American Culture: The negative impact of media on the cultural development of children

This thesis examines the average Hungarian fourteen years old students’ knowledge about the United States ofAmerica. I will prove -through a test taken by several children in primary schools - that most of their information of American culture is coming from the media (advertisements, television, Internet and films) instead oftheir studies at school. I will also point that today’s syllabus of Geography and History does not prescribe enough lessons for teaching the geography and history of the United States of America, so children often supplement their knowledge unconsciously from the things they obtain from the media, and this information may often be inaccurate, subjective, deficient or sometimes even false.