molestation sexual assault and eve teasing. These vulgar literature excite the youths to fulfill their lust through illegal and anti-social means.
It is found in many cases that excited by pornographic literature many college students and particularly unemployed youths search for the opportunity of illegal sexual relations and they grab it instantly at the high-test opportunity. If the girl or the woman refuses such illegal advances, they become vindictive and throw acid on the face of the girl or murder her or gang rape her.
Hence police should take stringent action against the violators of law and book them. The publishers and sellers of these books should be rightly punished not to repeat these anti-social actions in future.
Role of Printed Materials:
Various pronographic and blue films are rampantly found in black markets though these are banned by law. Sometimes police raids various shops on the basis of complains and sometimes nothing happens to these black marketers who commit one of the greatest crimes by driving the way ward, off the beaten track youths to sexual crimes.
These illegal literatures provoke and motivate the youths and young adults to fulfil their sexual urge through prostitution, rape, molestation sexual assult and eve teasing. These vulgar literature excite the youths to fulfil their lust through illegal and anti-social means.
It is found in many cases that excited by pronographic literature many college students and particularly unemployed youths search for the opportunity of illegal sexual relations and they grab it instantly at the hightest opportunity.
If the girl or the woman refuses such illegal advances, they become vindictive and throw acid on the face of the girl or murder her or gang rape her. Hence police should take stingent action against the violators of law and book them. The publishers and sellers of these books should be rightly punished not to repeat these anti-social actions in future.
Role of News Papers, Magazines and Journals:
Today India is passing through a very critical phase of its history. How we are witnessing the worst erosion of values in the form of crime, violence, corruption and terrorism. Today people are forgetting that from ancient times adherence to moral and ethical values has been the crux of socialization of an India child. But today the social realities and tendency of people, particularly youths preach different values.
It is a fact that due to the influence of several factors and different values, people exhibit increasing tendency towards ego centrism, and give priority to self interest than the interest of the community. According to some the present age has become “a money making age than a man making age.”
In this connection let us examine if print media like newspapers, magazines and journals have any role to play in the erosion of values in anti-social behaviour and in violence. Newspapers and magazines come under mass and printed media.
The common mass read them daily. Every home buys a newspaper daily in-spite of his poverty. Thus newspapers are very much in demand everywhere in the world. Newspapers have educative as well as informative value. People consider authentic the news items that come in newspapers. Hence newspapers should print news that is impartial and correct.
Some news papers take recourse to yellow journalism which has highly unfavorable influence on the mass. News on communalism, riot, sexual scandals, prostitution, rape and molestation of women, child abuse should be published very cautiously and very carefully.
Careless reporting by the newspapers and news agencies on sensitive issues not only harms the individuals who are falsely involved, but also the nation at large.
Communal news leads to riots, violence and murder. Individuals pass through severe mental agony and they retaliate. In several instances it is seen that newspapers are involved in defamation suits because of careless reporting of sexual assaults and rape. Many commit suicide being scared of social stigma. This is why Hon’ble court has ordered not to print the name of the victim while reporting rape cases.
People also learn from the newspapers about the technique of crime and violence of course to a lesser degree than television. The social system in India is such that its citizens are highly sensitive to criticism on the grounds of sex and crime. Hence information’s coming up in the newspapers relating to sex, violence and crime should be properly verified, processed and pointed.
Information’s going against our cultural, heritage and traditions values should not be given credit and greater importance otherwise the youngsters and youths will accept them as good and imitable since they are accepted by newspapers on which they have tremendous confidence. Instinctively, we believe that something is true, if it has come in a newspaper.
That is the common attitude. But very few know that to-day some newspapers have become the instrument of political parties and political criminals. They publish news with vested interest and incite hostile tendency of one group against the other.
Newspapers have to encourage good values and discourage bad values. Articles painting women as weak, incapable second class citizens and the servants of the male folk should not be printed rather newspapers should try to encourage and empower women through then-esteemed writings. News papers and magazines doing yellow journalism should be black listed.
Newspapers can utilize their experts in writing thought provoking articles on the improvement of literacy and irradiation of illiteracy. Awareness of the public and government for women education and education of the girl child can be improved through advertisements and other articles in the newspapers.
Short stories and articles relating to women’s problems, dowry deaths, women empowerment should be encouraged and given priority in publication. The plights of women and their courageous dead’s should be highlighted.
