As a media student, I have to learn about various media and mass communication theories and their effects. One theory that really caught my attention was called the Agenda Setting Theory. This theory states that though the media doesn’t turn people into mindless robots who can be brainwashed through media messages, it can set an agenda for what is talked about among the people. So, if the media covers a particular issue extensively, the people will automatically talk about. But if there is not enough media coverage on something, people will not talk about it as much.
Now, this theory talks about the media. But I wondered how much this theory held true even for education, since the first messages that we are made to think about and talk about are those of education; the medium being the teacher. This too was mass communication, albeit on a smaller scale. I wondered to what extend do people’s minds and voices get standardized due to education. To what extend to do we end up talking about the same things over and over, generation after generation; thus causing us to talk of nothing new? This could mean that archetypes would not just be of people. They would be with everything.
I decided to try something. I asked a few people to tell me the first thing that came to their heads when I said “A for?” Almost without exception, every single person said “apple” immediately. Can’t A also stand for “actor” or “animal” or “Australia”? But our minds have been so trained think immediately A stands for apple and B stands for ball.
This is of course not a bad thing. But how does this affect the inventiveness of our people? How many inventions have actually come from our country, since the zero? How many children today are taught to think outside and beyond the box? How many are told to forget the box completely? Sure, having a structure is good thing. I like structure too. But how restrictive should the structure be? Must it be solid walls through which nothing can penetrate? Can’t it be just a network of strong bamboo? Something that allows for free winds to blow, despite being so strong as to not get blown away in the wind?
This is just something to think about. I don’t have the answer myself, and am completely open to your ideas on the subject!Cheers!
