Social Development of Children in a Media Environment: Pre-School Teachers' Stance

Social development of children depends largely on the influences from the immediate environment, i.e. from the context in which children live, develop, become socialised and educated. In modern living conditions the context of growing up is under the influence of the media which are an integral part of modern lifestyle. Accordingly, the media indubitably influence all aspects of the development of pre-school children, including their social development. As a result, pre-school teachers as creators of the process of upbringing in pre-school institutions, monitor and direct the influence of the media. The main aim of the research was to examine the attitudes of pre-school teachers regarding the influence of the media on pre-school children's social development. The research was conducted on a sample of 140 pre-school teachers who had been surveyed by means of a questionnaire made exclusively for this particular research. The general research hypothesis stated that the media had a negative impact on the social development of pre-school children, especially with respect to promoting positive values and accepting social norms and prosocial behaviour. The results of the research confirmed the hypotheses which stated that a significantly larger number of pre-school teachers perceived the media impact as negative when it comes to the development of social competences of pre-school children. The conclusions and suggestions call for a wider social action to change the existing paradigms regarding the media and upbringing, but also for an increasing media literacy of parents, pre-school teachers and all the participants in the process of education and upbringing.