ROLE OF RADIO IN SHAPING THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AMONG YOUTHS: A STUDY OF STUDENTS OF UNICROSS

The project research on “Role of Radio in Shaping the Social Behaviour Among Youths: A Study of Students of University of Cross River State (UNICROSS)” was designed to present a knowledgeable framework on how radio has shaped the behavioural pattern of youths, how radio has changed the worldview and relationship with their environment. The study sought to reveal the challenge youths face by constantly exposing themselves to explicit programmes on radio, to state clearly the reason for youths’ change of attitude and radio’s contribution to it, to establish the relevance of radio to the socialization process and why youth’s take the face value of information on radio without proper verification. The study adopted the perception media theory to explain the relationship between the media and the variables under study. A survey design was adopted for the study. Data for the study were obtained using structured open-ended questionnaire. In order to arrive at a good and accurate data, the researcher used simple random sampling. The study found out that radio has both negative and positive influence on youths. The study also found out that personality formation rate of student’s subscription is high and that the listening habit of youths is not controllable. It was therefore recommended amongst others that parents should pay extra attention to children’s exposure to radio programmes, especially during their formation years; that youths should be educated on the good and bad information on radio and how to act on them. Furthermore, government should constitute an independent censor board to regulate the quality and validity of programmes aired on radio, while youths are to avoid radio stations known for broadcasting programmes with adverse character formation