Media_in_the_Military

We watch many kinds of media for entertainment, news, information, and educational purposes for a few examples. Many of the news media that we see on television are reports on military issues. How we interpret these reports on military issues varies from one person to another. How these reports affect our children is an issue in itself. While the media may have the right to report on military issues; however, negative and biased information can be detrimental to our society and our children. Should the media have access to military issues' Because of the Freedom of Information Act, yes the media has some rights; however when it comes to National Security, the media has no rights, because of sensitive information that could be detrimental to the security of our nation. The Freedom of Information Act gives any human being U.S. or non-U.S. citizen the right to obtain information about any other U.S. or non-U.S. citizen. The Freedom of Information Act has been altered and amended just like the Constitution of the United States of America. September 11, 2001 changed everything. The Patriot Act was born, re-modifying the Freedom of Information Act. The Patriot Act is also considered the modern day media. Both have control and the right to be anywhere and to do anything at any given time. The media has the right to inform the public on what is happening and the Patriot Act has the right to inform the government of what is happening. The Attorney General of the United States, John Ashcroft writes about the Patriot Act in detail, and gives many of his opinions in his writings. In “The USA PATRIOT Act Provides the Security that Protects Americans’ Liberty” (November 15, 2003), Ashcroft writes about former U.S. president James Madison when he writes, “The Patriot Act honors Madison's "first principles" ... giving each branch of government a role in ensuring both the lives and liberties of our citizens are protected. The Patriot Act grants the executive branch critical tools in the war on terrorism. It provides the legislative branch extensive oversight. It honors the judicial branch with court supervision over the Act's most important powers.” In 1972, former U.S. president James Madison noted that centralized power is the greatest threat to our liberty. Madison continued saying that this kind of power is liable to abuse. Madison also said that a first principle of free governments is the distribution of power into separate departments. In Ashcroft’s conclusion of this article he writes, “To be sure, the law depends on the integrity of those who make it, enforce it, and apply it. It depends on the moral courage of lawyers ... and our citizens ... to insist on being heard, whether in town hall meetings, county council meetings, or the Senate.” Should the military keep things from the public to prevent disaster' Yes, the military under national security does have the right to keep the public and low members of congress out of knowledge. The families do have a right to know the wellbeing and safety of their loved ones. If their loved ones do die in battle it is the military’s responsibility to tell the family members of their loss and not let it be seen through the media and television! Research from the Brookings Institute in 2003 in ‘Building Intelligence to Fight Terrorism’ states: “While the emphasis of the new intelligence architecture needs to be on information sharing, important secrets must still be protected. In the cold war context, classifying data as top secret, secret, or confidential protected sources and methods of obtaining information and guarded military plans and capabilities. In the homeland security context, such priorities remain important. But new areas of sensitive information—such as protecting the gene sequence of a lethal pathogen developed in a private lab—call for new approaches to limiting information access.” How media affects families in negative ways can be detrimental. Men and women can suffer several kinds of mental issues such as; stress from rumors and misinformation, wars becoming a reality when viewed repeatedly on news broadcasts, and problems with their children acting out because they cannot even interpret the things that they have seen. The media can, at times, make these men, women, and children react in violence from watching reports that may contain the wrong information or even seeing the pictures of places they have been or seen. The media reports can be harmful to our children and prevention is a must. A report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (“Step into Your Child’s World”, 2002) stated that more than six hours per day are spent watching media (television, movies, video games, news papers, computers, internet, etcetera) by children between the ages of two and 18 years of age. News broadcasts are viewed quite often at schools even though many school age children are not interested in watching such things at home. Madeline Levine, a clinical psychologist, a mother of