A Study to Assess the Impact of Multimedia Usage on Behavioural Patterns of the Pre-University College Students in Selected Colleges at Mangalore

People use mass media in varying ways and for various purposes. But it is fact that not all the purposes of media are positive gratifications. Some are good and some are not. That is how the media works. However, we can see that media continue to give messages to us as we participate in them. Moreover, some messages or values are rubbed on to us, whether we like them or not. Media education is learning to dissect and identify them. The developing child in the modern society is typically introduced to the mass media at home and it is at home that he is most likely to use several varieties to print and broadcast media. By the time he reaches adolescence, he is plausible to assume that his patterns of media use have been shaped by social influence at home, particularly his parents. Entertainment is something everybody looks forward to. There are many ways to entertain those who need leisure and pleasure. Mass media is one of the most popular entertainments; one has the greatest invention of humankind. It has found place in every home in India. Excessive watching of television programmes has an unhealthy effect on children. Television has become quite popular among all ages. It provides variety for all tastes. On the other hand, television has an adverse effect on children. They get addicted to television. The scenes of sex, crime and violence in our films and programmes have adverse effects on children. Such scenes cause adverse effects on their thought life and work life. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of multimedia usage on behavioural patterns of the pre-university college students in selected colleges at Mangalore. The research approach used for the study was descriptive survey approach. The conceptual framework was based on David Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory (learning styles) Model. The study was carried out in three pre- university colleges of Mangalore. The sample comprised of 120 students who were undergoing their pre- university course in science, arts and commerce as their main stream of study. Samples were selected by using multistage disproportionate stratified random sampling technique. Data was collected by administering tools like demographic proforma, survey questionnaire, and behavioural rating scale. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results of this study show that majority (62.5%) of the students are showed mild behaviour. About 30.8% of the students showed moderate behaviour and 6.7% of the students showed severe behavioural changes due to the influence of multimedia usage.