INFLUENCE OF TELEVISED AGGRESSION AND PORNOGRAPHY ON THE SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF ADOLESCENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

INFLUENCE OF TELEVISED AGGRESSION AND PORNOGRAPHY ON THE SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF ADOLESCENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the influence of televised aggression and pornography on adolescents in secondary schools in Agege Local Government Area of Lagos State.

A sample of 120 students randomly selected from 4 senior secondary school children in public schools were used. They were made up of 60 boys and 60 girls.

A well constructed instrument, a questionnaire was used to elicit responses from the subjects.

Four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance using one-way ANOVA, two-way ANOVA and independent t-test.

Based on the analysis of the data, the following findings were made:

1.           There is a significant influence of violent television programmes on students’ social adjustment. Thus null hypothesis one was rejected.

2.           There is no significant effect of violent television programmes on aggressive behaviour of students, thus null hypothesis two was accepted.

3.           There is gender difference in the aggressive behaviour of student’ due to violent television programmes, thus null hypothesis three was rejected.

4.           There is significant influence of pornographic film viewing on the social adjustment of students in schools and so, null hypothesis four was rejected.

From these findings, the onus is on all stakeholders especially parents and the educational sectors to give proper and adequate guidance and counselling to school children so they can invest their time on worthwhile pastimes rather than viewing programmes that could derail and frustrate their existence.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Problem

The introduction of the mass media into the everyday lives of children and the increase of televised violence have brought about rapid changes on their social orientation both in school and at home. It is not surprising that speculations about violent behaviour have been prevalent in the society since motion pictures showing violent acts were first distributed with the advent of the television in the early 1950s.

Violence surrounds us not only in real life but also in our entertainment as films and movies.

With improved technology, television, both in its news reports and entertainment provides a steady show of violence e.g. riots, wars, terrorism, raids, rapes, etc, which has affected all parts of our daily lives especially adolescents in our school system.

Stein and Fredrick (1999) described television as a dominating, powerful drug on the minds of children, as a conveyor of cultural values, attitudes and beliefs as it serves as an agent of socialization along side with the family, school and peer groups. Yet, television has not received much attention in terms of research as other agents of socialization especially in the developing countries such as Nigeria, hence the reason for this study.

The research on the influence of televised violence on the social orientation of adolescents in secondary schools has been a great concern in the minds of educationists since the television is a powerful tool that is capable of affecting the behaviour of the youths. The effects of television violent programme on the lives of our youths and even the adults cannot be over-emphasized. More often than not, it has a negative impact on the behaviour of the adolescents due to weird and violent programmes that are shown on television. For example, when one tunes on the television, what one sees are violent programmes like wrestling, violent movies, rituals in terms of home videos or films and other extremely vicious and horrible acts which affect the minds and behaviours of the viewers especially the youths, even the adult members of the society. These violent programmes have affected the social orientation of the adolescents so much that they have emulated what they view on television and this has caused them to be maladjusted in their general behaviour.

INFLUENCE OF TELEVISED AGGRESSION AND PORNOGRAPHY ON THE SOCIAL ADJUSTMENT OF ADOLESCENTS IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS