Political socialization refers to the process by which the central values of the political culture are transmitted from one generation to another. When looking at political socialization you need to examine the things in your life and the things that influenced you to look at a situation in a particular way. Some of us are rich in political socializations because of family input, money, and the proper eduaction, but some of us are not so lucky to have an enriched political socialization.
My own political socialization is very easily influenced by mainly two things. The media and the lack of family participation in government, with media as probably the number one influence on my political socialization. The media covers a large range of influences from music and movies, to the nightly news and the newspaper. It seems almost impossible for the media to not influence anyone's political socializations.
Up until I was in the sixth grade, I didn't even know what was out there in the world. In sixth grade we had to watch Channel One News, these 15 minutes every day played the biggest role in influencing my political socializations. The Channel One News team covered everything on a national level, the news in Washington D.C., to the news in other countries throughout the world. The news opened up my eyes and I knew that I wanted to learn more about politics and government, along with the situations over seas. From the stories that they did on the elections, to the way they showed how women were treated in Afghanistan. Channel One was a great source and I watched everyday that it aired from sixth grade up until I graduated high school. Channel One along with the local news, newspapers, and movies played the largest roles in me being the way that I am. Without the information that I obtained from these sources I wouldn't have been as informed as I was and most likely would care less about politics or anything that has to do with government.