Newspapers, thus have to think of strategies by which a human being can lead a respectful life without committing any crime and violence, a disciplined life which is an asset to the society.
It should be the responsibility of the media to produce well informed, honest and rule abiding citizens with good and disciplined behaviour aware of the customs, tradition and values of the society. Age old traditions with good human values, an ego without any pride but self respect, with self esteem but selfless service.
Role of Advertisements in the Facilitation and Control of Crime:
It is a fact that our advertisers can never imagine of an advertisement in T.V. without a beautiful, young woman model. As if women are objects of enjoyment and nobody will be attracted to see an advertisement without a woman. This is an illusion and a false belief of the advertisers. Like films with violent and sexy scenes, advertisements also take recourse to sexy scenes which should not be done.
Sexy women models shown in various advertisements may lead to various sexual crimes, eve teasing and sexual assaults. Now-a-days, some advertisers have started showing children and men as models which receive very good response from the public.
Whenever necessary women can be shown in advertisements, in proper dress and in a dignified manner. Use of foreign dresses should be avoided as much as practicable and our national chesses should be given preference.
It is to be kept in mind that the advertisers who sponsor films with sex and violence with the hope that more viewers will see it, are wrong, how sex and violence in programmes decrease the attention towards the advertisement. It is found in many cases that while viewing a film with sex and violence the viewers switch off the T.V. through remote control when the advertisements come up.
Sometimes the advertisements become so boring that we switch off the T.V. during the advertisement and on it again when the programme is started. If advertisements in between the programmes can be both commercial and welfare based than only commercial based as is being done now, it would be a great help to a developing country like India.
Advertisers should be particularly careful about the dress of their models. Recently a consumer activist was heard saying “misleading and vulgar advertisements one sees in the media these days.” The mindset of the advertiser that has taken strong roots needs to be changed.
The advertising agency justifies their action saying “we provide the customers the inalienable right of choice.” They further argue you read your favorite newspaper or watch the favorite T.V. Channel up to your choice. Who is forcing you not to? Nobody denies that the reader or the viewer has an option.
But should the advertising agencies shift their responsibility in this manner? Have they no duty towards the society? What they can do is to change the images of advertisement. They should try to do some good advertisements by adopting a good social cause and using the power of effective communication the society can be helped and in return the society will pat the advertising industry on its back.
Of course advertisement is being used to create awareness on girl’s education, H.I.V. and to sensitize the public on Malaria and Leprosy and in a number of their social causes.
But all these are sponsored by the governments or the NGOS. The industry has to do something on its own. It can utilize its best creative resources and long standing connections with the media. Of course some advertising clubs and agencies are helping the society in this regard. But many are yet to help the society.
An advertisement created by Lemon had a bold headline that read, “It’s okay if someone rapes my daughter”, with a little white space below for dramatic effect, a smaller line beneath it read. “Are you really indifferent? Then maybe you should not vote. Voting Day was October—13th”.
Advertising agencies have therefore tremendous role to play in the social cause of a country. They would be doing great jobs if they print several advertisements in the newspapers against crime and violence, against aggressiveness and hostility and against molestation and sexual abuse of women who have given birth to the society and nation who are their mothers, sisters, wives and daughters.
Role of Electronic and Print Media in the Control of Crime and Violence:
Several studies reveal that students grasp ideas better through teaching aids like pictures, charts. Radio, T.V. and Video films. Television and films considered the best audio visual aids for teaching-learning process. Observation and imitation facilitate various types of behaviour. Television to-day is being used for imparting instructions and it is playing an able role of a teacher or a teacher substitute.
In many class room teaching, open learning system teaching, correspondence courses, video tapes are used in televisions for imparting programmes of learning, U.G.C. programmes and programmes of N.C.E.R.T., N.C.T.E. are also being televised for the youths of the country. If good and educative, and interesting programmes are televised students will not be interested for other channels excepting a few.
But on the other hand if these programmes are not given due attention and only so called entertaining programmes are telecast the plight of the present day society and its youths will not be addressed.
I have already explained how as a consequence of continuous exposure to Mass Media avenues especially the visual and printed media such as T.V.s motion pictures sensational literatures like books, magazines, youngsters and young adults of to-day are losing sensitivity to aesthetic cultural and moral values. Writers, and publishers, newspapers should try to create mass consciousness against crime and violence through their writing.
Under the above scenario it is high time that television industry and television programme producers, directors should try to explore more and more the positive influence of T.V. on the control of anti-social activity, anti-national activity and crime.
