This article discusses the effects of media on children, including the positive impacts on education and information, as well as the negative influences on growth and development. It also explores the issue of child trafficking and its causes and consequences.
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1 Radio Broadcast Script Name Professor Course Date
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2 Radio Broadcast Script Title: Effects of Media on Children Introduction: Good morning, dear listeners. Welcome to Radio 24/7. My name is Ms. Joan Gregory. Today is another brilliant day when we have gotten another opportunity to be together. Thank you all for tuning on to this radio. You are such a great audience. Last week, we discussed about the plights of the kids. Today, it is another opportunity to discuss about a different topic. Today, I want to purely talk about the children. My topic of discussion, therefore, is about how true are the claims children are growing up too fast. To respond to this query, I will discuss the effects of media on the children and child trafficking. These topics can help us understand how true the claims children are growing up too fast are. Background: Today, I want to spend this program discussing about the effects of media on the children and child trafficking. Did you all know that media is a platform that is used by the masses including the children? Well, if you did not know, now, you know. It is true that children grow so fast. In the process of their growth, they interact with many things including the media. Over the years, media has been used to benefit people in a number of ways. However, the benefits of the media are not limited to the adults because even the children get to enjoy them. By saying all these, I am intending to say that media has had direct effects on all the users regardless of their age. As a distinguished broadcaster, I know, for certain, that media is indeed useful to all the segments of the population including
3 children. So, since, I had planned to dedicate my time to talk about children, let me do so. I want to discuss about the positive and negative effects of media on the children. I have no doubt that media has become popular with the children because of the positive impacts it has had on them. First and foremost, media has been playing a significant role in promoting the education of the children. Over the years, radio and the Television (TV) have been used to educate the children. According to Postman (1994), the media platforms have programs which are specifically-designed to educate the children and provide them with the academic knowledge that they need (Postman 1994). These kinds of programs have been instrumental in promoting the learning of various school subjects such as mathematics, science, language, and other social sciences. For example, some films educate children and provide them with problem-solving skills. Secondly, media has been benefiting the children because it informs them and equips them with up to date information on various issues that affect them on day-to-day basis. For example, as James & Prout (2015) found out, the TV and radio usually broadcast news to update the audience on the current events within their neighborhood, region, nation, and from across the world (James & Prout 2015). Last, but by no means the least, media benefits the kids because it gives them a chance to be entertained. TV and radio usually play various musical genres that do entertain the kids. Now, I want to explain to you the negative ways through which the media impacts on the children. From what I know, media has not only benefited the kids because it has had some adverse effects. The first way through which the media has disadvantaged the children is that it has negatively-influenced the growth. In his studies, Moinian (2009) found out that media has negatively impacted on the psychological, social, and cultural
4 growth and development of the children because some of its contents lead to acquisition of undesirable conducts (Moinian 2009). For example, the consumption of certain TV and radio content can influence the children to be violent, defiant, and immoral. It can also negatively-influence their speaking, dressing, and dieting habits. Apart from this, media can interfere with the physical and mental health of the children. Excessive consumption of media might addict he children and hinder them from engaging in other useful activities such as outdoor games and physical activity. This can be disastrous because it can cause lifestyle diseases like childhood obesity, diabetes, heart attack, High Blood Pressure, and many other related cardiovascular diseases. Child trafficking refers to the illegal process of acquisition, relocation, and the selling of children. Child trafficking is not a new practice because it has been in existing for very many years. Children grow fast, and every year; a lot of children are procured and exchanged even without their consent. Child trafficking is one of the major issues of concern not only in the country, but globally. After saying that, I would like to proceed to tell you much about this practice. It concerns me, you, and the society at large. According to the report provided by the International Labor Organization, child trafficking is a $99 billion-annual-global industry. The first thing I would like to let you know are the causes of child trafficking. There are different factors that have been contributing to the rampancy of child trafficking in the society. Topping the list of these causes is poverty. Research has proven that a large number of children end up in trafficking because of poverty. According to France (2007), poverty is the main cause of child trafficking because many kids end up in the hands of smugglers because they are too impoverished and have no source for food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education,
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5 and other necessities. Besides, child trafficking thrives because of illiteracy (France 2007). Lack of educational opportunities makes the children vulnerable to trafficking because it deprives them of awareness and livelihood. Moreover, many children are trafficked because of the inefficiencies in the implementation and enforcement anti-child trafficking laws both within the country and in the international scene. Such laxities create room for the perpetrators of these acts to continue doing so. If the laws were tight, no one would dare engaging in the trafficking any child. Finally, child trafficking thrives because of the existence of restrictive immigration laws that, of course, makes it challenging for many children to especially those from the war-torn and less developed nations across the globe. When such kids lack immigration opportunity, they are compelled to resort to trafficking as the only alternative to maneuver to other foreign countries that appeal to them. Listeners, I know, many of you might ask what makes child trafficking to be a $99 billion-annual-global industry. Well, if you don’t know, listen. Child trafficking has been gaining popularity because of the high demand of smuggled children who are used to perform a wide range of activities to their masters. As explained by Featherstone (2005), such activities include forced labor, slavery, and sexual exploitation (Featherstone 2005). The smuggled children are used as laborers by many unscrupulous employers who consider them as cheap laborers because they pay them peanuts and considered economical. According to Derbyshire (2007), there are also other people who still use smuggled children as slaves although slavery has been illegalized, trafficking makes it to persist because, once the smuggled children are acquired, they can be used as slaves (Derbyshire 2007). This is undesirable, but it happens. Last, but by no means the least, I
6 would like to let you know that children are trafficked because they are exploited sexually. Meaning, they are forced to offer free sexual services or compelled to serve as child prostitutes. All these are dangerous practices that do not benefit the children in any way, but adversely-affect them as they grow and develop. Conclusion: In conclusion, I would like to remind you that media is both good and bad. From this discussion, it can be observed that, just like the adults, the children, in the process of their growth, have had their own share of the media. Exposure to and the usage of media has been benefiting the children because it acts as a chief source of education, information, and entertainment. These are the benefits that all the children uses do get. However, despite all these media has also been negatively-impacting on the children because it interferes with the physical, mental, and social growth. Dear listeners, as I conclude, I would like to let you know that child children grow fast. However, in the process of their growth, they encounter numerous challenges including trafficking and exposure to harmful media. Child trafficking is not a new phenomenon because it has been with us for centuries. World over, the law is clear that no person should be sold or use for any transaction irrespective of their status in the society. However, child trafficking has been condoned and emerged as a billion dollar industry which thrives in the illegal acquisition, procurement, transfer, and selling of the children. This is bad because it affects the growth of children. It must be stopped if, in any case, we are committed to creating a free, equal, fair, and just society for all. Thank you!
7 References Derbyshire, P. 2007. Childhood: Are Reports of its Death Greatly Exaggerated?Journal of Child Health Care11 (2), pp. 85-97. Featherstone, B., 2005. Rethinking family support in the current policy context.British Journal of Social Work, 36(1), pp.5-19. France, A. 2007.Understanding Youth in Late Modernity. Maidenhead: OUP. James, A. &Prout, A. 2015.Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood. London: Routledge. Moinian, F. 2009. I’m just Me! Children talking beyond Ethnic and Religious Identities. Childhood16 (1), Pp. 31-48. Postman, F. 1994.The Disappearance of Childhood. New York: Vintage Books.