Research Question & Background

There are countless of scientific researches that have been done on the issue of the effects of the media on children and young adults. More specifically, whether watching TV, surfing the internet and playing video games affects children’s attention span and cognitive skills. There are also many scholarly and academic articles that discuss this topic and claim that children, and even adults, reach their concentration threshold faster due to the constant use of technology and the media. 

Although these studies and scientific articles present valid arguments and concerns that seem to make sense, they only show correlations (mostly weak correlations) but no actual cause-and-effect relationships. Since these types or results are fairly typical and expected of these studies, correlations is all we can go by. 

A different correlation that has been studied even more intensely is the relationship between the media and violence in children. These studies show relatively strong evidence that violent television shows and violent video games do affect aggression and  violence in children and young teens. Since it is safe to assume that this correlation could perhaps point out to other effects technology might have on us, perhaps there are repercussions on our attention span and cognitive skills that we are not yet aware of. 

While the list of cognitive functions that are potentially affected by our perpetual attachment and devotion to media and technology might be exhaustive, I believe that there are two, specific skills that are more seriously degrading in young adults, such as myself these days. These two skills are grammar and vocabulary. Although, there is no definite evidence that correlates these two variables, I truly believe that the television shows and video games that are prevalent and popular today, affect our grammar skills and proficiency in vocabulary. 

It has been well-established that reading (books, newspapers, ect.) can help and improve concentration, vocabulary, memory, reasoning skills, grammar and verbal fluency (to name only a few). All these advantages to reading are especially influential in younger children, nevertheless, reading is beneficial and recommended for all ages.

Sadly, less and less children and teens choose to spend their free time reading, but instead prefer to watch television, play video-games and surf the internet. And since the media has become an inescapable part of our lifestyle, all of these options that substitute reading are readily available and accessible. As a consequence, over the past few years there has been a significant decline in students’ cognitive skills that are most likely a direct result of our proclivity to technology rather than to books and reading. 

This problem, although very serious, is not easy to solve. There isn’t any one in particular that could be blamed, and it is an undeniable fact that media and technology have become essential parts of our lives. The real issue that deserves more attention and consideration is whether the content of video-games and TV programs could somehow be modified and redesigned to be more educational and intellectual. Perhaps, if the time children and teenagers spent using technology could be made more useful, then it wouldn’t be considered a waste of time. 

Once I began to search online for studies on the topic of media, I realized that almost all of them concentrated on children and young adolescents. The focus on younger ages with this particular issue is understandable for many reasons. Children of this age group are in their prime of their development and it is much easier to control studies with teens than with adults. However, I began to ask myself whether college students (in their late teens and early 20s) will show similar results. And if college students were in fact as influenced by media as were younger children, in what ways do these negative effects present themselves? The two key questions that I’m interested in answering are: 

 1 .How many hours does the average college student spend using different forms of media (ie. watching television and films, surfing the internet, playing video games)? 

2. Is the content of these TV shows, films, websites and games educational? 

I think it is important to focus on the content that is delivered from these various media forms just as much as on the time students spend using them. I also decided that the best way to conduct this type of research would be via a survey online, preferably through Facebook. It would be interesting to find out whether the choices we make as young adults have the same influence on our lifestyle as those other studies and articles suggest have on us as children.