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Recent demonstrations in Washington and on college campuses have raised question! concerning changing “value patterns’’ of young people and more importantly, the causes ol such changes.
Jean Piaget, a developmental psychologist, has reported that there are two separate periods in the development of “moral judgment’’. From birth to age six the child accepts his rules from authority figures such as parent! and other members of the immediate family. After age seven or eight, however, often what the emerging young person views a: “justice” prevails over adult obedience.
Several years ago, the Coleman Report on Education substantiated the importance ol the home environment in shaping “moral judgment” in the child. Indeed, the report indicated that the home environment is more influential on a child’s education than the quality of instruction in the first school he attends.
It should be noted, however, that one ingredient in the home environment today is television. In this, the first “television generation”, it is general knowledge that the average child between ages two and five spends between three and six hours viewing television programs each day. By the time he reaches age 18, according to current estimates, he has logged a staggering 22,000 hours before the television screen. Clearly, the medium of television has a tremendous impact on the minds of young people.
Recently, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew questioned the “impact television is now having upon oui culture and upon the values that our society has traditionally held”. He expressed the view that many programs and commercials presented a set of values different from the values traditionally taught in the home, the school and church.
He further contended that, “many demonstrations in recent years have resulted from the fascination among young people with demonstrations as a means of communication. They enjoy confrontation because they were brought up on television instead of books. They’re conditioned to action and emotion, not words”.
There appears to be some validity to the claim that young people are more “conditioned to action and emotion, not words”. In many public schools, student: are clearly more receptive to film: and other visual stimuli a: opposed to textbook materials When reading is done, student: show a clear preference foi paperback books and magazines Yet student preferences for new forms of stimuli should not lx equated with non-thinking non-moralistic young people Indeed, the opposite seem: apparent to Educators who worl with students each day. Neithe should valid criticisms of studen activism obscure the validity o the students’ own criticisms o
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