Communications

I was involved in a study today and I had the opportunity to talk with the father of one of my young subjects. This man was a professor of communications at the University that I attend. I learned a lot and thought of changing my major, although I think that two years into a doctoral program is a little late for a drastic change of directions.



First I learned a little about communications. At our university there are three major directions that people take that are related to advertising, convincing people to buy things they don't want and convincing people what to think so that they will buy what they don't really need. OK, I made that up, but the big three were sort of centered around advertisement. There was also a lesser known major that is the consequences of communications which this guy I talked to studies. Specifically he was interested in print media and its influence on consumers.



OK, he's interested in print media, but we talked almost exclusively about television. He talked about how the television has become a cue to so many things. You wake up and turn on Good Morning America, you come home in the evening and turn on the television and watch whatever, but then when a certain show comes on you know it's time for dinner and then when the news is over it is time to sleep. Our lives literally revolve around television programming. So is it the television that has programs or the television that programs us? While many of us use the television as a cue to eat, sleep, go to work or whatever, that is not the main problem. The programming which may contribute to violence, drinking, or other undesirable behaviors is a small part of the problem. The real problem is what we would be doing if we weren't watching television. We watch television instead of doing stuff... like exercising, being involved in our community or playing with our kids. The major problems with television are not what they bring into our home, but rather what it keeps us from doing.



Speaking of community, this guy showed the differences in homes since the advent of the television. First, lets look at the interiors.

Before televisions living rooms were arranged so that people could interact with one another and communicate.

Now living rooms are situated so that people can interact with the television, although the multiple people in the room may distract one another from the real reason for being in the room.

Do you know what else happened around the 1940s or 1950s? The exteriors of houses changed Before that time we were big into the Craftsman style homes with big front porches that invited the community to interact with the homes.

Now we have no need to be with the community because we can interact with our television and house styles have changed to reflect that (that's probably not the only reason for changes in house styles, but it is one that I talked about today with this guy).

Good buy front porch, hello big fence.

I was pretty proud to announce that I don't have a television. He suggested that wasn't the solution. He said that we need to be 'inoculated' with television. We need to watch a little with our kids and make sure to communicate with them and positives and negatives so they understand the use of television. But he suggested that we don't depend on the television for our scheduling, that's sending the wrong impression. He even went as far as to say that television are a good way to introduce kids to social standards. He admits that the television gives a skewed image of social standards, but if a child goes to school without ever watching television, he will be in a situation where everyone else relies on television to understand social interactions, but without television experience you won't understand. It's an interesting thought. We won't be purchasing a television any time soon (probably never).

Another thing I found interesting was the laws that we have in the US regarding advertising to children. They are quite limited. Did you know that in Norway (I think it was Norway) they are not allowed to advertise to children. The Happy Meal is absolutely never advertised, you just have to know about it from the menu, that is all the promotion it gets, because any advertisement for a happy meal would be directed at children and that is illegal. During Saturday morning cartoons, or any children oriented television programming there is no advertising allowed. Not during the program and not for a certain amount of time before or after the children's time. They also don't allow any cartoons that have products associated with them. They are illegal because it is advertising at children. Many countries actually have laws like that protect children. Here in the US, we have some limitations, but we seem to allow the advertisers a lot of reign over our children.

I just felt like writing that today.

Screen time

I've spent the last couple of days on the topic of simplicity vs. environmentalism. So far I've hit on cars and cell phones. I've talked about how they can detract from our interpersonal relationships in addition to being bad for the environment. I think that this next point is taking it to the next level. Interpersonal relationships are important, but I don't think any are as important as those with our family. Televisions, video games, this blog that I'm writing and you're reading, they all take you away from your family (it would be the ultimate compliment to me if you stopped reading right here and went to spend time with your family). I suppose that you could argue that my bike commute also takes me away from my family, but if I didn't commute by bike I would still enjoy going for bike rides and I would still need to find time to exercise. Besides, my bike time is great alone time and I think that is important.

