MEDIA & CULTURE
In
Egyptian adolescents
Prof.Mohamed El Kholy
Ain Shams University
Pediatric Hospital
Cairo - Egypt
Mass media is a key to a perceived world
that affects each and every human being
who gets exposed to any of its types
The content of the messages carried by
the media to the audience has a huge
impact on their knowledge, behaviors
and attitudes.
Mass media refers to either
Print media:
Newspapers and Magazines
Electronic media:
Radio, Television,
Internet
(blogs, message boards (internet forum), chat room, podcast
(news, music, pre-recorded speech, and video), electronic mail,
and video sharing, etc…
Mobile phones, iPod, iPhones etc…
The impact of media differs from age
group to another but the adolescents are
the mostly influenced due to their high
exposure
during
this
period
of
development.
Adolescents are highly exposed to the
electronic media, or to be more specific
the Television and the Internet, and this is
how media can shape the way these
adolescents think and act.
One out of four people in Egypt
is a young person
Television is the most effective medium for disseminating information
For illiterate individuals TV is a
critical source of health information
Almost 100% of
teenagers watch Arabic
satellite channels.
37.5% in a regular way.
TV reaches nearly every Egyptian, over 80%
of Egyptians own a TV and 75% of married
women watch TV daily.
In Cairo 46% have Satellite TV (2005)
17 Million users
Internet use among college
students
 39.5% of sample use the internet daily.
 34.5% of sample spends 2 – 4 hours surfing
the internet at one sitting.
Most used the internet for entertainment,
followed by acquisition of knowledge,
a source of news.
Shared
information
- In 2004 there were 7 million owners of mobile phones,
- In 2007 this number tripled to 23 million,
- Now 60 million owners

influence of National media

influence of Western media
influence of National media
The most watched channel is aljazeera ,
followed by my health channel, then animal
planet and discovery.
Scientific content favored by adolescents is
medicine, then computer science, followed by
wildlife, space research, telecommunication,
environment and information technology.
Advantages of watching television:
 Develop education style (42.3%).
 Solve problems by using scientific approach (37.4%)
 Acquire scientific and technological information
rapidly (31%).
 To be acquainted with the most recent research
all over the world (21.4%).
&
recent technology
A study showed that there was a significant effect
of watching scientific and technology shows and
the care for owning the most recent technology
Decision to use or own recent technology was
based on TV information in 69.7% of sample.
The most valued things to possess were:
(in order of importance )
 mobile phones (70.6%),
 PC (68.4%),
 satellite dish (46.3%),
 dial up internet connection (31.35),
 ADSL internet connection (29.8%),
 pay TV (26.6%),
 lap top (24.6%)
 and mp3, mp4 and IPod (22.6%).
 The talk show programs
28% watch the talk show programs
Teenaged audience were rated the first in
participating in these programs
important role in
increasing
adolescent
information
 Mini-series and Commercials
From 1980 to 1991 approximately 182 health
commercials were produced and aired on Egyptian
television on the following topics: diarrheal disease,
family planning, the dangers of illegal drugs, childhood
accidents, schistosomiasis, early marriage, immunization
Egyptian television broadcast health information,
primarily in three differing formats:
• one-minute minidramas;
• more formal lectures by white-coated physicians;
• most recently, multiple-episode soap operas.
Role of TV in Health information:
• Smoking,
• Drug addiction,
Egypt has the highest rate of smoking
in the developing Arab world (33.5%
are daily smokers, of which 19.6% are
under 15 years).
57.5% of movies dealt with the problem
of drug addiction
Role of TV in Health information:
•
•
•
•
Smoking,
Drug addiction,
Family planning & Contraception,
Danger of early marriage,
• Sexual education,
Among university students in Egypt, 26% of men
and 3% of women reported having sexual
intercourse at least once
• It is estimated that 187 thousand births are born
each year to mothers aged less than 20 years
• In 2000, 11 per cent of adolescent girls in the age
group 15-19 were already married
• 0.8 percent of adolescents have used contraceptives
before their first child
A nationally representative survey of young people
and their parents in Egypt in the late 1990s found
that, although 42% of fathers reported talking to
their adolescent sons about pubertal changes, only
7% of boys reported learning about puberty from
their fathers.
The role of a TV program “Big Talk”
in adolescents’ sex education
300 adolescents (2006)
o
o
o
o
100% of adolescents watch this program
40.3% to satisfy their curiosity
21% to satisfy sexual needs
13.3% for other reasons
o 65.7% prefer watching the program alone
o 19.3% with the family
o 15% with friends
o 44.7% sometimes feel shy and afraid while watching
o 34% don’t experience either shame or fear while watching
o 21.3% always feel shy and afraid while watching
o 50.3% watch this program to get information about sex
o 70.3% of the sample finds the discussion of sexual
information beneficial
o 11% can’t decide whether it is important or not
o 9.3% find the program obscene
o 9.3% find it unimportant
o 48% encourage the discussion of sexual issues in
Arabic channels
o 39% oppose this
o 13% have no opinion
o 46.5% benefited from this program by knowing the
body changes that occur during adolescence
o 43.8% benefited by getting information about
masturbation and its harms
o 38.1% benefited from sex education
o 33.8% benefited from information about women
and sex
o 27.7% corrected wrong information about sex
o 12.7% got information about sexual relations
during marriage
o Females were found to be more knowledgeable
about sex than males.
o No difference was found between the % of males
and females watching the program.
Telephone hotline, has been used successfully to
provide HIV/AIDS information to anonymous
callers
Media & Veil
Amr Khaled
 The New York Times Magazine, described him in its
April 30, 2006 issue as "the world's most famous and
influential Muslim television preacher."
