New media influences 'tween' population

The following is part two of our four-part series of excerpts from Marcia Forbes' Music, Media and Adolescent Sexuality in Jamaica. See part three next Sunday.

It is obvious that socioecon-omic factors in Jamaica effectively stimulate and encourage forced sexuality on to adolescents beyond the bodily and hormonal changes these young people experience. Additionally, the growing prevalence of cable TV introduces Jamaicans to a wider range of sexual behaviours than they would normally be exposed to. What was once regarded as deviant is now moving to mainstream. Many blame the media and none more so than television. While television may not be blameless, new information-communication technologies offer avenues for content distribution and consumption independent of what is normally defined as 'TV'.

Children are now growing up with television, cell phones, computers and the World Wide Web. With the rapid development of wireless, handheld, mobile and digital-communi-cation technologies, the interaction patterns and other behaviours of children in societies which are exposed to these technologies have changed. Parents express concerns at the pace at which children take on more adult behaviours while still only 'tweens' (approximately eight to 12 years of age). This was reflected in the title of a MSNBC news story, '10 is the new 15 as kids grow up faster', highlighting the critical role environmental variables play in the developmental progress (Associated Press n.d.: retrieved November 27, 2006). Parents commented on young children wanting to date and to wear clothes designed for teenagers, as well as dance in the sexually suggestive ways seen in many music videos.

Technologies

Investigations are ongoing regarding the ways in which these technologies are having an impact on how children learn and come to interpret the world around them (Sefton-Green, 2004; Davies, Hayward & Lukman, 2005; Naismith, et al. 2004). The period of adolescence is particularly subjected to the influences of information-communication technologies (ICTs). Arguments about the digital divide and the ways in which lack of or inadequate access to ICTs can compromise the life chances of young people to compete in today's knowledge societies are commonplace. These technologies not only facilitate different ways of learning, but also influence the ways in which young people see themselves and compare themselves to others. Technologies play an important role in how adolescents interface with their environments, including television programmes such as music videos.

Cable television was introduced to Jamaican households in the early 1980s. The exact start-up date is unclear. What began as a service to neighbours and friends eventually mushroomed into an industry serving large, densely populated communities such as Portmore in St Catherine. The systems offering this service started mainly as 'mom and pop' shops with operators comprising individuals who owned one or more satellite dishes, and who supplied their community with the US entertainment and news channels they received. This was done without the consent and/or knowledge of the rights holders to these channels. These cable operators reported that they "got started in the business primarily because they owned a satellite dish and were encouraged by friends and neighbours to share the services of their 'dish' with the community." (Forbes 1993: 12)

Cable systems were set up throughout the island, with broad-based 'grassroots' ownership as one dominant feature up to 2006.

Findings from all-island media surveys conducted by MRSL showed that cable TV had 21 per cent share of TV tube in 1998, 23.7 per cent in 1999 and 36.6 per cent in 2002. The local cable industry proliferated. A review of the geographical location of licensed cable systems in March, 2006, indicated that, based on the information from the website of the Broadcasting Commission of Jamaica (2006), there were at least two systems in every parish. Consequent on increasing pressure from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) for the Jamaican Government to put an end to the piracy of US television content, and infringement of intellectual property rights, along with the government's own recognition of its need to adhere to the terms and conditions of international treaties to which it was a signatory, there was a move to 'regularise' the industry. 'Regularise' was the term used by the government to describe its intervention and efforts to streamline and legitimise the cable-television industry.