Jayde's Media and Human Development Blog

Research has shown that using social media for longer periods of time may lead to mental health issues in "vulnerable adolescents" (Memon et al., 2018). So, what are things to suggest to teens who may be having a hard time, especially with their social media use? Here are seven steps to help reduce the negative effects of social media: 1) Employ mindfulness and critical thinking about social media use 2) Use good time management 3) When on social media, use active techniques 4) Have a purpose for using social media 5) Manage relationships that come from social media 6) Use social media as a preventative measure and be aware of social media use 7) Be present during social media use and time when not using social media With all of the mental health problems that may come from social media, it's important that adolescents have steps they can take in addition to the other needed steps to address mental health issues like therapy and medication. The role of online social netwo...

This week I've been working on our Content Analysis project for class. It's been really enlightening to see how often parents and children engage in conflict in Disney movies! We found that female children and female parent figures are the ones who most often have conflict. Why do you think this is? Is this portrayal of female characters in Disney movies impacting kids? I was thinking that because of Bandura's Social Learning Theory, young children watching this conflict might be more prone to imitating the behaviors they see in Disney movies. I wonder if the producers of Disney films think about this when they are making them? What other issues have you seen with Disney movies and the portrayal of different characters? Let me know what you think!

  I've never really thought much about internet trolls until I read an article by Evita March that was posted on The Conversation . This article was very enlightening. I was especially interested in the profile of an internet troll. People high in sadism were more likely to be trolls. Sadism is when people derive pleasure from hurting others. Also, psychopathy was trait that the majority of trolls have. This means that they were lacking emotional responses, good behavioral controls, and empathy. The trait that completed the profile of an internet troll was that they were likely to be male. What shocked me the most was that high self-esteem combined with sadism lead to higher instances of internet trolling. I've always thought of internet trolls as people who post negative and hurtful things because they are insecure. I guess that's not always the case! So, how do we deal with these kinds of people online? The article says that it is important to not show the troll that thei...

Hopefully people realize that reality TV isn't an accurate portrayal of real life. However, adolescents or even adults who aren't really thinking about it might be fooled into thinking reality TV really means reality. So, how does reality TV depict the lives of teen moms? Compared with the national data on how many teen moms there are in the United States, shows may make people think that becoming a parent during teenagerhood is more common than it actually is. Also, reality TV often shows the teen moms who have higher father involvement than is usual. It also doesn't show how many teen moms are on government assistance, are low-income, and don't get their high school diploma. In addition to all of these problems with the depiction of teen moms on reality TV is that they are shown as having active social lives. Altogether, this unrealistic portrayal of teen moms on reality TV is over glamourizing becoming a teen parent. How do you think this affects teenagers who watch ...

How is the way we are portraying different body types affecting society? In media, protagonist women are almost always portrayed as having unrealistic body types. They are usually thin, have flawless skin, and perfect facial features. However, plus size women are often cast as the antagonists which gives society the misguided idea that different body types aren't as good as thin bodies. This damages children's, especially young girls', perception of what their bodies should look like. This can be very harmful as they enter puberty, and their bodies start to change. When they need nutrients to grow and develop into young adults, they are being negatively influenced by the media's portrayal of women. So many young girls are affected by disordered eating and it makes me wonder how much the media plays into that...

  In 2008 there was a study conducted to determine if there is a correlation between viewing violent media and aggression in children. The study took 1,500 American kids from the ages of 10 to 15. The study found that kids who viewed violent web pages were 5 times more likely to demonstrate violent behaviors. This was interesting, however, there was some concern that kids who were already violent gravitated towards violent web pages. So, a longitudinal study was conducted. The findings were that watching violent TV led to higher levels of violence 10 years later. Additionally, aggression in 3rd graders didn't lead to higher consumptions of violent media 10 years later. This proves that watching violent media leads to a higher risk of violent behavior. So, what responsibilities do the government and parents have to protect their kids from violent media?