Research has found that children remain the most impressionable by media. Learning through social learning theory, children learn what behavior is appropriate through observation of models without direct reinforcement and then try to imitate models in their own life. This is not very surprising from watching young children; their first words are often those that they have heard spoken around them most often. Katherine Elizabeth Heintz, a professor at the University of Illinois.  Heintz found that children often begin to compare the parenting styles of their own parents to the parenting styles of television parents (Heintz, 1992). The more television children watch, the more they will begin to see this as their surroundings and learn from what is presented in the media. Parents must make sure that positive representations of families are presented to their children in addition to their child knowing that theyre are a myriad of family formats.  

Due to articles published in the media, many parents have become aware of the negative effects of television and monitor what they expose their children to. Examples of this can be seen with those parents who don't allow their children to watch violent programming such as Family Guy or the Simpsons althought they are designed in a cartoon format. The option for parents to censor what their children watch on television became so strong that many cable companies offered a block on television programs with certain ratings unless the access code that only the parent knew was entered.
http://conversation.which.co.uk/technology/microsoft-xbox-kinect-tv-censorship-body-scan/

 

This project focuses on the effects of the media's representation of families. This topic is of importance because currently in the digital age, Americans consume various forms of media. This continual consumption of media is sure to have some effect on people. The media communicates messages of cultural values and practices through news, television shows, music videos, etc. This project works to expose the effects family representations presented in the media can have on someone's individual perceptions of how their own family should function. The realization that media has profound effects on people's perceptions can aid in combating negative effects. 

                                     
                                

(How sexualization of women on television effects young girls)