ANALYSIS OF THE IMPACT OF SCREEN MEDIA VERSUS LIVE ART ON CHILDREN’S CREATIVITY AND AGGRESSION. THE PAMI METHOD

Abstract

In today's environment children are subject to multiple multimedia impacts. From the first months of theirlife they are exposed to various screen media and that process accelerates with each successive generation.Electronic communications affects more actively all spheres of life and increasingly taking precedence over liveinteractions between people. The impact of screen media on children's development has been widely discussed.According to some authors screen technologies open new learning opportunities for children and equip them withskills and knowledge they will need in the future. Other studies show that increased exposure time to screentechnologies has negative impacts on children's behavior and might provoke cognitive and developmental languagedisorders. This project aims to add a new point to the overall view of the impact of screen media versus live creativeinteraction on children's creativity and aggression. The experiment was conducted by a team of psychologist, artand music therapists by using a new Psychological, Art and Music Intervention Method (PAMI). The participantswere 9 children aged 6 to 11 years, users of the social services at the Community Support Centre in Elin PelinMunicipality. Quantitative and qualitative indicators were used in the data analysis, as well as the observations andspecific expertise of the team that carried out the study. The results have indicated that contact based on art andactive imagination provokes sublimation of aggression, as well as integration of existing conflicts and traumas. Inthis hypothesis children tend to express their fears and wishes, make connections and revisions of past traumaticevents in their own unique way. On the other hand, when the interaction is rooted in screen media, the children arenot willing to engage in a dialogue and their personal presence is limited. The children seem absorbed by the screen,not using their imagination and creativity. The role of passive recipients significantly limits the children’s relation tothemselves and their past traumas, which makes them absent, irritable and passively aggressive. In conclusion, thefindings of the study show that live art promotes creativity and coping with aggression, whereas screen media blockcreativity thus leading to increased irritability and aggression in children. The use of the Psychological, Art andMusic Intervention Method (PAMI) might help professionals to identify quickly and non-traumatically the problemareas in children’s lives and opens up new opportunities to work with their trauma and fears. The method can besuccessfully use for diagnosis and assessment in both individual and group work. We hope that this study will laythe foundations for future research in the field