INFLUENCE OF FOREIGN MOVIE ON THE BEHAVIOURAL DISPOSITION OF STUDENT

ABSTRACT

The media as one of the specific learning condition is believed to be a potential contributor to the growth of antisocial attitudes and behavior in students and teenagers. While social scientists work on determining the major causation of violence, such as social environments, cultural factors, family instruction, and group membership parents, teachers, politicians and school administrators continue to blame the media for increased cultural alienation and attitudinal change among adolescents. This study examined the the influence of foreign movies on behavioural disposition of undergraduate students of Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu. The guiding theories of the study are the cultivation and social theory. Data for the research was collected through the distribution of copies of questionnaire to various respondents. The survey method was used as the research design and the method of data analysis is the use of frequency tables and percentages. The population of the study is two thousand two hundred and twenty two (2,222) made up of the undergraduate students of Godfrey Okoye University. The sample size was determined using the Taro Yamane statistic and the number derived was three hundred and thirty nine (339). The study found out that undergraduate students of Godfrey Okoye University are exposed to and influenced by foreign movies. It is therefore the recommendation of this study that The school authority should invite/provide guidance counselors to visit their schools periodically and address the students. Alternatively, seminars/ workshops could be organized for teachers periodically on ways to counsel and handle students. These counselors should be able to inspire adolescents away from excessive viewing of foreign movies by using biographies of appropriate role models in society who were able to move to greatness because they de-emphasized excessive foreign movie viewing as adolescents.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

The act of watching movies can be a fun activity in which students and adolescents in general can use their imagination and fantasy. Watching movies has been known to have both positive as well as negative impact on student’s mind as well on his or her overall character and mental development. Movies with social message or pure fun can be worth watching but movies with too much of violence, romantic messages and mean messages are of no good to students and youths (Kubay&Larson, 2005).

The effects of movies can be traced back to the late 1920s. At that time, the earliest coordinated social scientific research or investigation into the impact of these effects began in the Western countries. It was intended at studying the harmful impacts of movies on societies. The development of this medium as a common mass entertainment and information source during the 1950s encountered similar concerns about potential harms, especially in connection with young audiences (Gunter, 2004). Nowadays, in this modern era, many concerns have been raised about the kinds of values and attitudes that may be inculcated by exposure to certain kinds of media contents, especially enculturation and violence in movies (Kubey& Larson, 2005).

In recent times, subtitles that translate different languages have increased appeal of films, especially those from foreign cultures. Subtitles give the audience the opportunity to watch films that were not produced in their primary language. This innovation therefore created room for rapid spread of films from their country of origin to other countries, in which Nigeria is not an exception. Today in Nigeria, films made in Hollywood USA, France, India, China, etc. are always in high demand. Recently, foreign movies and TV shows are stealing the limelight and is becoming a major player in influencing students’ behaviour and character disposition.  Foreign movies today involve a lot of violent scenes, from new ways on how to fight an enemy, to new ways on how to kill a person using some new weapon.  They learn all about revolvers and knives from movies, and this in turn gets them curious; curious enough that they buy them and try it out in school on other students and even their teachers (Williams, 2009) 

Students and youths are gradually losing their morality because of violent and romantic, satanic and evil scenes showed in foreign films.  For these students who have been doing violent activity, moral values are but a small piece of their curriculum at school and pay less attention to it.  For them, it is more interesting and worthwhile to watch foreign films and their violent, sexual and evil satanic sequences.  These students believe that if they exhibit acts of violence and romantic stance in school they will become famous and everybody will know them.  It is a fact that it gets their names known and gives them the fame they want, but it is also enough to ruin their entire future and their life.  Taking this into consideration, parents and schools are enjoined to work together and take serious steps and actions to stop these violent outbursts of exhibition. The learning environments which a student is exposed to are also assumed to contribute to the increase of aggressive behaviors and attitudes as well as his inclinations to customs, values and norms of the society (Bernard, 2012).

The media, as one of the specific learning condition is believed to be a potential contributor to the growth of antisocial attitudes and behavior in students and teenagers. While social scientists work on determining the major causation of violence, such as social environments, cultural factors, family instruction, and group membership parents, teachers, politicians and school administrators continue to blame the media for increased cultural alienation and attitudinal change among adolescents (Fraser &Staub, 2006).

The mass media exert great persuasive effects on the thoughts and behaviours, by encouraging people especially students and young people into new lifestyle patterns, fashion, etc. Among all media, films play a major role in affecting the thinking pattern of the society (Evra, 1990). Films also referred to as motion pictures, involves projecting a series of images into the screen to create an illusion of motion. It is one of the most popular forms of entertainment, enabling people to immerse in an imaginary world for a short period (Olaleye, 2007). 

Based on the foregoing, this research is determined to examine the influence of foreign movies on behavioural disposition of undergraduate students of Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The mass media exert great persuasive effects on the thoughts and behaviors of people by introducing them into new lifestyle patterns, fashion, etc. Among all media, films play a major role in affecting the thinking pattern of the society. The largest sampling of contents of foreign films carried out by Harvard Medical School, reveals a disturbing amount of violence as well as unrealistic views of racial and sexual relationships. In another research carried out by Olaleye Victoria (2007), it was discovered that youths are greatly exposed to foreign films. This entails that the behavioral disposition of students, especially the undergraduate students are really at stake. Most violent, absurd, sensual and annoying behaviors exhibited by undergraduate students are claimed to have been copied from foreign films. However, some schools of thoughts claim this is not true. Hence, there is a conflict on whether foreign films negatively or positively influence the behavior of students/youths. To this end, this research seeks to validate that claim and find out how these foreign movies affect the moral values and behavioral patterns of Nigerian undergraduates students, using the students of Godfrey Okoye University as a case study.