I want you to do an experiment. Go find a movie or TV show from the 60s or before and start watching it. Count the time between changes in camera angles. This is not just scene changes, but a different view of the same scene. Now I want you to find something on television today (besides sporting events, they seem to be an exception to this trend). If you want to maximize the effect, change the station to MTV. Again, count the time between changes in camera angles. Now I'm going to give the results of the study away. It used to be that there was a lot more time between changes of camera angle. Now you will often find that the camera angle changes almost every second (I believe i read somewhere that it averaged between 2-3 seconds).

So who cares, new technology has made it easier to edit footage, so now there are more changes, how is that bad? While the technological advances are part of the reason for change, it is also demand. People demand more stimulation (you can't tell me that the television industry wouldn't take the easy way out if they could). Shows have to be ever changing and exciting to attract viewers. The same is true for video games. You have probably found yourself bored reading my blog, that is because I don't use a lot of pictures or visual break-ups on the screen. I could do a lot more to hold the reader's attention, but that's the entire point. If you aren't here for content, I'm not trying to attract you... Except my family, they just want pictures of the boys, I doubt they enjoy my random rants.

I want to give an example. We don't own a television. We do, however, own a small portable DVD player that we occasionally use for movies (it's cute having the family of 4 gathered around a 8 inch screen). Last night I was watching the boys while my wife went to a friend's baby shower. I had some grading for one of my classes that needed to get done, so I suggested to my older son that we watch a movie. He refused and suggested that we draw something out of our activity jar. (It's a jar of ideas of things to do so that when you feel that you don't have anything to do you can be given an idea... our boys LOVE it!) So we chose a slip of paper that said the boys were supposed to draw something and then I was supposed to copy it the best I could. Then we would change roles. The Mugwump drew a dragon and I copied it the best I could (it was unsatisfactory to the original artist). I then drew a picture of a boat. The Mugwump could identify what it was, but was unwilling to try to copy it.

That was the end of the drawing game, it was then time to go learn about the dragon and the Mugwump taught an amazing lesson about dragons and what we should know about them. Six-Pence participated in that entire thing, but his artistic abilities are still developing, as are his communication abilities so it was a passive participation. I would have missed that opportunity to play with my kids had I watched a movie. I would have missed the opportunity to show my boys that I love them more than the light box. My older son would not have had the opportunity to teach a lesson on dragons. My younger son would not have had the opportunity to sit in a "class".

Are there good things on TV? Sure... whatever. Are the "good" things on TV better than spending time in reality interacting with your family? My answer would be, ABSOLUTELY NOT! Oh, but the TV is how I relax... Read, read to your kids, watch your kids play, learn to draw, learn to play an instrument.... Do you really depend on the TV to relax, or is it just an excuse?

I don't drive very often, but my family owns a car and we do use it to travel longer distances.

I don't own a cell phone, but I would if it would allow me to live off the grid.

I don't own a television and under no circumstances, not even if you offered me lots of money or a new bike, would I ever own a television. Of all the changes I have made toward simplicity, I think that not having a television is by far the best.

Television

I wanted to post about this last week, but so much came up that I have put it off until now. I came home one evening and heard my wife up using the computer. Along side her my son was watching a movie on our 6 inch portable DVD player, affectionately known as "The Big Screen". We don't own a television, but sometimes on special occasions my son gets to watch a movie on "The Big Screen".

That evening he was watching Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, you know the one that is really old clay-mation type with the elf that wants to be a dentist, the Abominable Snowman and the Rudolph's nose that appears to be either radio active or powered by a tired hamster in a running wheel. Anyway, I came in the door and said a distant "hi" to my wife and suddenly my son starts screaming in terror. Evidently he was horrified by the snowman with the big teeth. He refused to turn the movie off, but every time he saw the Snowman he yelled in terror. He's really a sensitive little boy.

This isn't the first time this has happened. He has had similar responses to the movies Robots, and Cars. While on the one hand I hope that he grows out of it before he starts watching movies at his friends houses, I sort of like that he is naive and sensitive. Imagine how little violence there would be in the world if all people were as sensitive as my son.