TV is NOT a Medium of Education for Children

The field of technology has seen continuous growth and advancement in society and has changed gears and is now heading for a road less traveled. The road, as bumpy and winding as it seems, as following a path dictated by television and all the powerful media. The television requires visual perception and is an inactive form of gratification for viewers. The hardest hits are the young children. Children shows like cartoon have positive and negative effects on the children, and the parents should not let their children adopt the television scenario as the guide for living their lives.

Television shows, such as cartoon have greatly influenced our lived to an unknown extent. The cartoon shows are very popular among children. "American children watch an average of three to four hours of television daily" (Johnson). Television can be great avenue of influence in children. Television viewing in today is different from the past because there is greater technology, which allows for the availability of sources to everyone. Many television programs such as cartoon still contain violence for the young viewers because many people forget the effects and consequences of the violence obsereved children. "By the age 18, the average American child will have viewed about 200,000 acts of violence on the television alone" (Something you should know about media violence and media literacy).

When the children wants to see the cartoon, there are many channels for them to choose from. Television programs are available to everyone, because with a touch of the remote control one can turn on/off the television. The cartoon scenarios are watched by children. Children like to fantasize about being in the superhero role. Many children adopt the characteristics o the cartoon and use it in their real life, and children become more aggressive, violent and they begin to imitate the character of the violent shows. "According to the National Television Violence Study, 40 percent of violent incidents on TV are imitated by characters portrayed as attractive role models for children, such as heroes" (Seppa). The children like to imagine that they are superheroes with power, and recreate the scenarios with other children. During this playacting, incidents can happen causing tremendous injury to the children. Most cartoon features show the heroes using their powers to protect people and the world. Children assume that they can be just likes the character, which is a bad message because the characters are animated and created by people.