Television violence Essay

What’s on Television? This is a common inquiry of today’s coevals. A individual might answer with one of the followers ; intelligence. situation comedies. sketchs. athleticss. or any other assorted plans. Is this what is truly on telecasting? Take a closer expression. What is systematically in these plans? Violence. force is what’s on telecasting. Expostulations may originate from this statement because of violent desensitisation. but that does non alter the fact that most shows contain force.

“In 1949. a mere 2 % of American places had telecasting sets. This increased to 64 % by 1955. 93 % by the mid-60’s. and 98 % today” ( Hughes and Hasbrouck 3 ) . With so many telecastings in places today and working parents ; “TV has become the closest and most changeless comrade for American children” ( Zuckerman 1 ) . U. S. kids begin watching telecasting at a really early age and are frequent viewing audiences by the clip that they are two or three old ages old. The sum of clip that American kids spend watching Television is amazing: an norm of four hours a twenty-four hours. 28 hours a hebdomad. 2. 400 hours a twelvemonth. about 18. 000 hours by the clip they graduate from high school. In comparing. they spend a mere 13. 000 hours in school. from kindergarten through 12th class. American kids spend more clip watching Television than any other activity. besides sleeping.

With all this clip in forepart of the telecasting. how much force do kids watch? A typical kid will witness 8. 000 slayings and 100. 000 other Acts of the Apostless of force before he or she leaves simple school ( Hughes and Hasbrouck 4 ) . Peoples don’t recognize the sum of force on telecasting. With improved particular effects. violent scenes are more realistic and grotesque which attributes to the popularity of violent shows. Besides. several beginnings indicate that five violent Acts of the Apostless per hr occur during premier clip telecasting and 20 to 25 violent Acts of the Apostless occur during Saturday forenoon sketchs.

Many psychologists agree that sing telecasting force causes an addition in aggression particularly in immature kids. Social scientists performed surveies to find if a causal nexus between sing force and aggression exists. Bandura performed a research lab survey that showed four groups of kids a different movie. One group watched physical aggressive behaviour rewarded. another group watched physical aggressive behaviour punished. the 3rd group watched no aggressive behaviour. and the concluding group did non watch a movie at all. Bandura concludes that kids learn to move violently because they mimic behaviour that they see being rewarded ( Primavera and Herron 3 ) .

There are three primary types of harmful effects associated with sing force. First. kids learn aggressive attitudes and behaviours. Accepting force as a manner to work out jobs. leads to aggressive attitudes and behaviour. Television force is attractive. effectual. and the preferable solution to most struggles. “It is believed that people learn by copying what they see. and that kids are peculiarly receptive to such learning” ( Primavera and Herron 1 ) . When kids see that force is the solution to jobs. they have this attitude when they play ensuing in more aggression. Back in 1940. when telecastings were scarce. “the seven top jobs in public schools were identified by instructors as speaking out of bend. masticating gum. doing noise. running in the halls. cutting in line. dress-code misdemeanors. and littering. By 1980. the seven top jobs had been identified as self-destruction. assault. robbery. colza. drug maltreatment. intoxicant maltreatment. and pregnancy” ( Zuckerman 2 ) .

The addition of telecasting screening and telecastings in places magnified jobs in school over a period of clip. Second. kids become desensitized to existent universe force. Peoples who watch so many violent Acts of the Apostless see force as a normal and recognized manner of life. If kids watch a batch of force. they may non be distressed by existent life Acts of the Apostless of force and were less speedy to step in or to name for aid when they saw younger kids contending or playing destructively. Third. viewers’ develop a fright of going a victim of force which is besides known as the “Mean World Syndrome” ( Kalin 5 ) . Heavy viewing audiences of telecasting turn up believing the universe is a “mean” topographic point. These grownups are non normally violent or aggressive. but they feel the demand to protect themselves with locks. dismaies. and other protective methods.

