FREE ESSAY ON TELEVISION AND ITS EFFECTS

TELEVISION AND ITS EFFECTS

English 111, Section 06 23 October 1999 ??TV: The Other Parent?? Is it parents?? fault or
children??s that they sit hours in front their big glowing box mesmerized, and learning
violent behavior as a means of relating to others. The truth about television violence
and children has been shown. Studies have been carried out and all the results point to
the same conclusion: Violence on Television affects the behavior of children who are
watching it. In fact, violence on TV causes children to be increasingly violent, and the
effects could be life-long. ??Some psychologists and psychiatrists believe that continued
exposure to violence can speed up the impact of the adult world on a child??s life??
(Douglas Carter T. V. Violence and the Child). Exposure to violent material can force the
child into a kind of premature maturity, and make the child become bewildered and have a
greater distrust towards others. It even could make the child have awkward approach to
adult problems and they might even develop a desire not to become adults. Television
violence can destroy a young child??s mind, and the effects may be ever lasting. This is
made obvious in New York, where a 16-year-old boy broke into a cellar. When the police
caught him and asked him why he was wearing gloves, he said that he had learned not to
leave fingerprints from TV. And even another case in Alabama where a nine-year-old
received a bad report from his teacher and had plans to send her poisoned candy like he
had seen the night before on a TV show (Michael Howe J. A. Television and Children). This
proves that after viewing television violence the world, through a child??s eyes, becomes
distorted in comparison. The children create violence to help keep them-selves satisfied.
The reason children are so drawn to the violence on TV today is that the characters on TV
make it look fun, so the children find it fun to imitate. The Mighty Morphin' Power
Rangers are a prime example of kids imitating TV characters as fun. Our government has
conducted an experiment where children were left alone in a room with a TV playing a
videotape of other children at play, and soon things got out of hand. The kids who had
just seen commercial violence accepted much higher levels of aggression than other
children did. And in other research conducted, it was found that U.S. children feed off
each other??s aggression, academic problems, unpopularity with peers, and violence. And
this promotes the violent behavior in children today. It has been found that kids who
watch more television are more likely to solve their problems with violence rather than
kids who don??t, and sit down to talk their problems out. But as much violent programs
that there are out in the TV world there were (and maybe still are) those programs that
teach the right way to resolve things. Like the once popular TV series ??Little House on
the Prairie??. Michael Landon taught the moral values of solving problems without the use
of violence. Fixing this problem isn??t easy, it will never go away, and in time will get
worse. About the only way to correct this ever-growing problem is to stop it where it
starts: in the home. The parents should take up the responsibility to be more into what
their kids watch. The parents are the role models for the children so if the parents can
teach the children that violence isn??t necessary, along with keeping a close eye on what
they watch, then maybe this problem soon wouldn??t be as bad as it is now. After all the
children are everyone??s future rulers of this world and what would happen if they were
all violent?