Family environment, communication and media education

The family is the first and most important social group in which are achieved foundations of whole human life. There child acquires his first knowledge, skills and habits. However, upbringing in the family cannot be viewed separated from the wider social context. There are also the mass media that have become part of the family environment and in some ways its presence and messages affect on the family and its members. Family communication, experience of self-worth of each member, the family rules and value system as well as the family relation to the larger society make basic aspects of quality of family environment. Considering that today the media have become very present in the family, the question is: Are the media an incentive or disturbance in creating a quality family environment? Parents are an unavoidable media socializer and the significance of parental intervention is particularly stressed for young children, who have just started meeting with the media and everything it offers. Undoubtedly, the media is a source of cultural and spiritual wealth and useful information; they help us in familiarization with contemporary social, political and other developments and trends, and provide the opportunity of learning about the world. On the other hand, in some families the media took primary place, direct and emotional contact is very rare and is replaced by a virtual relationship such as communicating by telephone, text messaging, e-mail, watch TV. Feelings of warmth, understanding and mutual support are almost marginalized. Because is necessary to talk with children about what they saw and heard, with an intention to help them evaluate and understand the meaning of moral instruction and the nature of the content that is offered in various types of media, the aim of this paper is to analyze the positive and negative effects of mass media on family environment and communication. Also, the importance of media education will be highlighted.