My
argument will be whether an article is relevant to the study of youth
television and youth culture.
The
article being used is ‘young people, television and daily life’ by Duncan
Petrie, published in 1995. He also uses examples from Patricia Palmer (1988)
‘The social nature of children’s television viewing’ and Marie Messenger Davies
(1989) ‘TV is good for your kids’. I will look at both arguments about whether ‘Television
rots your brain’ or if ‘Television is educational’. I will look at the respondent’s
opinions that Petrie used and the different factors age, gender, sexual
orientation and ethnicity. Their own personal views of television, how their social
lives fit in, the viewing times, their opinions of the way television is
broadcast and the programmes timeslots.
Petries
(1995) intention of this study from 1991 was to find out about the role
television has in daily life for the youth culture.
Television audience should not be
conceptualised as monolithic or homogeneous entity, but rather as a range of
distinct and diverse individuals in households-each with their owns needs and
preferences and, crucially, daily activities and social routines (Duncan
Petrie, 1995, pg 11)
The
author studies the age group of 4-20. He wants to know about youth viewing
habits, how they make sense of television and how it is important to them in
everyday life. His studies include both male and female respondents and respondents
of different ethnic groups and sexual orientation. He wanted to describe how
childhood transforms into adulthood through adolescence, including the
psychological/social transformations.
Petrie
(1995) uses arguments from other authors. Patricia Palmers (1988) argument is
that ‘Television is bad’ and Marie Messenger Davies (1989) ‘television is
useful and informative’ allowing him to argue both sides. I agree with the
Petries (1995) argument that everyone is an individual and all have different
likes/tastes, a few programmes being a commonly watched.
He states Neighbours and Home and Away were popularly watched by young people and also made
fun of by the youth.
British college-age teenagers
deal with the Australian soap opera
Neighbours in similar ways. Whereas they watch regularly and they consider
themselves fans, they often do so in order to make fun of the show (Mary Ellen
Brown, 1994, pg 109)
Grange Hill was an important programme for
the younger age groups as it deals with ethical, social and political issues
and ideas without it being “boring”. This show us how the broadcasters still
manage to control the youths viewing in some ways.
The
author used qualitative research methods and sent out questionnaires and diary
accounts to collect his data. He sent out the same questionnaire/diary three
times in one year to see the changes over a period. 458 individuals responded
to at least one questionnaire/diary. 103 of these were the youth generation,
and these are the diary accounts he is most interested in. I would use a larger
sample number-even though it is more time consuming, I would have used an
interview approach rather than a questionnaires, achieving more detailed
accounts of the programmes our youth watch.
Most of the replies received were from the
older two age groups of youths, 11-15 and the 16-20. In these groups more
females responded, they gave detailed accounts of what they watch and what
their opinions about television are and how it affects their daily life. They
had a lot of opinions on what they want to see on television and they discuss
and interpret television in their own unique ways, rather than being told what
to see and how to interpret.
As
we have dealt with age and gender, I now move on to the respondents of ethnic
minority and different sexual orientations. A response from a Muslim girl
replied
As a member of an ethnic minority
group I feel strongly that there is little that caters for our needs and
tastes. Anything that does exist is tucked away at completely inconvenient
times in the main, the only exception being Black
Bag. We could do with a lot more in terms of drama and comedy (Duncan
Petrie, 1995, pg 24)
As
she is a Muslim, television and radio are important as she cannot go out a lot
due to her beliefs, so she would like a programme that caters for her needs.
A
respondent, from African American origin states
Television holds the key to
developing black peoples interests and needs...the black community are only
ever given two roles 1) deviant behaviour, 2) comedy...I do not enjoy being
misrepresented on a medium that thousands of people watch. Unfortunately there
are people who are influenced only by what they see, and will get negative
ideas about black people and/or their families (Duncan Petrie, 1995, pg 24)
Peoples
ideas of certain ethnic origins are swayed by the programmes they see on
television and this could be a problem for social integration.
In the 1970’s when Days of our Lives featured an interracial
marriage, 90% of the letters registered disapproval, so the relationship ended
(Mary Ellen Brown, 1994, pg 47)
Brown
(1994) also describe how 18 years later
in 1988, the television programme General
Hospital tried to raise the same topic and were successful as only 65% of
the letters were negative, thus showing how ethnic minorities were slowly being
integrated into the rest of society.
One
homosexual respondent states that homosexuals and disabled people are hardly
ever seen to be mixed with society in programmes on mainstream television.
I find the degree of
marginalisation for certain sections of society unbelievable in this day and
age...I’m annoyed that groups like homosexuals, the disabled, etc, are rarely
seen in integration with the rest of society and mainly appear in ‘touching
dramas’/ documentaries or controversial contexts. I am aware of the (miniscule)
selection of specialist programmes for minorities (e.g. Out on Tuesday) which should be expanded on... but I would like to
see less segregation for programmes such as Blind
Date. I realise that TV is concerned with profit and commercial viability
but it would be sad if those concerns were fuelled by ignorance and misinformed
ideas about sections of society. (Duncan Petrie, 1995, pg 24-25)
Petrie
(1995) states that some argue, television is seen as a negative influence ‘too
much TV rots your brain’ (Duncan Petrie, 1995, pg 12) Patricia Palmer noted
that
Writing about children’s
television for example is full of calls for greater control by parents,
governments and anybody but children themselves. Research usually supports and
encourages these calls for control, through its uncritical view of the
child-television relationship as one of dream-like passivity (Patricia Palmer,
1988, pg 139)
She
argues that viewing should be a parental decision, to monitor the programmes
content. I disagree with this statement. Within reason a child should chose
what they watch so they can learn new skills of interpreting information
without parental input. This is an important developmental stage in a child’s
life.
