It’s
amazing how you don’t pay attention to something until it becomes relevant in
your life. I’m the type to always notice the negative things others and their
family do immediately. I’m one of those teens that grew up assisting their
parents with their siblings. This made me aware of many other children. It is
important to make sure a child develop his or her learning skills along with
social, emotional, and physical skills.
I’ve recently did an interview for a
school paper and of course it is about children. My main focus was the
negativity that children impact on from media. I had a brief conversation with
my mother who made me realize a daycare would be the best place to visit to
find interviewee and get additional information. My mother was once a care
taker of other people’s children and she was able to give me the feedback I
needed. My mother also a have two
younger children of her own and she notices all the things that my siblings
easily pick up on from media. She states, “I must admit I purchase my children
the games and movies of their choice and reacting to them is something they do
often. I would rather them have educational games and movies but that does not
meet their happiness.” As she continues “My younger son enjoys violent games
and silly TV shows along with expressional cartoon movies while my daughter on
the other hand would rather play dance games and sit in front of the computer listening
to popular music.” After having this conversation with her I knew there were
many other parents who were probably the exact same way. Some people would
rather see their kids happy than force them to do things they dislike which is
definitely normal. My mother then directed me to a daycare that she thought was
good because my brother attended.
One evening I rode around my
neighborhood until I spotted the daycare. The daycare was set off from the busy
streets close to American Way Road and near the hotel Comfort Inn. It wasn’t a
big building but it was easy to spot out. When you ride down Colony Park Street
you can’t help but notice this small brick building with daycare buses and
decorative letters on the building. There are glass doors on the building to
compliment the place. The doors made it easy for me to look directly in and
know immediately that this was a place I could consider holding my interview.
The name of the daycare is “Kids
Central Learning Academy.” When I entered the building I noticed how clean and
organized the place was. I decided to interview an elder teacher. I was told
that all the elder teachers deal with kids of all ages and could give me as
much information as they could. My interview took place in a classroom of kids
that ranged from 1-4 years old. My interviewee name was Mrs.Williams. She was
an elderly lady who gave little expressions as she talked. She was neatly
dressed in scrubs with her hair pinned up. We stood face to face as we had our
chat and she seemed intense. The interview wasn’t rushed but she was a fast
talker so it seemed as if it was. I asked Mrs.Williams for her experiences with
her students and media. She states, “My children are only allowed to watch and
play educational activities. We do not allow the regular cartoons that are
watched at home to be watched in our facility and we do not purchase violent
nor games that are not educational. Those things of that nature do not hold any
value to our children.” After she told me that I then asked if a negative impact
of media was sometimes brought to her when kids arrived from home. Mrs.Williams
went into depth by giving me a story. “I have a student name Jaquez who once
came to school showing me boxing moves and trying to fight with his classmates
unknowingly. I had to sit Jaquez down to and have a serious talk with him. He
needed to know that he was misbehaving. Jaquez became very sad and hurt because
he thought playing boxing video games and wrestling was teaching him a way of
normal life. He thought that was something he could do on a daily basis.” said
Mrs.Williams. After her story she then told me that she has had similar
situations from other students. Even though they are only teaching educational
media that doesn’t keep the children from bringing negative impact other media
to the daycare.
Our conversation went extremely well
because it added on to most of the information I already knew. Before ending my
interview I asked for some sort of guidelines that the daycare went by but
instead of getting the guidelines I better information. I received one of the
daycare’s newsletters that they prepare each month. Mrs.Williams was able to
tell me about the newsletter. She explained that they include all information
on any activities that they will be doing during that month, each child’s name
that has a birthday in that month, and any goals and expectations.
I chose an organized and structured
daycare for my interview. The daycare instructor along with my mother’s
experience with my siblings was very useful. I was able to give evidence and
show how children react to media.
Most kids plug into the world of
television long before they enter school. As kids get older, too much screen
time can interfere with activities such as being physically active, reading,
doing homework, playing with friends, and spending time with family. Of course,
TV in moderation can be a good thing: Preschoolers can get help learning the
alphabet on public television, grade schoolers can learn about wildlife on
nature shows, and parents can keep up with current events on the evening news.
No doubt about it — TV can be an excellent educator and entertainer but it can
also hinder the younger generation.
