Influence of the Media

Influence of the Media
October 14, 2006

Philippine Free Press

A FEW weeks ago, I attended a seminar on media literacy at the Lyceum of Aparri. The discussions focused on television advertising, newspapers, magazines, the Internet and many others. It was an interesting seminar, as it taught me and other parents here how to understand the media and its influence on people's lives.

What is worrisome is the statement at the seminar that the media is taking away the role of parents in moulding the minds of children. The statement struck me hard but I kept my mind open. I wanted to understand this phenomenon. In the end, through self-analysis, I learned that it is true.

It is obvious that we are losing control of our children.. They jump into the media bandwagon and find that there is no one to drive it. Most of our children's views- about God, life, morality, sex,- come from the media. This is where media literacy becomes imperative.

What are we parents doing? How do we strengthen our role as parents so that we do not lose our children to the media? Do we teach our children traditional Filipino values and guard them against the constructed realities that they see in the media? Or do we just allow our kids to be brainwashed by the media?

We parents have a serious problem. If our children think the way the media thinks, then we are partly to blame. We allow the media to set standards for our children. We allow the media to set what is noble, admirable, and good for our children. As a result, our children learn moral goodness no longer from the teachings of the church but from what the media says. As they learn most everything from the media, our children have become clones: they think the same way, speak a common language, wear the same kinds of clothes, idolize the same people from media. Doesn't this mean our kids are no longer ours but the media's?

We should not look benignly at this phenomenon. Never should we allow the media to take over our role as parents. Instead we should always assert our role as parents, caution our children against the dangerous allure of the media, and set the standards for everything for them

Reginald B. Tamayo
member, Sangguniang Bayan
Aparri, Cagayan