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effects of popular culture on youths
effects of violent media on children
effects of violent media on children
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Violence on Television
Today’s society is heavily influenced by television. The violence disrupts a child’s learning process and can alter the moral beliefs that an older person has. Children view more violence on Saturday mornings than any other time. The cartoons aimed at little children influence youngsters to mimic violent acts because their parents do not fully explain the effects of the stunts. It is pathetic that in such a technology based society, such a simple thing as television can have a negative effect on people.
Before Television, Americans followed simple laws, believed heavily in God, were honest, and never locked their doors because they felt safe and were happy to help someone in need. TV gradually turned us into the society we have today. We break laws as if there are no consequences, many people don’t believe in God, or even attend a religious service. We lock our houses, cars, and anything worth money, because we are scared of theft. We leave people in trouble to fend for themselves, we do not have the common courtesy to help anyone. (Wheeler 84) Liquor, drugs, sex, and suicide prematurely dazzle millions of people as they see it on TV. (Wheeler 23)
Violence has been entering Prime Time TV. John Grisham’s “The Client” as shown on CBS shows two corpses and two murders in on the first 15 minutes. (Silver 2) This goes to show that the average American child will have watched 8000 depictions of murder by the time they finish 6th grade. (Abelard 1) Abelard goes on to say, If you think wall to wall violence on TV has no effect, then why would manufacturers purchase 30 second blocks to advertise their products? (2) Mark Silver says “Raunchy family fare is nothing new.”(2) He also reports that sex is gingerly mentioned in the media. There is soap-opera sex, talk-show sex subjects, and many more sex crimes on the news. Children ages 10 to 16 were polled and say that the television is the true sex educator in our day. As many as six out of ten agree that sex on television urges peers their age to have sex at a younger age. (2)
Vulgarity also rules prime time. Many shows depict sexual situations and innuendoes throughout the whole show. Sexually frank programs such as “Beverly Hills 90210”, “Roseanne” and “Ellen” are targeted to adults, but are viewed by children. A Solution to this problem would be to shift their plots to being more ...
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... there. No other thing in history has had such a great influence on children, teens and adults. The generation now, compared to the one 50 years ago, has changed just from the technology presented to us. It is hard to imagine what the future will hold with such technological advances on equal to that of the TV.
Works Cited
Abelard. Children and Television Violence. 23 Oct 2000 < http://www.abelard.org/tv/tv.htm >
Children and TV Violence. 23 Oct 2000 <http://www.parenthoodweb.com/articles/phw247.htm>
Facts about Media Violence and Effects on the American Family. 18 Oct 2000 <http://www.babybag.com/
Articles.amaviol.html>
Media Watch Online- Killer Entertainment. 18 Oct 2000 < http://www.mediawatch.com/dukenuken.html >
Silver, Marc. Sex and Violence on TV. 22 Oct 2000 <http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/sex&viol.htm>
Swenson, Gena. Violence on television: A class project surprised sociology student. 18 Oct 2000 < http://
www.cyfc.umn.edu/ Media/tvviol.html>
Wheeler, Joe L. Remote Controlled. Hagerstown: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1993.
Winn, Marie. The Plug-In Drug. New York: Viking Penguin Inc, 1985.
For a long time now the debate has been, and continues to be, as to whether or not violence on television makes children more violent. As with all contentious issues there are both proponents and detractors. This argument has been resurrected in the wake of school shootings, most notably Columbine and Erfurt, Germany; and acts of random violence by teenagers, the murders of two Dartmouth professors. Parents, teachers, pediatricians, child psychiatrists, and FCC Chairmen William Kennard and former Vice President Al Gore say violent TV programming contribute in large part to in violence in young people today. However, broadcasters and major cable TV providers like Cox Communication say that it is the parent’s fault for not making it clear to their kids as what they may or may not watch on TV. The major TV networks and cable providers also state it is the TV industry’s fault as well for not regulating what is shown on TV. So who is the guilty party in this argument of whether or not TV violence influences of the behavior young people in today’s society?
