CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Among the media, TV seems to have the most impact on today's children and youth who may be referred to as the TV generation. The Portrait of the Filipino as a Youth, a study conducted by McCann-Erickson in 1993, validates this observation. It revealed that the TV programs, music, pop idols, and books teenagers subscribe to are their sources of authority on right and wrong and what is important. The study concluded that "media has truly become surrogate parent." A political scientist also highlighted the power of TV which he observed has the capability to set the standards for success, excellence, achievement and morality and that it could even influence individual expectations and aspirations (Brzezinskli, 1993).According to noted Filipino psychologist Dr. Lourdes Carandang, media exposure to violence, aggression and meaningless sexual activities stimulates aggressive impulses and therefore primes the child to act aggressively. Research findings reveal that the most natural way for a child to learn is through role modeling wherein a child absorbs and imitates what he sees.Parental absenteeism, also according to the McCann Erickson study (1993) may have forced children and the youth to spend more time in media-related activities (particularly watching TV). But even among the youth who live with both parents, the same study noted the marked absence of shared activities and hardly any quality time together.