Can TV be a Good Teacher?

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Can TV be a Good Teacher?

Many people today blame television and media in general when something bad happens, for example shootings in the schools. However, should television take all the blame for effects and changes in American youth? Television shows crimes and killing, but television can also teach young children how to behave in the right way.

Television can not influenced all of us, but it can definitely influence young children, who are, “curious and easily influenced. They tend to mimic and repeat what they hear and see on television without knowing of right and wrong” (Simmons 149). These influences depend on what kinds of shows children are watching. Parents are the one controlling theirs children, but without parental supervision children will watch what pleases them; that is were the problem lies.

For example, if a child is watching a movies that contain violent acts, that can have some bad side effects. One of these effects can be carelessness. The child can become less worried about others and what is going to happen to them; they may not recognize it as violence. A study by Cullingford reports, “when people were shown killings and then heavily prompted, most did not think of it as violence. The frightening truth was that ‘objectionable content’ had become so acceptable that it was invisible” (Simmons 150). The other effect can be violent behavior. Child may want to become violent, because then they will be “feared” by every one, just like the people that they see in television. Berkowitz concluded, from his experiment, “ television violence does arouse aggressive behavior, especially if viewers believes that aggression is justified” (Simons 150). Another effect can be revenge. This is probably the biggest message that violent movies are sending to children. In almost all of the movies we see people killing one another just to avenge someone that was either killed or harmed by a “bad buy,” or they themselves were harmed. This may influence children that have been humiliated in schools or molested. At some point, they may explode with rage to get revenge for what had happened to them.

On the other hand, if a child is watching educational channels consisting of historic programs or other kind of educational programs, the child can be influenced in several good ways. First, the child can become smarter. If a child is watching educational programs, they will definitely learn something.

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