When the first television was first successfully shown, people thought that this invention brought people to a new age, and that the television was a huge benefit to humanity. Unfortunately, since then the Golden Era of television's moral and standards have fallen drastically. We are far away from the days when Lassie and the town of Mayberry ruled the airways and were the talk of America. What was once intended as a benefit for society has become its detrimental fall, now instead of upholding American society's standards, television is working to corrupt the very society it intended to help.
Television plays a big role on violence. Most of us watch television daily. And what do we see daily on television? The news, about our world surrounded by violence? Movies, that only show shootings, death, and more violence? Even cartoons are violent, like the Simpsons, south park, and even Tom and Jerry, shows specially for our young audience. ...
addition the average American child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television including 16,000 murders before the age of 18 (DuRant, 445). Polls show that three-quarters of the public find television entertainment too violent. When asked to select measures that would reduce violent crime “a lot”, Americans chose restrictions on television violence more often than gun control. Media shows too much violence that is corrupting the minds children, future leaders of our society. In a study of population data for various countries sh...
Huston, A.C., et al 1992 Big World, Small Screen: The Role of Television in American Society. Lincoln Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press
Consider the trajectory of sitcoms: strong and wholesome family values once promoted in past shows such as Leave it to Beaver and Andy Griffith have developed into the semi-dysfunctional and carefree family values of the present day. Currently, countless television shows, like Enterage and Weeds, both glamorize sexual promiscuity and frequently present illegal acts such as drug usage as acceptable (Bednarski). Movie characters, as well as the stars that portray them, disrespect authority and believe they can remain above the parameters of the law (Szaflik). On any given weeknight, a television viewer can tune into the immoral antics of reality television as well as the taste...
In today’s media it is almost impossible to find a show that does not contain some sort of explicit sexual material. Over 70% of television shows include some sort of sexual content (http://lubbockonline.com/stories/111005/nat_111005043.shtml). Adolescents are starting to engage in sexual activities at earlier ages and they do not understand that the media does not accurately portray the risks and dangers associated with having sex. With this adolescents are also becoming more interested and curious to learn about sex and their bodies. The rise of access to the internet and ease of access to pornographic videos at home has been linked to the decline in sexual crimes (http://mises.org/daily/3080). With all of the positives and negative linked to sex and the media it is extremely hard to decide whether it is good or bad for society.
Whether one use television to figure out the weather forecast for the week, or to catch up on one’s favorite soap operas, television is the best way to communicate with Americans. It's said that the average American spends about anywhere from four to six hours a day watching television. Many of these viewers are children or teens who will avail themselves to more adult shows. “With only 14 percent of the networks' schedules devoted to children, young people often resort to adult programs that, more often than not, feature adult topics such as violence, drunkenness, and promiscuity” (Chamberlin, Suzanne). Even with 14% of television devoted to children those shows can show different types of violence. These violent shows can viewing of cruelty and brutality pays a toll on the minds of its viewers and can sometimes carry the following effects: Copycat violence, exaggerated fears, and last but not least desensitization to violence. A lot of things seen by children on tv is often repeated in the real world, because they have no sense of morals at a young age, or even teens who lack the ability to think for themselves and are almost peer pressured into doing something that their colleagues told them to do. Like the incident on April 25, 2001.
By the age of 18, the average American has seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 40,000 murders. There are a few potential explanations why people are compelled to watch TV brutality. One of the justifications is the normality or familiarity of disorder. With real life rampage going on close and far from home, TV aggression is a way to cope. If the world was not as cruel as it is today, TV destructiveness would not be as prevalent because it would seem odd to viewers. In other words, the vicious tendencies humankind have lead to the prevalence of TV bloodshed.