 Recently, the 13th of the world's most influential
people by Time magazine
 And the Sixth most influential intellectual in the world
by Prospect magazine.
He had an impact on most
of the female adolescents
to wear the Hijab
Effect of drama and video clips
on values
embraced by Egyptian adolescents
Image of adolescents in
TV drama
Young people usually play leading roles as opposed
to secondary roles.
Still male roles dominate over female roles
in TV drama.
55% of movies explored the problem of
extramarital sex.
TV drama is biased in favor of rich, high social class
adolescents.
TV drama series
Male and female relationships was usually explored
in the context of marriage. Survey sample feels that
this relationship is now presented as a more loving
and understanding relationship.
• Father daughter relationship is presented as
more loving and encouraging and less dominating.
• Female roles have changed from being male
dominated and weak to being strong, respected,
ambitious, more liberal.
TV drama series helps to shape adolescent
conception of family relationships
VIDEO CLIP
Effect of video clips on values
embraced by Egyptian adolescents
88.5% believed that video clips have an effect on
adolescent values
The study proved the relation between exposure to
video clips and the values embraced by adolescents.
One of the reasons of increased divorce rate among
young adults is the comparison between the female
image as represented by video clips and the reality;
comparison with reality engenders dissatisfaction and
frustration.
• Obesity
• Smoking
• Aggressiveness (video
game)
• Fanatism
• Sexual problems(Calvin
Klein, Madonna..)
• Isolation from family
(facebook)
etc...
+ve Relation between exposing of the
Adolescents to TV and eating disorders
44% male adolescents agreed
that the cause of their smoking
was imitating a film hero who
smokes
influence of Western media
The influence of the media content has caused to
change traditions and to change cultural manners due
to globalization. Since globalization is another term of
Americanization, the effect of the American media is
taking over other cultures, therefore countries located
in the Middle East or Africa are affected by what the
American media presents.
A lot of change in the way the adolescents in Egypt
wear, eat or even listen to music
• McDonald’s is one of the favorite junk food
Studies in Arab cultures have shown that the percentage of
girls with abnormal eating attitudes and eating disorders is
approximately equal to international figures
• There are Egyptian bands representing Rock'n'Roll
and western music.
• Sitcoms started successfully to be presented in
a westernized way
• Most of the Egyptian adolescents wear jeans
and a T-shirt
Some or most of the Middle East countries have
made some regulations and restrictions on the
media presented by the western cultures so as to
respect their own different traditions and beliefs and
to avoid the American influence on their culture.
They have used in this theory a term called
“Cultural exception”; as they banish some of the
content of the media presented, like the sexual
scenes presented in the movie.
grazie per l’attenzione
Discussion
Discussion
influential Islamic
channels and programs
o 27.7% corrected wrong information about sex
o 12.7% got information about sexual relations
during marriage
o Females were found to be more knowledgeable
about sex than males.
o No difference was found between the % of males
and females watching the program.
o 33.2% depended on books for getting sexual
information, followed by the internet (32.4%), then
movies (19.7%) and finally magazines (5.9%).
Other sources constituted 23.9%
Role of TV in Health information:
• Smoking,
• Drug addiction,
• Family planning & Contraception,
• Sexual education,
• Danger of early marriage,
• Female Circumcision
The practice of Female Circumcision is one of the harmful
traditional practices that are deeply rooted in many
developing nations in Africa where it is being practiced in
about 26 African countries including Egypt. This practice
goes back in history to ancient times before Islam and
Christianity
Research studies have shown that social customs and
traditions were the most common mentioned reasons for
doing the operation. Female Circumcision is a deeply
rooted tradition in the Egyptian society. It is being
practiced by both Muslim and Christians (Copts).
Role of TV in Health information:
• Smoking,
• Drug addiction,
• Family planning & Contraception,
• Sexual education,
• Danger of early marriage,
• Female Circumcision
• Combating diseases (Shistosomiasis, Hepatitis,..),
• Immunization
o 27.7% corrected wrong information about sex
o 12.7% got information about sexual relations
during marriage
o Females were found to be more knowledgeable
about sex than males.
o No difference was found between the % of males
and females watching the program.
o 33.2% depended on books for getting sexual
information, followed by the internet (32.4%), then
movies (19.7%) and finally magazines (5.9%).
Other sources constituted 23.9%
The influence of the media content has caused to
change traditions and to change cultural manners due
to globalization. Since globalization is another term of
Americanization, the effect of the American media is
taking over other cultures, therefore countries located
in the Middle East or Africa are affected by what the
American media presents.
At this point, adults start to learn about sex, drugs,
and different religions beliefs and get introduced to
different cultures as well.
Adolescent fertility rate (AFR) is the average yearly number
of live births born to mothers aged 15 to 19 years per 1,000
girls aged 15 to 19 years
Current adolescent fertility rate is 51 per thousand ( 2001).
This means that fertility in the age group 15-19
compromises 7.2 per cent of the cumulative total fertility
rate. However, due to the young age structure in Egypt, the
number of children born to adolescent mothers
compromises 11 per cent of all live births (2000)
Among university students in Egypt, 26% of men
and 3% of women reported having sexual
intercourse at least once
There has been a resurgence of customary ('urfi)
marriage, whereby young people obtain a
clandestine marriage certificate to engage in
sexual relations.
it is estimated that 187 thousand births are born each
year to mothers aged less than 20 years
. In 2000, 11 per cent of adolescent girls in the age group
15-19 were already married
• 0.8 percent of adolescents have used contraceptives
before their first child
Television is the most effective medium for disseminating information