THE EFFECT OF MEDIA ON THE LEARNING BEHAVIORS OF STUDENTS

Abstract

The media impacts many students in today’s world. A common theme across literature is that the media makes a significant impression upon children. Children make associations from the media, sometimes correct, and sometimes incorrect. All forms of media affect student learning in some way. Students bring a variety of impressions, generated by the media, with them when they come to school. This can hinder the education process by leading to behavior issues, self-confidence problems, health issues, or misinformation that needs to be overcome. Participants in this study were administrators and teachers from area North Country schools K-12. Participants ages ranged from 23-65 and were employed at the following school districts: St. Regis Falls, Indian River, Beaver River, and Lyme Central Schools. Data was gathered using an internet based survey. Literature shows the media has significant negative impact on children, it also shows teachers are incorporating instructional methods to turn the negatives into positives. However, the statistics from this study show that teachers are not proactive in teaching positive media usage, and teachers and administrators see the negative impacts of media occurring in North Country school systems.