A statistic from the same research shows that in the typical television show there are more than three sexual related scenes per hour. As it is said in the introduction of the report the average teenager is spending more than twenty hours per week in watching television (Nielsen, 1998), so this is why television programs are influencing mostly on younger viewers.
Society has been bombarded with violence from the beginning of time. These concerns about violence in the media have been around way before television was even introduced. Nevertheless, there have been numerous studies, research, and conferences done over the years on television, but the issue still remains. Researchers do acknowledge that violence portrayed on television is a potential danger. One issue is clear though, our focus on television violence should not take attention away from other significant causes of violence in our country such as: drugs, inadequate parenting, availability of weapons, unemployment, etc. It is hard to report on how violent television effects society, since television affects different people in different ways. There is a significant problem with violence on television that we as a society are going to have to acknowledge and face.
Television violence causes destructive behavior in children, however; television can be a powerful influence to young viewers in our society. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming are very violent. Many researchers like scientists, pediatricians, and child researchers in many countries have studied to find out what it is about television violence that makes it such a big affect on the way kids act and behave. Sometimes, children think that is a normal thing in our real life, by watching only a single violent program, which can increase aggressiveness on children and become violent, aggressive, and vicious.
By the time a child reaches the age of one, they see about 200,000 acts of violence on television. (Nakaya, 3). The Media has been becoming more and more violent over the years. A poll in an issue of Times Magazine, from 2005, showed that 66 percent of Americans think that there is an abundant amount of graphic acts of violence on televisions (Nakaya, 18). People are exposed to thousands of acts of violence through video games, television, and movies. Many studies show that media violence increases violent behavior in in humans. Studies show, violent video games, and graphic television have physiological effects on children. The government has very few regulations on media violence. Some people believe the government shouldn’t limit content because others might be insulted by its material. Media violence is such a broad topic and has such a large presence in daily lives, so we cannot simple get rid of it. The Federal Communications Commission stipulates, “By the time most children begin the third grade, they will have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of a television set.” Even though the government shouldn’t censor the media, Media violence is becoming a serious issue because it is becoming more violent, it makes people behave violently, and it has little regulations.
Television violence, and media violence in general, has been a controversial topic for several years. The argument is whether young children are brainwashed into committing violent real-world crimes because of violent and pugnacious behavior exposed in mass media. In his article “No Real Evidence for TV Violence Causing Real Violence”, Jonathan Freedman, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and author of “Media Violence and Its Effect on Aggression: Assessing the Scientific Evidence”, discusses how television violence, claimed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), does not cause real-world aggression among adolescents. The FCC determined to restrict violent television programming to late night hours only because their “scientific research” proves of increasing aggression among young viewers (Freedman Par. 2). Freedman goes on to explain that the FCC has no substantial scientific evidence stating that there is a correlation between fictional violence and real-world aggression among young audiences. He has completed research in 1984 and 2002 on the relationship between media violence to actual acts of violence on the street. Because he has completed research projects related to this topic, Freedman’s statistical evidence shows that there is a reduction in youth violence and it essentially does not cause real-world crimes (Freedman Par. 1). The FCC continues to claim that exposure to media violence does in fact increase aggression, and yet their readers continue to believe their fabrications. Freedman argues that people who research media violence tend to disregard and omit the opposing facts. No one type of violence is more effective on aggression than another type. There is no evidence showi...
Most American's would agree that children watch a lot of TV. It's common to see a child sitting in front of the TV on a Saturday morning with their Coco Pebbles watching their favorite superhero. This sounds harmless enough. However, many parents and teachers across the country are worried about the cartoons their children are watching. They feel that the cartoons have become too violent and are having negative long-term effects on children. It is common to see young boys pretending to shoot one another, while jumping on the couch and hiding in closets as a sort of make-believe fort. But parents say that children are learning these behaviors from cartoons and imitating them. Others however, disagree, they say that violence in cartoons does not effect children and that children need this world of fantasy in their lives. They say that children would show these same behaviors regardless of the content of the cartoons they watch.