three children, and the author of “Handling the ‘Boob Tube’” and “See No Evil: A Guide to Protecting Our Children from Media Violence”, writes, “Studies have looked at children at different ages to determine whether they can distinguish between what is real and what only appears to be real. For instance, researchers took a red toy car and covered it with a green filter that made it appear to be black. Despite extensive explanations about the difference between what something looks like and what it "really and truly is," the 3-year-olds continued to say, when asked what color the car was, that it was black.” Levine later writes, “Although kids do need to be warned of dangers, exposing them to disturbing images does not make them more capable of dealing with such dangers. On the contrary, it traumatizes them and ultimately makes them less competent.” Again, the media may have a right to report on the military no matter the cost of the development of the modern family, how media affects families in negative ways can be detrimental to any individual for three main reasons. First, the media has positive rapport when it reports on how our military is being effective; however, the media has negative rapport when it reports on information that may endanger our military troops while on the field and information that may affect the mental state of families in our country. Next, these negative affects may be hidden and later exposed causing adults and children alike, to act out in many kinds of violence. But most importantly, media reports can be detrimental to men, women, and to our children. When we do not pay attention to the information that is received from watching, listening, or even being involved in the media when it reports on the military issues of the present, we are endangering our minds. These kinds of information can cause us to be more active to keep from thinking about what we have seen, have trouble sleeping, behavioral problems, reckless actions, and many more potentially harmful things that can effect our everyday lives. References Ashcroft, John. "The USA PATRIOT Act Provides the Security That Protects Americans' Liberty." Current Controversies: Homeland Security. Ed. Andrea C. Nakaya. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Apollo Library. 13 Mar. 2008 “Children & War: What Parents Need to Know”. (2008) Retrieved Sunday, February 10th, 2008 from O.U. Medical Center. http://www.oumedcenter.com/CustomPage.asp'guidCustomContentID=%7BF685312E-EC02-475E-848E-03687BE4AD35%7D “Committee on Public Education, (2001). American Academy of Pediatrics: Media violence. Pediatrics 108 (5), 1222-1226.” “D’Andrea, M., & Daniels, J., (1992). When children’s parents go to war: Implications for counseling and development. Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 26, 269-278” Eastman, J. (2006, June 14). “Does the First Amendment allow the media to publish classified information'” The Wall Street Journal, retrieved February 10, 2008. http://opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/'id=110008511 “Ender, M.G., (1995). G.I. phone home: The use of telecommunications by the soldiers of operation Just Cause. Armed Forces & Society, 21 (3), 435-453.” http://afs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/21/3/435 “Figley, C.R., (1993). Coping with stressors on the home front. Journal of Social Issues, 49 (4), 51-71.” “Figley, C.R., and McCubbin, H.I., (Eds), (1983). Stress and family II: Coping with catastrophe. New York: Brunner/Mazel. p. 148-165.” “Hobfoll, S.E., Speilberger, C.D., Breznitz, S., et. al., (1991). War-related stress: Addressing the stress of war and other traumatic events. American Psychologist, 46 (8). 848-855.” “Hoffner, C. and Haefner, M.J., (1994). Children’s news interest during the Gulf War: The role of negative affect. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media 38(2), 193-204.” “Kelley, M.L. (1994) The effects of military-induced separation on family factors and child behavior. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 64, 103-110.” Levine, Madeline. "Parents Should Limit Children's Exposure to Violence in the Media." Current Controversies: Violence in the Media. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, (2001). Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Apollo Library. 13 Mar. 2008 “Libow, J.A., (1992). Traumatized children and the news media: Clinical considerations. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 62(3), 379-386.” “Rohrer, J.C., (1996). We interrupt this program to show you a bombing. Childhood Education 74(4). 201-205” Schakowsky, Ms. (2002, July 26) Homeland Security Act of 2002, retrieved February 10, 2008. http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2002/h072602.html Step into Your Child’s World (2002). Retrieved February 20, 2008 from a Google Search on “Can watching news reports on military issues cause behavioral problems'” http://www.parenting.umn.edu/militaryKids/missouri%20resources/RB6Mediacoverage.pdf