THE INFLUENCE OF MODERN DIGITAL MEDIA ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS’ PERSONALITY

ВЛИЯНИЕ СОВРЕМЕННЫХ ЦИФРОВЫХ МЕДИА НА РАЗВИТИЕ ЛИЧНОСТИ ДЕТЕЙ И ПОДРОСТКОВ

Винтер Алина Станиславовна

студент, Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет, РФ, г. Белгород

Бузина Евгения Игоревна

научный руководитель, канд. филол. наук, Белгородский государственный национальный исследовательский университет, РФ, г. Белгород

Abstract. The article is devoted to the problem of formation and development of a child's personality under the influence of digital media. The advantages and disadvantages of using the media tools are described. The author talks about the consequences of excessive and uncontrolled use of media among teenagers.

Аннотация. Статья посвящена рассмотрению проблемы формирования и развития личности ребенка под влиянием цифровых медиа. Описываются положительные и отрицательные стороны использования медиа средств. Автор рассказывает о последствиях чрезмерного и бесконтрольного использования медиасредств в подростковом возрасте. 

Keywords: socialization, deviant behavior, digital media, child suicides, offenses

Ключевые слова: социализация, девиантное поведение, цифровые медиа средства, детские самоубийства, правонарушения

Younger and teenagers belong to a special age category that requires increased attention. There are a number of reasons for this. As a rule, children do not yet have a well-formed system of life values, they hardly feel the need in socialization and self-determination. During this period, the child's psych is still unstable, his psycho-emotional state is very susceptible, and therefore the process of finding oneself, one's place in society may be subject to a number of external challenges and threats that the child's psych is simply unable to resist.

Teenager is not for nothing characterized as one of the most difficult stages in a person's life. Young people are overly emotional, categorical in their judgments, often with overestimated or underestimated self-esteem, strive to achieve external recognition and their assessment from others. Such features of character and worldview become a factor preventing the smooth entry of a teenager into adulthood. This can cause the development of other problems, such as, for example, excessive aggression, ignoring adults, conscious non-compliance with established rules and norms of behavior. We cannot exclude the development of an open conflict with society through hooliganism, alcoholism, drug addiction. It cannot be argued that the only factors influencing the development of destructive deviant behavior of minors are the social, psychological and biological aspects of life. Today, in a world where we are surrounded by digital resources almost from birth, the modern media environment plays an important role in the process of personality formation.

Young people and teenagers turn to digital media every day to satisfy their basic psychological needs. The reasons for this are different: some are motivated by the search for new information, others feel the need to communicate, others want to try on different social roles. In general, all this leads to the formation of a teenager's "I-concept" [2].

The active development and dissemination of social networks has made them one of the mechanisms of the socialization process. The World Wide Web is now not only a source of limitless information, but also a second virtual life. In this way, modern children show their lives and follow the lives of other people, including their idols. Analyzing their opinions, life position, teenagers form their own picture of the world [2. p. 93].

The relevance of this topic is due to the growing number of minors with deviant behavior, manifested in antisocial actions, while increasing the influence of the media environment on the younger generation. Under the influence of social networks, messengers, mass media, computer games, low-grade film products, music content, new forms of deviant behavior of minors appear, among which it is necessary to note the creation of communities in social networks promoting suicidal tendencies, self-harm, membership in extremist groups, openly demonstrated aggression, armed attacks occurring on school grounds, etc. At the same time, young users consider it important to videotape the process of physical violence, armed attack, intentional damage to their body and post it online for self-presentation and popularity growth. The teenagers and youth audience segment focuses on the broadcast popular media images, in this regard, it is necessary to develop criteria for assessing the impact on the younger generation of mass media for children, teenagers and youth, to identify new forms of effective interaction with the youth audience, including through traditional media. Researcher of the media environment L.O. Abbazova also believes that deviant behavior is an important problem of minors, namely its types such as suicide, cruelty to people, committing murders. According to the survey, the most important social problems among children and teenagers are: drug addiction, crime, suicide or suicide attempts [1].

The most important social problem is teenage and child suicides. Suicidal attempts of teenagers are associated with mental disorders, a neurotic state, a difficult family situation, with problems of self-realization. The study of the problem of suicide among young people shows that in a number of cases teenagers decided to commit suicide in order to draw the attention of parents and teachers to their problems, felt loneliness, depression and anxiety, protested in this way against the indifference, cynicism and cruelty of adults. Most often, children and teenagers do not want to say goodbye to life, they just dream of becoming significant. With the advent of the Internet and social networks, the problem of teenage suicide has become widespread. Despite the fact that children and teenagers can easily navigate information flows, sifting out information garbage, they do not always understand that the information left by them for personal use, as interesting or useful, is often dangerous for themselves, since the user, when sending his personal data, does not think about security measures, that personal information can be stolen and used to harm him.

The causes of juvenile delinquency may be problems in relationships with parents, family disorganization, and subsequently, in order to compensate for the lack of communication with parents, the child seeks contacts outside the family, falling into various deviant groups, from which he no longer wants to leave [3].

It should be noted the low level of legal literacy of children and teenagers. Schoolchildren do not always know that this or that act may entail criminal or administrative punishment. Therefore, thefts, physical harm to health, damage to valuables (statues in a public park, for example) are committed by teenagers, who are often unaware of responsibility for what they have done. Legal education should be an integral part of the school curriculum, be a thematic area of social advertising.

It is also necessary to note the positive potential of new media, which actively interact with children and teenagers, identifying current problems and contributing to their solution. To do this, the mass media use the formats of information presentation that are most relevant for the younger generation. This includes: podcasts, cartoons, videos, tests, communication through social networks, publications of journalistic materials of teenagers about topics of concern to them. It is noteworthy that in online publications aimed at highlighting the social problems of minors, there are sections for both children and parents. Thus, it is emphasized that the way out of a difficult life situation of a child depends not only on the child himself, but also on the parents, since the solution of the social problems of the younger generation is influenced, first of all, by the family situation. Obviously, the skill of distinguishing reliable information from destructive information is formed due to the participation in the media education process not only of children, but also of parents. When modern parents give the process of development and formation of a child almost from the age of 2 to digital technologies, they should understand that the result of educating their child with artificial intelligence is unknown and unpredictable!

Thus, the use of digital media technologies in the process of teenagers passing the stages of socialization generates not only deviant behavior of minors. A modern highly developed personality needs to have the appropriate skills for a normal existence in the new information media space.