Positive Contributions of Television:
The positive contributions of television in this regard are categorized as follows:
1. Irradiation of Illiteracy:
Observational and investigational evidences show that illiteracy and lack of proper education is a major cause of crime, violence and sex crime. Data shows that mostly lower class people with very little or no education is engaged in criminal activities.
Hence to control crime and violence particularly violence and crime against women people should not only be literate but also properly educated. It is well known the television being an audio visual aid has tremendous educational and learning value.
Various types of skills, cooking, gardening, yoga, meditation along with education are being taught through television. Through various literacy programmes and discussions on various areas of education people can gain knowledge. The inner self of the person can be purified and made powerful through knowledge.
It is seen that along with various entertainment programmes different T.V. Channels also show programmes on the above issues. Crime, violence and delinquency can be curbed to a great extent if the society is cultured, educated and refined. T.V. programmes are contributing in this regard no doubt, but much more endeavors should be made to make the programmes more effective.
Unemployment is said to be one of the basic causes of crime and violence. Through T.V. programmes various tips on employment and cares planning may be made available to the unemployed youths and steps may be taken to boost their morale. This can also control crime to a reasonable extent.
2. Empowerment of Women:
T.V. programmes can be a great source of women empowerment in a society where women belong to the disadvantaged class. Their low self esteem, inferiority complex, low level of aspiration, in assertiveness, can be boosted through T.V. programmes.
Women of reputation who have achieved name and fame in different areas like education, research, science and technology, arts, literature, business should be invited to discuss on these areas and give their valuable advice to the women viewers. This can raise the morale and low self esteem of women in general.
Various job opportunities for women should be informed through T.V. programmes. The ways and means for their economic independence can also be explained by experts in T.V. programmes.
Restoration of social justice and empowerment of women through T.V. programmes can do a great deal to reduce and control crime and violence against women. If women do not consider themselves weak they can raise their aspiration level and ultimately level of achievement.
Films, serials based on short stories, dramas, group and individual discussions can provide high status to women shown in T.V. to reduce the discrimination and crime against them. Star T.V., E.T.V. (Oriya) and national channel and some other channels have made several efforts in this area.
Other channels should also follow them. Ideal woman characters like Parvati in Ghar-Ghar Ki Kahani, Tulsi in Sas Bhi Kavi Bahuthi, Kasam in Kasam and Kum-Kum in Kum-Kum are examples of women with high human values.
If women are depicted powerful, strong, independent with high cultural and emotional values society will not consider them weak and inferior. Gradually this illusion against women will be removed. In this regard the producers of the above serials deserve thanks.
Changing role of women in the society can be highlighted through various T.V. programmes. The attitude and prejudice that women are suitable only for certain jobs and not all jobs can be changed if women are shown in various male dominated jobs, like pilot, police, defence services, war, administration. Space research, science and technology.
Gender discrimination can be reduced and crime against women can be controlled if the role of women in society is changed. Crime against woman mainly takes place because the woman is considered weak physically and mentally. Crime against women can be reduced by showing women as strong, qualified and powerful economically.
Unaggressive Characters and Models:
Now-a-‘days most of the pictures shown in T.V. are overloaded with aggressive and violent characters. They over shadow good, socially acceptable and value based cool, calm characters which have positively helped in the organisation and stability of society and reduction of crime and violence. Heroes of pictures should have frustration tolerance; they should react to frustration in unaggressive, cool and mild manner.
They should show emotional stability, strength of character and good human qualities so that they can be ideal models for the viewers, particularly, young viewers. Violence should only be shown to such a degree that it will not over shadow the value based character.
Too much aggression in films also produces anxiety and guilty feeling among the viewers. Too sudden, too harsh and too repulsive reactions to frustration should not be encouraged in T.V. programmes, because such reactions may lead to aggressive and hostile behaviour in viewers.
The T.V. programmes should transmit the basic message of love, sacrifice and co-operation. By clearly signaling that criminality is bad. Crime and violence can be controlled. Hence the themes of the T.V. serials, dramas and pictures to be telecast in T.V. should be carefully selected and censored so that these programmes will not be conducive to crime and violence.
Keeping in mind that the most dangerous act in a society is crime and violence, steps should be taken by the producers, directors and sponsors of T.V. programmes to carefully select the theme, direct the film and pay money for the advertisements in those films which have least aggression and violence.
