Comunicar 39-ingles - Revista Comunicar

58Comunicar, 39, XX, 2012interest in information on all the three levels – local,national and world. The diaries also show that childrenare interested in a wide range of subjects likepolitics and civic affairs, terrorism, wild life, health, history,science, cooking, cricket and movies. The childrenare aware of the vast variety of media that existtoday and they also know about their potential.«If I am watching TV there are channels likeDiscovery, History Channel, National Geographic,Living and Travel etc. and from these channels we getinformation about various things. For example, aboutold sculpture, monuments, nature and how we faceproblems during a natural disaster, the condition ofeconomic development, how to survive if you are in ajungle, etc.» says an urban boy.Even when many rural and poor children have noaccess to computers and Internet, despite their limitedknowledge and negligible personal exposure, they areaware of digital media and are fascinated by them.Young people clearly have their favorites amongthe different sources of information and their own reasonsfor making their choices. Newspapers and televisionemerge as the most popular sources of generalinformation. Information sharing with parents andpeers is very evident.An urban student says, «I prefer to use print media,it is my addiction. A day does not pass that I don’t pickup the newspaper. It helps me to compete in this bigworld. It also helps me to answer some general knowledgequestions if I take part in debate».«In a country like India where regional languagesare equally important, magazines and newspapers inregional languages play a significant role in informingpeople about the events and happenings in India andthe world,» stresses another student.«Books are an ocean of knowledge; once we learnhow to swim we can search and get knowledge aboutvarious mysterious unknown forces of nature. Even inmy free time I prefer to watch the newspaper and Imean that I ‘watch’ the newspaper – its headlines andpictures, and I only read the topics which actually interestme, though I have to admit that the newspaperhabit was forced on me by my parents, as advised bymy teachers. I must agree that whenever I take part inquizzes or competitions, the information I gainedthrough books and newspapers has helped me a lotand it increases my vocabulary too,» says an urban girl.The counterargument to this view is «I wouldprefer television only because we can listen and watchnews that we can’t do through newspapers or radio».Some students also mention that the high level of illiteracyin India makes television a more suitable mediumfor seeking information (an urban boy).Internet is mentioned by urban as well as rural students,more frequently by urban students, but more inconnection with computer use and school projects inrural areas while playing games and connecting withfriends and family take precedence in the cities.Among digital media the mobile phone is the favoriteand most widely used medium, even among rural childrenbut again, it is not the preferred medium for seekinginformation.Children show a strong emotional response towhat they see and read. Issues that elicit the strongestemotional reaction are terrorism, Indo-Pak relations,India’s progress and reputation, ill-treatment ofwomen and girls, especially rape and social injustice.Typical emotional triggers are: «Whenever there is adepiction of stories on women on news». «When Iwatch and hear about cases of rape on televisionnews». «When I watch the Indian team losing in acricket match». When I read or watch news aboutany natural calamity where people have died».«When I watch news about terrorist attacks or socialmalpractices like female infanticide». A rural girl’sanger is visible in her statement: «When media depictsnews about the girl child being born and thrownaway, it makes me very angry. At that time... I feel likedestroying the TV set».Children show acute awareness of the risks andharm associated with the media and problems withinaccurate or unbalanced information they mightreceive from them.«But basically I don’t like the Internet. Childrenplay violent games and misuse it in many ways.Children sit for long hours in front of a screen and thenit damages their eyesight, health and mental capabilitiesas well,» says an urban student. Both rural andurban students point out that sometimes exaggerationin the transmission of information creates panic andalso spoils India’s reputation in the world. An urbanstudent cautions with an example: «There are methodsfor making bombs and if child has opened thatwebsite then what can be done?».Despite their strong emotional engagement there islittle evidence of production, information disseminationor creative participation in media, and this raisesquestions about structural, infrastructural and policylevellimitations.5. FinlandThe diaries of the Finnish schoolchildren emphasizethe meaning of good access to all media due tofactors such as the school system, libraries, the extent© ISSN: 1134-3478 • e-ISSN: 1988-3293 • Pages 53-62