Does Pop Culture Teach Immoral Values?

Does Pop Culture Teach Immoral Values? (sidebar)

Citation: "Does Pop Culture Teach Immoral Values? (sidebar)." Issues and Controversies, 12 Mar. 1999. FACTS.com. Facts On File News Services. [Name of school or library], [location], [state]. 7 Dec. 2004 .

Although social conservatives have traditionally been the harshest critics of popular culture, people from across the political spectrum in recent years have taken aim at the morals and values that they see depicted in music, television, movies and video games. In particular, many critics are angered over the high levels of violence, sex and sensationalism in the media, which they say undermines parents ' efforts to raise moral children.

The daily diet of violence and sex that the media feeds to children poses a serious risk to the future of the nation, writes Sisela Bok in Mayhem: Violence as Public Entertainment (1998). "Is it alarmist or merely sensible to ask about what happens to the souls of children nurtured, as in no past society, on images of rape, torture, bombings, and massacres that are channeled into their homes from infancy?" asks Bok. Before finishing elementary school, the average child will see some 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television, according to a study by

They rebuff claims that the culture is creating an immoral generation of young people and note that most studies show that parents have more influence on children 's morals and behavior than any other factor. Parents, rather than media companies, must take responsibility for monitoring the shows and music that children consume, they say. They note that parents will be gaining greater control over television programming with the recent advent of the v-chip. The v-chip is technology that allows parents to block television shows that are deemed inappropriate for