Thus it is a combined responsibility of all involved in television industry to contribute to a social cause by trying to reduce crime and violence, which disturb social peace and produce tension in the society.
Films containing crime, violence vulgarity, gender discrimination and social injustice should be discouraged as far as practicable. Programmes based on social justice, dignity and prestige of women, education of the girl child, emancipation and empowerment of women should be telecast more and more. Government and voluntary organizations have also to be very careful in this regards.
More and more surveys on the quality of programmes now being shown in the T.V. and what people actually want to see should be conducted at government and MOM-government levels and they should be given wide publicity.
The sampling selection should be accurate and as per the research norms. Samples should include subjects from different socio-economic classes and rural and urban areas, male and females of different age groups may have different views on the programmes to be shown in the T.V.
But very few I’m sure would like to see violent aggressive films. Seminars, discussions at various levels on the socially desirable T.V. programmes should be conducted to highlight their need for the viewers. In this regard the educated public has a tremendous role.
Through the help of news papers and magazines, they can influence those engaged in T.V. programmes to produce and show programmes contributing to social cause.
Programmes highlighting the cause of destitute, orphans, delinquents and children from broken homes should be telecast more and more so that people become aware of their needs and their responsibility to these young unfortunate youngsters. Many people become criminal because of environmental and situational factors in which they have very little share of their own.
An orphan kills his land lord accidentally out of sudden rage because his land lord attempted to rape him. This is a case where the poor boy has no means to prove his innocence. He has neither money to fight the case nor he gets the sympathy of the public which mostly goes with the rich and influential persons. What they say is always correct and what the poor people say or do is always wrong.
In a society where class and economic differences exist, where caste and religion play a very vital role in the social structure, the various electronic and print Medias have also absolutely vital role to play.
In order to reduce social tension and social disharmony, to build a society of non-violence and peace long standing efforts are to be made by the electronic Medias. People expect televisions to be the reflections of the society.
But if these medias of education, propaganda and entertainment paint the bad ones as good ones, the villains as heroes and criminals as the dictators, head of the society and the under-world dons as the monarchs who control the society like an emperor then they would be doing greatest harm to the society and society will never excuse them.
By Advocating Non-Violence through Media:
The principle of non-violence should be depicted by showing men of great tolerance, advocates of non-violence in T.V. programmes, by convincing the viewers the advantage of non-violence over violence and crime. Once the viewers are convinced that violence is undesirable they will not commit crimes, they would also teach others not to commit crime.
Once they accept the values of non-violence, they would hate to see violence and criminal films. In a society where love and hatred, reproduction and destruction, life and death exist side by side in men, and women violent and aggressive urges will be there.
But television as a mass media can do a lot to control such tendencies through its programmes. Non-violence can be generated in the viewers particularly among the young viewers through properly planned programmes.
Some may question was there not crime and violence few decades back when there were very few T.V. viewers in India? Crime and violence are there since the beginning of creation since man is guided by the emotion of anger and rage.
But the percentage was very low. There has been increase in the rate of crime and violence with the introduction of televisions in India. The explanations of crime and violence are multiple. They are caused by the interaction of so many variables. Violence in television only contributes to a part of it.
By Telecasting more and more Children’s ‘Films and Children’s’ Programmes:
Children are the future of the country. Unless they get proper guidance they go astray, go off the beaten track and become wayward. To-day most children consider T.V. as the best means of recreation. Studies show that children in lower middle and middle class families who do not work outside but only study, see television from 03 to 06 hours during week days and during holidays and week-ends for a greater period.
They consider it as a great means of relaxation also. Keeping in view the sustained interest of children in television world-wide, television industry should produce more and more child oriented films keeping in view the requirements for their normal personality growth.
Pictures showing conflicting parental models, continuous and constant quarrel, back biting between parents, family discord, broken home should not be shown in T.V.s in such a manner that they may have deteriorating effect on the soft and malleable mind of the child.
Children films with healthy personality traits of heroes or heroines, like courage, self esteem, determination, adjustability, perseverance, work culture, honesty, sincerity, love and respect for parents, family members, teacher and peers should be accepted for telecast.
If all the above qualities are not possible to depict, some of the qualities may be depicted along with one or two characters showing very few anti-social traits for the sake of comparison. The heroes or models with which the child viewers are to identify must show some good social and human values and less aggression in the event of failure or frustration.
How a Juvenile delinquent turns to a criminal unless he is checked and prevented or treated. In that context it is wise to have clear models for children so that they do not develop delinquent traits or their anti-social, mischievous qualities get scope to be aggravated.
