Effect of Television Viewing on Students’ Unrest in Secondary Schools in Kiambu County, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to discover the detrimental effects of television on children’s mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. It was also its goal to identify ways how parents and teachers can promote the healthy use of the media in their communities. With the growth of the television industry in our media today, there are lots of programs for teenagers. They are, therefore, spoilt for choice: from music shows, soap operas, horror movies and cartoons, excetra. More often than not and under the influence of peers, teenagers find themselves attracted to violent content which is so rampant in most of the TV stations and more so in the digital arena where they comfortably access western stations which glorify violence and sexual content. Unfortunately, where parental guidance is lacking or viewing is not monitored closely, teenagers end up lost in the violence of the TV models in an effort to adjust to the virtual world which tends to be a definition of their world. A world which is divergent to the outdated one of their parents. This study pursued an investigation on the effect of television viewing on students’ unrest in secondary schools. The study was guided by these objectives: to establish the effect of violent television programs on students’ unrest in secondary schools in Kiambu county, to examine the effect of television viewing duration on students’ unrest in secondary schools in Kiambu county, to describe the effect of peer interpretation in Television viewing on students’ unrest in secondary schools in Kiambu county and to determine the effect of parental mediation in television viewing on students’ unrest in secondary schools in Kiambu county. The study was informed by; Cultivation Theory, Social learning Theory and Social responsibility Theory. The study used descriptive survey research design: quantitative data was collected using self-administered questionnaires through stratified random sampling procedures and qualitative data was collected through an interview guide administered to school administrators picked out for the study. The study area was Kiambu County public secondary schools with a student population of 68424 from which a sample of 398 was singled out. Study findings indicated that television viewing had influence over students’ unrest in secondary schools in Kenya. The findings would benefit various stakeholders: parents, teachers, Ministry of Education and media regulators in monitoring violent television content exposed to teenagers affecting their morals as well as compromising school work and resulting in schools’ unrest as well as low academic grades.