Kid Enculturation
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All of us are subject to the enculturation process, the process through which we learn the “concepts, values, and behavior of a certain culture” (Mosby 1). Of course, we are enculturated so-to-speak in the culture’s concepts, values, and behavior into which we are born. Thus, much through chance we come to adopt the concepts, values, and behavior of a particular culture. In American society, perhaps no other social influence is as responsible for enculturation as is the media. Through television and films the enculturation process occurs in children in a way that is often at odds with the enculturation process they experience via parents, teachers, and others in their immediate environment. Through direct observation and interaction with two pre-teen boys, this analysis will attempt to show how enculturation via the media influences child behavior, thinking, and values. While visiting friends who were grandparents over a three week period, I was able to observe and interact with the couple’s grandchildren who visited them four times during the three week period. I spent three hours observing and interacting with the boys, ages 6 and 8, while they watched the Star Wars trilogy of films and as they played with their plastic Star Wars action figures. The grandparents were not in the room during these interaction periods, so external influence was limited. Further, when at home the boys are not pe
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onstruct the elaborate plastic world these figures combine to create. Different characters were placed at exact locations on the plastic spaceships and space-stations. The detail and complexity of all the merchandise was amazing but the boys constructed the entire set-up until the universe of Star Wars had been fully recreated in the room by a 6 and 8 year old boy. Once their universe was constructed, they sat silently watching the remained of the film.
Discussion
There are many facets of the enculturation process demonstrated from my observation and interaction of these two boys while they watched Star Wars films and played with Star Wars action figures and merchandise. Both children behaved in a manner that was similar to the heroes they saw acting on the screen. As one study conducted on the effects of media on enculturation found “Children watch the television screen and then, without any interchange with a person, move to what essentially is a behavioral test” (Schwarzbeck 1). The children did this repeatedly which demonstrates that enculturation often takes place in modern society irrespective of human interaction.
Further, when the children were explaining to me that there were good and bad droids, I was witnessin
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1617
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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