If this is done I’m sure delinquency and subsequently crime can be controlled to quite an extent. According to me a separate channel for children programmes should be introduced.
By Telecasting Pictures for Parents:
T.V. should have both educational and entertaining value. While producing pictures and serials for children, one has also to think of parents. Themes comparing a child coming from a good flexible, democratic parental home and another from a rigid, selfish, autocratic, unhappy, un-stimulating family with very bad parenting may be shown to educate the unaware parents about their role in rearing the child.
Many parents do not know how to rear a child which would help him to grow a normal personality. In western countries would be parents attend counselling classes for the same. But here in India hardly there is any such facility.
Hence newspapers and televisions, including Radio stations should come up with various counselling programmes for mothers through pictures, serials or even discussions. Proper parenting will not only reduce delinquents but also criminals.
It is said that problem parents give rise to problem children. Hence the parents must be made aware through various programmes which are their problems and how to keep away such problems from their children.
Programmes Highlighting Socio-Cultural Values and Good Traditions:
More and more individual and group discussions, serials, and films should be conducted on the small screen highlighting our socio cultural values, good customs and traditions.
Once in an interview conducted on about 1400 candidates for the post of High School teachers in Govt. High Schools as many as 90 percent of the candidates interviewed could not say what is meant by value or they even could not give a couple of examples of social or human values.
Interestingly about 30 percent of them were teachers working in non-govt. institutions for 1 to 5 years. If such is the situation with the teachers trained for teaching students what would one expect from the illiterate parents of India? Hence, in this regard T.V. has a vital role to make people and children aware of positive values and their importance in family, in human society.
To live happily in a society, social and human values are essential. Value education and morale education in this age of erosion of values and degradation of moral principles can be effectively imparted through televisions, films and print medias.
If we turn the pages of morning newspapers, we find news of violence, terrorism, murder, rape, sex, crime, child abuse, bombast, mass killing, gambling, kidnapping, abduction, molestation, sexual abuse, child harassment, child labour. Cyber crime etc. in large numbers.
But rarely do we find writings which can serve examples to others. When people find such incidents occurring daily in large numbers they are encouraged to do the same like someone said, if everyone is earning money through corruption, why should we not? Why should we suffer for our honesty?
Similarly once a student of mine was straight fore-ward enough to say Madam if sixty to seventy percent of the students do well by malpractice and get high rank, why should we not also take the help of malpractice? In what way we are rewarded? This is a common psychology to go by the mass.
This is called Band wagon theory in Social psychology. Hence TVs and newspapers should restrict the news on the above crimes so that people will not perhaps think that i this is the way the world goes now.
So why should we not also join them? In a welfare society news papers and T.V.s have tremendous responsibility in editing the news they are going to make public. They should maintain a balance to control crime and violence.
More and More Interesting Programmes:
Programmes in various T.V. Channels like geographical channel, sports channel, news channels, quizzes, competitions should be made more and more interesting so that the attention of children and adolescents is diverted from violent films to educational channels.
Film on Life of Convicts:
A few films exclusively on the life history of convicts have been produced and released in different Cinema Halls and T.V. Channels. But the approach towards these films and the morale of the films are not found to be very encouraging. However, I still remember an excellent film named ‘Bandini’ directed by the late Veteran Sri Bimal Roy the theme of which magnificently centered around a woman convict.
But I have yet to remember if I have seen such a film. The stigma attached to criminals can be reduced and they can have a place in the society with a scope to mingle in the main stream if such films are produced and viewed more and more.
By highlighting about AIDS, and other sexual diseases, sex crimes and prostitution can be controlled. Newspapers, magazines, books and journals, cinemas and T.V.s should actively think about this. Advertisements have great responsibility in this regard. Social awareness can be increased through the information’s made public by the electronic and print media.
Though television and newspapers have tremendous role in controlling crime and violence, books, magazines and journals also contribute to it. Films shown in various cinema halls have also some roles to play in controlling crime. Though cinema halls suffer a loss now a days with very few viewers some cinema hall show adult films with lots of sex and violence.
Though children and youths up to the age of 18 years are strictly prohibited to see such films, they are in many cases allowed to view. Hence cinema hall owners should cease to show vulgar and violent poster in public places and they should also strictly prohibit children to see adult films. Strict censorship can control a lot of crime and violence in a peace loving country like India.