Television and Parents are Corrupting Our Youth

Television and Parents are Corrupting Our Youth

What is the first thing people usually do when they first go home? For many, head for the recliner and grab the remote to see what’s on television. It’s a daily routine for most people. Since the invention of television, adverse effects such as obesity and increased violence in the emulation of television acts has been displayed in children. But who is to blame, the Television or the children’s parents’? Many would say that the parents are to blame. Others would blame the television. I blame both. The parents should monitor how much and what their children view on television, but the television invented the v-chip, making the parents think that it’s ok that their kids stayed glued to the television.

The v-chip was an invention placed into television sets to allow parents to block out what they don’t think is appropriate for their children to watch (http://www.tvguidelines.org/). The parents then forget to monitor the amounts of television their children watch because they were just worried that their kids might see something naughty. The kids come in after school, grab a bag of cookies and a soda, and they’re set for the rest of the afternoon. Before the parents know what hit them, their children are fat and lazy. They just sit on the couch and practically refuse to move.

In my opinion, the television has been one of the reasons that children have become corrupted as well. They are watching all of these different shows and mimicking what they see. For example, a twelve year old boy is watching “Jackass” unattended. Sure, it is a funny show, but how will their parents react when they find out that their child has been killed by something they copied off of a TV show? Especially one entitled “Jackass.” Several cases as such have popped up since the show first premiered. In Albuquerque, New Mexico a fifteen year old boy was killed by a car trying to do his own “jackass” trick (http://www.channelonenews.com/articles/2002/12/20/ap_jackass/.).

Though “Jackass” is still a threat to our youth, I think there is still a larger problem. Due to the rising popularity of video game systems, television has become almost obsolete to our youth. But they still have to hook their Playstation or XBOX to a TV. In turn, they purchase games they saw advertised on a commercial.