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The role of television in cultivating the values of pluralism and cultural diversity in children

Today pluralism and cultural diversity are becoming basic values of public communication. People living in the globalized world learn that freedom of speech, freedom of expression, pluralism, cultural and linguistic diversity, and tolerance toward other views and value systems have turned into the new norms of society (Jandt, 2010). One should not underestimate the role of these values both in a general sense--in the political and cultural life of the country--and in a more precise one--in cultivating individual characteristics in a person who is being brought up in this environment. To be able to perform successfully in globalized space and to communicate effectively with people belonging to diverse cultural, religious, and ethnic groups, one should develop multicultural awareness, tolerance, and appropriate behavior; eliminate cultural bias; and create positive multicultural attitudes (Sadokhin, 2010). In this respect the role of the mass media in the modern world is becoming increasingly important. Because we are nowadays surrounded by ubiquitous media, both traditional and new ones, and because we can take an active part in creating the media landscape ourselves simply by capturing an image and uploading it onto social networks or sites like YouTube, it seems essential to realize the effects the media have on us and, in particular, to understand the role of the media in constructing our set of values. Can media help individuals get rid of their prejudices and negative attitudes toward cultural minorities? Can they enable people to develop tolerance and prevent them from participating in the ethnic and cultural tensions in society? These questions definitely need to be considered.To begin, the process of a person's development and the formation of individual character traits have been analyzed in a wide range of psychological and sociological studies. Among the researchers particularly interested in exploring the influence the mass media have on the cultivation of the values and preferences of the audience, George Gerbner and his colleagues from the Annenberg School of Communication should definitely be mentioned. They introduced the well-known cultivation theory, which describes the long-term effects of television programming on viewers' attitudes, beliefs, value systems, and perceptions of reality. Studies conducted by Gerbner and his colleagues showed that television programs tend to misrepresent real life, particularly in their portrayal of the level of violence and of occupation and sex roles, race, and ethnicity (Carlson, 1993). The research demonstrated that the attitudes and behavior of heavy television viewers--those whose cultural life is monopolized by television and who absorb the television image of life and society from infancy on--undergo significant changes: such viewers more often than those who view television less frequently appear to have the wrong perception of social reality, are more supportive of mainstream opinions, and demonstrate intolerance toward other points of view (Media Education Foundation, 2005).Although cultivation theory was criticized for a number of reasons, including the importance of a specific type of program in the cultivation process, the strength of the relationships between television viewing and perceptions of social reality and opinions, and the impact of television programming on a diverse audience, one should not underrate the role of television and other media in modern life. The globalization of information space, the rapid development of information and communication technologies employed by the mass media, and other factors have turned television and the Internet into the most powerful factors that have an impact on the views and standpoints of individuals as well as on collective subjects.Although in many cases children and teenagers can indeed be classified as heavy viewers (those who watch television 4+ hours a day), one should take into account that television and other mass media are just one factor that can, for instance, lead to an increase in the level of violence of viewers or make them react in a certain way. …