Television Violence Essay -- essays research papers fc

Television Violence Television violence is a negative message of reality to the children who see it. There is an excessive amount of violence being watched in millions of people’s homes every day, and this contributes to the growing amount of violent crimes that are being committed in our communities. This cycle of more and more sex and violence being portrayed as reality on television will not stop until something is done. Not one parent that I know wants his or her children watching people getting blown away and thrown off cliffs. But the reality of it is that parents cannot be there 24 hours a day to monitor what their children are watching. In fact the television is often used as a baby-sitter, so that the parent can do housework, have an adult conversation, or just relax after work. The types of people who are the most likely to be harmed by the surplus of violence on TV are children. Ed Donnerstein stated in the February 15, 1996 edition of the Boston Globe the following: Violence turns out to do a lot of harm when it looks harmless. One of these lessons children learn watching television is that there are few consequences to the person who commits violence – or to the victim. Add to this ‘positive’ portrayal of negative behavior the fact that children’s programs were least likely to show the bad effects of violence and most likely to make it funny" (Goodman pg. 23). We are showing children that violence is humorous and it can’t do harm. A researcher by the name of Meltzoff studied learning in infants. He concluded that babies start to learn even before birth. A study by Meltzoff demonstrated observational learning in 14-month-olds. After watching an adult on television handling "a novel toy in a particular way," the babies were able to imitate the behavior when presented with the toy 24 hours later (Wood pg.292). This study indicates that babies learn imitation very early in life. This is why parents should be more particular with what they allow their susceptible children to view on TV. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, television show for children, is a very good example of how violence on TV can affect our children. It is one of the highest rated kids television shows today. The Power Rangers are everywhere, on everything, from lunch boxes to boxer shorts. And kids want it all. This creates a bind f... ...e. We are getting more and more information and on the effects of television violence. All of these findings have produced an increasing awareness of the basic problem and of the need for change. We know excessive viewing of television violence is harmful to the viewer. It is time we take a solid stand on the issue and tell the producers of these shows that we don’t want them. Bibliography Comstock, George. Television and the American Child. San Diego: Academic Press, Inc., 1991. Elber, Lynn. "Getting to the Heart of TV Violence". Boston Globe, 20 September 1995: Page 84. Goodman, Ellen. "How to Zap Violence on TV". Boston Globe, 15 February 1996: Page 23. Hohler, Bob. "Christopher Reeve Argues Against Federal Censorship of TV, Urges Hollywood to Adopt Own Rules". Boston Globe, 24 February 1994: Page 11. Jackson, Derrick. "A G-chip, Not a V-chip". Boston Globe, 6 March 1996: Page 15. Meltz, Barbara. "Beware Rangers’ Mixed Messages, Sidebar I: How Parents Can Become Involved, Sidebar II: Share Your Holiday Strategies". Boston Globe, 1 December 1994: Page A1. Wood, Samuel. The World of Psychology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1996. Television Violence Essay -- essays research papers fc Television Violence Television violence is a negative message of reality to the children who see it. There is an excessive amount of violence being watched in millions of people’s homes every day, and this contributes to the growing amount of violent crimes that are being committed in our communities. This cycle of more and more sex and violence being portrayed as reality on television will not stop until something is done. Not one parent that I know wants his or her children watching people getting blown away and thrown off cliffs. But the reality of it is that parents cannot be there 24 hours a day to monitor what their children are watching. In fact the television is often used as a baby-sitter, so that the parent can do housework, have an adult conversation, or just relax after work. The types of people who are the most likely to be harmed by the surplus of violence on TV are children. Ed Donnerstein stated in the February 15, 1996 edition of the Boston Globe the following: Violence turns out to do a lot of harm when it looks harmless. One of these lessons children learn watching television is that there are few consequences to the person who commits violence – or to the victim. Add to this ‘positive’ portrayal of negative behavior the fact that children’s programs were least likely to show the bad effects of violence and most likely to make it funny" (Goodman pg. 23). We are showing children that violence is humorous and it can’t do harm. A researcher by the name of Meltzoff studied learning in infants. He concluded that babies start to learn even before birth. A study by Meltzoff demonstrated observational learning in 14-month-olds. After watching an adult on television handling "a novel toy in a particular way," the babies were able to imitate the behavior when presented with the toy 24 hours later (Wood pg.292). This study indicates that babies learn imitation very early in life. This is why parents should be more particular with what they allow their susceptible children to view on TV. The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, television show for children, is a very good example of how violence on TV can affect our children. It is one of the highest rated kids television shows today. The Power Rangers are everywhere, on everything, from lunch boxes to boxer shorts. And kids want it all. This creates a bind f... ...e. We are getting more and more information and on the effects of television violence. All of these findings have produced an increasing awareness of the basic problem and of the need for change. We know excessive viewing of television violence is harmful to the viewer. It is time we take a solid stand on the issue and tell the producers of these shows that we don’t want them. Bibliography Comstock, George. Television and the American Child. San Diego: Academic Press, Inc., 1991. Elber, Lynn. "Getting to the Heart of TV Violence". Boston Globe, 20 September 1995: Page 84. Goodman, Ellen. "How to Zap Violence on TV". Boston Globe, 15 February 1996: Page 23. Hohler, Bob. "Christopher Reeve Argues Against Federal Censorship of TV, Urges Hollywood to Adopt Own Rules". Boston Globe, 24 February 1994: Page 11. Jackson, Derrick. "A G-chip, Not a V-chip". Boston Globe, 6 March 1996: Page 15. Meltz, Barbara. "Beware Rangers’ Mixed Messages, Sidebar I: How Parents Can Become Involved, Sidebar II: Share Your Holiday Strategies". Boston Globe, 1 December 1994: Page A1. Wood, Samuel. The World of Psychology. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1996.