Is telecasting force the lone ground children’s aggression has increased? Childhood aggression is the consequence of multiple and synergistic factors. including child dispositional factors ( e. g. . disposition. intelligence ) and environmental factors ( e. g. . place and parenting. school. vicinity ) . Early socialisation experiences shape future socialisation experiences. For illustration. if a kid is rewarded by his parents for early aggressive behaviour. this kid is more likely to work out jobs with equals with aggressive solutions. Parents have a enormous influence in their child’s life. Many people believe that hapless parenting is the cause of increased aggressive behaviour and that this aggression can be reduced through good parenting. While rearing is an of import factor. the grounds indicates that violent media besides is a factor in violent behaviour.

Children in America watch an inordinate sum of violent telecasting. Drawn-out exposure to violent stuff can do a kid become bewildered and have a greater misgiving towards others. It could even do the kid have an awkward attack to adult jobs. Television force can destruct a immature child’s head. and the effects may be everlasting. While there are those who do non look to be negatively effected. it does promote violent behaviour in many. A Television observer commented. “Well. we merely have one truly violent show on our web. and that is ‘NYPD Blue. ’ I’ll admit that is bad. but it is merely one dark a week” ( Grossman 4 ) . How would that observer experience if person said. “Well. I merely beat my married woman in forepart of the childs one dark a week” ( Grossman 4 ) ? How can we cut down the effects of telecasting force? This will necessitate a better telecasting evaluation system. the usage of the V-chip. and parents taking an active function in testing what their kids ticker. This will non be an easy undertaking.

Parents have a really hard function in this solution. In order to cut down the effects of telecasting force. parents have to cut down the sum of telecasting kids watch. This is a hard undertaking because one-quarter of kindergartners. more than tierce of grade-schoolers. and more than half of high-school young person have telecasting sets in their sleeping rooms ( Strasburger and Donnerstein 7 ) . The end is still gettable. but parents have to use the particular characteristics on telecasting sets. The newer telecastings come with parental locks. This means a watchword is required to see certain channels or to turn on the telecasting. This is an first-class manner to cut down the sum of telecasting kids watch. If parents control channels and turning on the telecasting. than they know how much and what their kids ticker. Families that don’t have newer telecastings will hold a tougher clip commanding the telecasting.

Some solutions for these households might be to put in a system in the family where the telecasting stays off until the kids finish their prep and jobs. Another solution might be to put up a reading/television plan. Fore every hr a kid reads. honor them with a half hr of telecasting or allow them pick out a film of their pick. If parents have clip. coviewing is a great manner to filtrate media force and educate kids at the same clip ( Strasburger and Donnerstein 7 ) . This allows parents to explicate any unusual scenes or reply any inquiries kids have. However. a recent study found that 44 % of kids or adolescents watch something different when they are entirely than when sing with their parents ( Strasburger and Donnerstein 7 ) . This means when parents watch telecasting with their childs. they cut down the sum of violent plans their childs ticker.

However. there are some jobs with these solutions. Say you are a parent who does everything in your power to command your kid from sing force on telecasting. Now your neighbour. who has a kid the same age as yours. doesn’t care how much or what their kid tickers. How are you to halt our kid from watching violent plans when he or she is over at that place? This is the most ambitious quandary parents face. I do non cognize the solution. The lone thing that comes to mind is a Bible found in the bible. Joshua 24:15 “… . as for me and my house. we will function the Lord. ” There is nil you can make about your neighbours. but in your house. telecasting force will non be tolerated.

Media evaluations aid parents in judging which plans are suited for childs. The intent of media evaluations is to label plans with the sort of content they contain. Media evaluations work manus in manus with the V-chip. The V-chip is a device in telecastings that parents can utilize to filtrate out violent or sexual plans. A survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania studies that. “84 per centum of parents say they ‘strongly’ or ‘somewhat’ favor the V-chip engineering and more than half say they would utilize the V-chip ‘often’ if they had it” ( Lamb1 ) . However. there are some jobs with media evaluations. First. nine out of 10 parents. who knew about the evaluation system. could non accurately place the age evaluations harmonizing to the Annenberg Public Policy Center information ( Kunkel 3 ) . Second. several plans that contained force did non have the “V” evaluation. Therefore. parents utilizing the V-chip to filtrate out force would hold small success because of misbranded plans.

