Post # 4

One theory of mass communication that is very relevant to today's society is the cultivation theory. This theory states that heavy television viewing creates exaggerated beliefs in a mean and scary world. One way in which this theory is applied is an incident that occurred a few years ago involving the television show, "Spongebob Squarepants". A young boy watching the show was led to believe that Spongebob was real and, therefore, drowned in a river while trying to find him underwater. With this in mind, the cultivation theory plays a part in the stage young children experience when distinguishing between reality and fiction. At a young age, they believe the situations on television, especially those in cartoons like "Spongebob Squarepants", can occur in real life. However, parents have a hard time convincing them that things on television are only pretend.