The passage of childhood is the work of neil Pozmann. In the late 20th century, the print media gradually declined, and the TV media rose rapidly, becoming the primary media for people to understand information, live and entertain. Pozmann believes that in a culture where adults and children are TV viewers, politics, business and education will eventually become naive and superficial retarded culture, and the cultural spirit of human beings will wither and childhood will disappear.
In the Middle Ages, it can be seen from "no portraits of children, no statues of children" that the concept of childhood was not established in ancient Greece.
In Roman times, the concept of "shame" was put forward, and the boundary between adults and childhood was defined. Adults need to privatize sexual impulses and keep a "silent secret contract" in front of minors.
In the era of printing, printing has changed people's way of communication and thinking. Adults have a new identity-cultural people. Literacy has become a key factor for a person to gain a higher social status. Only through literacy and school education can a person acquire information and knowledge and become an adult. At this time, "European civilization recreated schools, thus making the concept of childhood a social necessity."
19 and 20th century, Locke School and Rousseau School put forward two different concepts. Locke believes that children are unformed people, and they are transformed into civilized adults through education, self-control and shame cultivation. Romanticism holds that children are born with frank, curious and spontaneous abilities, but these abilities are gradually worn away by literacy, education, rationality, shame and self-control. At the end of 19, Freud believes that early education has a key impact on children's growth. Without rational education, civilization cannot be realized. Dewey proposed to pay attention to children's needs, and children's nature cannot be stifled.
In the era of TV culture, the appearance of TV makes it easier for children to obtain information. Understanding TV is mainly through the eyes and ears to get information directly, without any training, and the ability requirements for the audience are relatively low. At the same time, the fleeting pictures and colorful images of TV make the audience immersed in the visual experience and passively accept the information conveyed by TV.
In front of TV, the boundary between adults and children disappears. On the one hand, it refers to the child's adulthood. "I mean, when they appeared, they were all portrayed as miniature adults, just like those people in paintings in the 13th and 14th centuries. Let's call this situation "gary coleman phenomenon" for the time being. By doing so, I mean, anyone who carefully watches popular dramas, soap operas or other popular TV programs will notice that there is no difference between children and adults in their respective interests, languages, clothes and sexual desires. " Pozmann said. Children are forced to enter the adult world full of conflict, war, sex and violence ahead of time, and come into contact with adult secrets that children could not have known before, and become more and more mature with the increase of watching TV.
(1. At this time, I thought of the book Milestones of Mass Communication Effect, in which Payne Fund studied the influence of movies on children. Children change their behavior and attitude by imitating the words and deeds of TV characters for a long time. 2. Knowledge points: contact implication theory, imitation theory)
On the other hand, it refers to the mental retardation of adults. Too straightforward and simple information presentation makes adults gradually lose the ability of independent thinking and criticism. People only consider immediate satisfaction and emotional stimulation, and their intelligence gradually converges with children.
But I think these theories are not completely correct. At present, people really like fast food cultural consumption like TV cultural consumption more and more, tired of thinking and addicted to debauchery. This is a worrying social phenomenon. However, more people will choose the content to watch and the information to get based on certain interests and needs. They have the ability to think and judge independently, and they are not completely passive in receiving information. )
In the ninth chapter of the book, Pozmann raised six questions and gave optimistic answers. The fourth question is, "Is there a communication technology with some potential enough to meet the needs of childhood?" Pozmann thinks that computers can meet the needs, and the complex operation of computers needs cultural accomplishment. The sixth question is "When everything happens under resistance, is the individual completely powerless?" Pozmann believes that schools and parents can take this responsibility. "No matter how insignificant the school's efforts are, the school will become the last line of defense to prevent childhood from disappearing in one form or another."