Since the invention of the television, and even as early as the creation of the radio, the typical American family has been able to be exposed to the outside world. A normal stay-at-home family could now easily gain access to people and characters from all around the world by means of a radio or television set. It is argued that most children today are raised up by different forms of media such as the Internet and televion, rather than being raised by their parents. They spend more time interacting with media than they do with actual human beings. With that said, it comes to no surprise that people learn from what is portrayed on these forms of social media. Social learning is something that has significantly changed our world.
Social Learning is the theory that explains media effects in terms of imitating behavior seen in the media. In other words, this theory claims that what we see portrayed on TV or on the Internet, is what we feel is normal or what is accepted by society as either being tolerable or intolerable. As stated earlier, children are a key example of this theory. It can be said that children learn about life more from the media than they do from their parents or actually experiencing things on their own, combined! What a child sees on TV is what they will take in and decide if they choose to accept it into their mentality or not.
An application of Social Learning can be seen in how my little brother back home in Houston grew up. Before I left for college, everything my little brother knew was mainly taught to him by me. I would spend time with him and would show him how to perform certain task and told him what was right and what was wrong. However, in the time that I've been away from home, I have noticed that he learns a lot from watching videos on YouTube and from watching cable television. The way he acts is an exact reflection of the shows he watches. For example, he recently picked up watching skateboarding videos on YouTube, and sure enough, he now has about 3 skateboards back home. The fact is that now that I am not there to personally be involved with him, he has taken it upon himself to learn things on his own. An example of this can be seen a recent computer purchase that I made back home. My dad had me buy him a new desktop computer for school, and I was setting it up, he kept trying to interrupt me and takeover the tasks. He would constantly say "I know how to do that already" or "Let me do it, I can do it on my own." I had never noticed this before, but this last visit back home made me realize that he is really intent on doing things on his own.
As strongly portrayed in the film "Tough Guise," my younger brother is a prime example of Social Learning. He is intent on doing things on his own and learns through the media. He feels that he is grown up and since he is the only child at home now, he must figure things out by himself. In a sense, it is a good thing that he has become independent. However, the downside to that is that he may eventually become too afraid to ask for help when he really is in need. Below I have attached a link to a video that explains how the Marlboro Man gives off the idea that a real man makes it on his own, and if he doesn't it is his own fault. I feel this goes hand-in-hand with how my brother acts now that he is 12 years old. He feels that he is in control and should do things on his own.
Link to "Tough Guise" Clip [ start at 1:01 marker] ==> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFEzQv806wI
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