Marie
Messenger Davies (1989) also disagrees with the above statement. She states
Television serves many useful
purposes for children. It informs them; it helps to structure their lives; it
gives them common interests with their friends and with other members of the
family; it provides an occasion for family togetherness, discussion and
sometimes argument. (Marie Messenger Davies, 1989, pg 204-5)
Petrie
(1995) states that
Alongside the more obvious physical
changes, adolescence also involves fundamental shifts in subjectivity, with
individuals becoming more self-absorbed and introspective-and more opinionated
(Duncan Petrie, 1995, pg 13)
The
youth generation has no problem stating their opinions they give full accounts
of what they want to watch and what they feel is not worth watching for example
one young man states
Having my own TV means that I
generally don’t have to watch with the rest of my family, especially since my
parents have a totally opposite opinion of what good TV is (Duncan Petrie, 1995,
pg 13)
The
responding households had up to three televisions, one being in the main area,
one elsewhere in the house and one in the bedroom, which is a place for
solitary activities such as reading or homework. The youths tended to watch
television whilst doing homework or reading. Solitary viewing would be done at
certain times of day for example after school/college, after work, or even late
at night.
Viewing
can be a family activity during eating an evening meal in the main viewing area
with the rest of the family. Also special events, such as sporting events, the Coronation,
or even reality television. This is a time for family discussion and sometimes
argument: which is particularily true of soap opera's including Eastenders. Petrie (1995) states how Anthony Giddens (1991) - a sociologist,
argues that
Routines are an important aspect
of the maintenance of both individual ‘ontological security’ and by extension
the very fabric of social integration (Duncan Petrie, 1995, pg 14, taken from Anthony Giddens, 1991)
Giddens
(1991) meant that routine is important in life and if anything unexpected
occurred, this would upset the individual’s routine. It is important within the
family/social interaction and integration with others from different ethnic
origins.
This
article is relevant to youth culture as it shows the habits of youth in their
transformation from a child to an adult. Showing times of day people watch television
and other activities they do whilst watching for example homework, or eating
dinner with the family whilst watching a mutually liked programme.
The
article is also relevant to the study of youth television. There have been some
detailed accounts of opinions on the programmes and timeslots. They also state
how they dislike certain programmes and what they like about others. The top
point to make here is that children’s television is educational and informative
and encourages us to learn new skills. For the youngest age group this would be
something like Cbeebies, a channel dedicated
to teaching basic skills of reading/writing and how to count and learn the
alphabet amongst other skills.
For the middle age group, Grange Hill is a good example of a soap opera for the younger
respondents, as it manages to incorporate social, ethical and political issues
into the plots- like a soap opera, therefore “sneakily” making the youth of the
day think about politics and other issues in society. The setting, being placed
at a school, is a place they are familiar with. It may have been useful to do
some Ethnographic research for the subjects surrounding Grange Hill. As mentioned previously the teenager would make fun of
programmes with their peers, such as Neighbours
so they do not have to deal with anything seriously.
For some teenagers, the very fact
of their fan-hood sets up a boundary against hegemonic expectations. Their
refusal to take seriously many aspects of dominant culture distances them from
conventional cultural positioning (Mary Ellen Brown, 1994, pg 47)
For the older age group the soap operas and
reality television shows like X-factor,
give people a break from reality and shows us different issues in life and how
to face them.
The
article written by Duncan Petrie is therefore relevant to both the study of youth
television and youth culture.
Bibliography
Brown, Mary Ellen, (1994) Soap Opera and Women’s Talk, London: Sage Publications
Davies, Marie Messenger, (1989) TV is Good for Your Kids, London: Hilary Shipman
Giddens, Anthony (1991) Modernity and Self-Identity. Self
and Society in the Late Modern Age, Cambridge: Polity
Palmer, Patricia, (1988) ‘The Social Nature of Children’s
Television Viewing’. Drummond, Philip and Paterson, Richard (eds.), Television and Its Audience: International
Research Perspectives, London: BFI
Petrie, Duncan (1995), ‘Young People, Television and Daily
Life’. Petrie, Duncan and Willis, Janet (eds.), Television and Household, BFI
Television Programmes:
Blind Date (1985)
John Gorman et al. [Television Programme]. UK: London Weekend Television (LWT).
Eastenders (1985)
Steve Finn et al. [Television Programme]. UK: British Broadcasting Company
(BBC).
Grange Hill (1978)
Albert Barber et al. [Television Programme]. UK: British Broadcasting Company
(BBC).
Home and Away
(1988) Alan Bateman [Television Programme] Australia: 7 Network
Neighbours (1985)
Reginald Watson [Television Programme]. Australia: Grundy Television Australia
Out on Tuesday
(1989) Phil Woodward [Television Programme]. UK: Channel 4
Tweenies on Cbeebies
(1999) Robin Carr [Television Programme]. UK: Entertainment Rights
X-Factor (2004)
Jonathan Bullen [Television Programme]. UK: Fremantle Media, ITV
By Lea Weller BA
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