Today’s media is going downhill faster than ever before. It is filled with violence and abusive situations along with bad examples for the younger generations such as sex, drugs and alcohol. Media is influencing the children of America to push the limits of what is considered acceptable and okay. How is our country going to look 20 years from now if these shows are what is shaping the minds of our children? What has to happen in order to right our ways of living and teaching? How far is the media really willing to go? These issues with television are having an impact on morality, judgment and self-image.
How far is the media willing to go in order to get better ratings and views? According to Bernard Gert's book “Common Morality,” there is a "rule-based framework for understanding moral behavior... the first five rules are “don't kill, don't cause pain, don't disable, don't cause loss of freedom, don't deprive of pleasure,” Gert said. The second five are “more social.” Those are “don't deceive, keep your promises, don't cheat, obey the law, and do your duty” as required by your job or role."(Dehnart). Where are the rules that say to be responsible, and don't do things you will regret or wouldn't want your children or family to see?
Allowing sexual encounters to be shown on television is one of the unacceptable things that is considered acceptable in today's society. Having intimate moments on television is teaching children that it is ok for other people to see you and your body in intimate situations that were once considered sacred to you and your spouse. In certain instances it is also teaching them that sex before marriage is okay and that abstinence is irrelevant to this day and time because stars are “doing it” too. “Fami...
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...Roker, Natalie Morales - TODAY Show Video, News, Recipes, Health, Pets. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. .
"Values and Morals, Past and Present." By Jennifer Buckett. Tammy Cramblett, 27 Nov. 2013. Web. 27 Jan. 2014.
Ventre, Michael. "Just How Real Are Reality TV Shows? - Entertainment - Reality TV - TODAYshow.com." TODAYshow.com: Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, Al Roker, Natalie Morales - Video, News, Recipes, Health, Pets. N.p., 14 Apr. 2009. Web. 14 Jan. 2014. .
Wilson, Barbra J. "The Future of Children, Princeton - Brookings: Providing Research and Analysis to Promote Effective Policies and Programs for Children." Journals -Â The Future of Children. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Jan. 2014.
Television and other technology will continue to play a major role in society by delivering entertainment, creating national idols, and teaching morals and values to new generations. With each generation, the morals and values that are taught and accepted by society seem to be continuously more corrupt than those before them. This escalates to a wild and demoralized society. America’s society today is a complete different one from twenty years ago. Children are being taught morals and values through their exposure to the media, instead of by families, causing an inconsistency in ideas over generations. Until television broadcasting companies decide to implement wholesome values in programs, then television will continue to decrease society’s judgement on acceptance for morals.
viewing was Walt Disney and the Waltons compared to now family viewing is Sex in the City and Desperate Housewives. Some programming go too far in sexual content for the time slot allotted to them. Also, a major shift in language has led to a glorification of a sexual explicit lifestyle. The age that children are introduced to sex is lower and lower and all this has a heavy consequence for wh...
"The Future of Children, Princeton - Brookings: Providing Research and Analysis to Promote Effective Policies and Programs for Children." - The Future of Children -. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
“In 2005, out of 68% of TV shows that showed steamy sexual content, only 15% discussed risk and responsibility. And it’s not just movies and TV: Music, video games, and the Internet are also filled with sexually explicit, often-degrading messages that can shape kids’ attitudes about sex.” (greatschools.org)
Cunningham, Lawrence S., and John J. . Reich. Culture and Values. 7th ed. Vol. 1. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2006. Print.
Watching television programs with a high level of sexual content can shape the patterns of sexual behavior of a teenager. According to Brown (Brown, Greenberg, & Buerkel-Rothfuss, 1993) many teenagers are not able to receive useful information about sex from their parents, this is the reason they usually use the alternative way to find this information through the media. A Kaiser Family research from 1996 (Kaiser Family Foundation, 1996; 1998) shows that a quarter of all the young people have told that they have learned a lot about pregnancy from television shows and 40 percent of them have gotten ideas how to talk about sexual issues. In these modern times media is holding the power to influence the audience and most of all the youngest audience which is developing their view about sex.
The media, including television programming, cartoons, film, the news, as well as literature and magazines, is a very powerful and pervasive medium for expression. It can reach a large number of people and convey ideas, cultural norms, stereotypic roles, power relationships, ethics, and values. Through these messages, the mass media may have a strong influence on individual behavior, views, and values, as well as in shaping national character and culture. Although there is a great potential for the media to have a positive and affirming effect on the public and society at large, there may be important negative consequences when the messages conveyed are harmful, destructive, or violent.
