Effects of TV Violence on Children

2957 Words6 Pages

When did teaching kids to kill become associated with a person's first amendment

rights? In the wake of school shootings and concealed weapons being carried by students,

many government agencies have begun to study the effects of violence on television as a

prominent variable in childhood and adolescent aggressiveness. The prevalence of

violence in television is rampant. It is as addictive as a drug to the children and

adolescents, and is accomplishing two extreme reactions: a desensitization towards pain

and suffering in the world, and instilling fear of the world as a dark, cold place.

Although violence in all media has become a prominent issue, the focus has mainly

been on television because it has had the most influence on the youth of the nation over

the past 50 years. Abusive lyrics and overly violent films have taken some heat in more

recent years, but not nearly as much as that of television. In the future, the medium of

video games has been predicted to be more harmful than that of any other media

influence, but there are not enough facts to support this hypothesis. The truth is that

without the technology provided by the invention of the television video games would

never have become a household commodity. The study of violence on the small screen

has been ongoing since the 1950s (Committee on Public Education 1222). Even though

the public lost sight of this debate, it gained momentum again in the late 1980s and 90s.

Today, television has become a key socialization factor and dominates the life of

children in urban and rural areas (Groebel 217). The period of socialization is a time in

which children learn of their culture and how to interact with the world. Where this

lesson was once taught by parents and schools, television has taken point. Violence is no

longer restricted to R - rated movies that children have little chance of seeing, as their

cartoons are brimming with violent acts. A study done on the choices of entertainment

that parents and children make, depending on restrictive labels, proves that television

programs carrying advisories of violence and objectionable behavior have bigger

audiences than those that did not, and while parents made negative comments about

programs that contained restrictions, the children were more likely to make positive

comments (Cantor and Krcmar 39...

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