Unless media evaluations can systematically and accurately label the content that poses the greatest hazard of injury to kids. such systems can non offer much aid for parents. With the current evaluation system now. parents have to cognize how to construe several different codifications for telecasting plans. films. picture games. and music. There needs to be serious consideration to set up a cosmopolitan evaluation system that will cover all media types ( Kunkel 4 ) . There have already been remarks by media functionaries who claim. “it can’t be done” when the construct of a unvarying evaluation system is raised. The “can’t be done” chorus was heard when the V-chip thought foremost surfaced. but that was evidently proven incorrect ( Kunkel 4 ) . In order for the V-chip to work efficaciously. media evaluation systems need to better drastically. and parents have to utilize this engineering. Some may state that media evaluations violate the First Amendment. How can informing people of plan content be a misdemeanor of free address?

The solutions to the jobs of kids and telecasting force aren’t easy. There are many factors to see and many people to convert. This crisis will ne’er travel off and go on to decline as the old ages go by. However. there are steps to forestall exposure of such things to kids.

Plants Cited

Grossman. Dave. “We Are Training Our Childs to Kill. ” Saturday Evening Post. 271. 5 ( Sep/Oct99 ) 54-59. Academic Search FullTEXT. EBSCOhost. Columbia Basin Coll. Lib. . Pasco WA. 5 Feb. 2002. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. epnet. com/ehost/login. hypertext markup language.

Hughes. Jan N. and Jan E. Hasbrouck. “Television Violence: Deductions for Violence Prevention. ” School Psychology Review. 25. 2 ( 1996 ) 134-151. Academic Search FullTEXT. EBSCOhost. Columbia Basin Coll. Lib. . Pasco WA. 5 Feb. 2002. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. epnet. com/ehost/login. hypertext markup language.

Kalin. Carla. “Does Television Harm Youth? ” September 1. 1994. 5. Feb. 2002 hypertext transfer protocol: //interact. uoregon. edu/MediaLit/FA/MLArticleFolder/kalin. hypertext markup language

Kunkel. Dale Dr. “Rating Entertainment. ” FDCH Congressional Testimony. ( July01 ) . Academic Search FullTEXT. EBSCOhost. Columbia Basin Coll. Lib. . Pasco WA. 5 Feb. 2002. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. epnet. com/ehost/login. hypertext markup language.

Lamb. Gregory M. “Block that Television Sexual activity and Violence. ” Christian Science Monitor. 91. 152 ( July99 ) 13. Academic Search FullTEXT. EBSCOhost. Columbia Basin Coll. Lib. . Pasco WA. 5 Feb. 2002. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. epnet. com/ehost/login. hypertext markup language.

Primavera. Louis H. and William G. Herron. “The Effect of Viewing Television Violence on Aggression. ” International Journal of Instructional Media. 23. 2 ( 1996 ) 134-151. Academic Search FullTEXT. EBSCOhost. Columbia Basin Coll. Lib. . Pasco WA. 5 Feb. 2002. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. epnet. com/ehost/login. hypertext markup language.

Schroeder. Ken. “TV Teaches Violence. ” Education Digest. 64. 1 ( Sep98 ) 74-76. Academic Search FullTEXT. EBSCOhost. Columbia Basin Coll. Lib. . Pasco WA. 5 Feb. 2002. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. epnet. com/ehost/login. hypertext markup language.

Strasburger. Victor C. and Edward Donnerstein. “Children. Adolescents. and the Media: Issues and Solutions. ” Pediatrics. 103. 1 ( Jan99 ) 129-140. Academic Search FullTEXT. EBSCOhost. Columbia Basin Coll. Lib. . Pasco WA. 5 Feb. 2002. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. epnet. com/ehost/login. hypertext markup language.

Zuckerman. Mortimer B. “The Victims of Television Violence. ” U. S. News & A ; World Report. 115. 5 ( Aug93 ) 64. Academic Search FullTEXT. EBSCOhost. Columbia Basin Coll. Lib. . Pasco WA. 5 Feb. 2002. hypertext transfer protocol: //www. epnet. com/ehost/login. hypertext markup language.