The media has changed significantly over the past decades. Technology has modified our abilities to expand our communication network, and it allows companies to spread their commercials over many different continents. Research done by Roberts (1993) shows that adolescent and children are often very influenced by media that involves sexual or violent conduct. This research is based on media involving children and adolescents, however this does not eliminate the effect media has on adults (Singer & Singer, 2001, p. 269).
The television was once thought of as a wonderful invention. Time is proving that this invention is not living up to this grand idea. Since its invention in 1923, television is leaving a legacy of broken promises and failed expectations. Unfortunately, the most innocent in the American culture, the children have become the victims of this disappointment. The saddest part is that they are unaware of this impact until it’s too late. They do not realize the tragic consequences that await their adult lives. Television has had a detrimental, negative effect on the entire American culture.
Society today tends to fixate on and gravitate to television shows. Certain people even believe some of the families depicted on these shows are what a normal family should be. There are two types of television networks, broadcast and cable. Broadcast television stations are the channels that air for free, while cable you pay a subscription for. While television is a great platform for various issues and ideas, I believe that most broadcast television stations’ depictions do not accurately represent families are or what they go through. For example, while soap operas tend to be exceedingly sensational and over the top, most comedies gloss over the terrible things that may befall a family. Gritty crime shows and other dramas try to portray families more accurately, but still must follow certain rules. For this reason, dramas still tend to be unrealistic. The recent rise of popular cable television programs highlight key content regulations that contribute heavily to inaccurate family portrayals and ultimately, the broadcast networks’ decline. I believe these regulations on content are outdated.
A media panic, or often referred to as a moral panic, is a term that describes how the media is formulating issues amongst our society. Over time, our culture has shifted and caused many conclusions regarding media panics and the relationship between youth and the media culture. Based upon previous knowledge and course readings, I have drawn a very disturbing conclusion; this being that no matter what age, children are willing or non-willingly now under surveillance to determine what kind of role media is playing in their lives. With what I have gathered from the readings and class lectures, most authors strongly believe that different forms of media directly influence children's thinking or perception. What authors and researchers continue to imply is that there is a direct correlation to what youth today see in different forms of media and their behaviours.
...licly exploit, suffer and humiliate themselves and the rest of us can just sit back and laugh at their idiocy what is this saying about society today? Where do our morals and principles truly lie? Perhaps we deem this type of behaviour acceptable because it is packaged up and shoved through our screens. But the fact is it is not acceptable, especially if people are really going to mimic the behaviour and attitudes shown on Reality Television shows. If people are going to cheat and lie, pick fights with whoever will react and intentionally exploit the privacy of others, society is headed towards one steep, downward spiral. Should “Reality” Television not be portraying themes and behaviour from reality itself, instead of the other way round? If that is not the case then Reality Television is becoming less and less “Television” and essentially more just our “Reality”.
In American culture, the effects of violence and the dangers of recreational sex have caused huge controversy especially in young people. It is the nature of people in modern society to believe that sex can just be done for fun and love is not required. Particularly sex presented in TV programs teaches children that they can have sex with as many partners as they want without consequences for the irresponsible behavior. The fact that STDs, sex education, and birth control are rarely mentioned in TV programs is very disappointing. Children and young adults need to be educated on certain issues and not be encouraged to behave carelessly, because they will be forced to suffer the consequences eventually (Yeghiazaryan 8). Likewise, television is a business and it thrives off of major themes involving violence and sex. The television companies strive to maximize their viewers by entertaining them, therefore, “The TV industry is not concerned with issues of quality of programs and social responsibilities. Violence on TV is used as a tool to generate large audiences that can be sold to advertisers” (Yeghiazaryan 9). Television producers believe that violent scenes with loud music hold the viewers’ attention and improve commercial value. This is why it is more ideal to have programs that consist of violent actions. As a matter
“The media may be especially important for young people as they are developing their own sexual beliefs and patterns of behavior and as parents and schools remain reluctant to discuss sexual topics (p.26)”.
Media technologies are becoming an important aspect of today’s society. Each and every day, people interact with media of many different forms. Media is commonly defined as being a channel of communication. Radio, newspapers, and television are all examples of media. It is impossible to assume that media is made up of completely unbiased information and that the media companies do not impose their own control upon the information being supplied to media users. Since many people use media very frequently, it is obvious to assume that it has affects on people. According to the text book Media Now, "media effects are changes in knowledge, attitude, or behavior that result from exposure to the mass media," (386). This leaves us with many unanswered questions about media and its influences. This paper will look at how the effects of media are determined and explore the main affects on today’s society - violence, prejudice, and sexual behavior.