Watching repeated violence on television desensitizes children to violence, and similarly incorrect portrayals of sex on television may contribute to adolescent sex. Violence, and sex on television negatively impacts today's youth, and adolescents.
In fact, a main contributor to these negative effects on children are caused by parents. Some parents pay little to no attention to the ratings of television shows, or movies, or the amount of sex, and/or violence their child sees on television. Studies indicate as follows,"Many parents find the entertainment industry's media ratings systems difficult to use; 68% of the parents of 10 to 17 year olds do not use the television rating system at all (Anderson, Bushman 17)." This is an astounding amount of parents that cannot tell which shows, or movies are appropriate for their children's viewing. Ratings for television shows are determined by industry sponsored ratings boards, or the producers themselves(Anderson, Bushman 18).
Therefore, industries, or the producers of shows can determine the ratings, however this may not be appropriate for all ages. There should be organizations that reflect the beliefs of parents, and what they believe is appropriate for their children, not the producers, or industry themselves. For example, shows containing sex, and violence such as "South Park" can have ratings that pertain to children 14 years of age, and up. However, not all parents agree that their 14 year old child should watch a show containing that content. In addition, the ratings are based on age, assuming all parents agree on what their children should watch at a specific age. Parents have many different views on whats appropriate for their children to be exposed to, and should every right ...
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...ystems that can reflect on what most parents believe their children can be exposed to, or what appropriate for them to watch. For these reasons communities should come together to help prevent their children from being negatively influenced by violent, and sexual content.
These studies have helped exploit the negative influences that are exposed to children, and adolescents when they view sexual, or violent content. Having more control over what your kids are exposed to can prevent these influences. Violence, and sex on television does in fact negatively influence today's youth, and adolescents. "Children are influenced by media; they learn by observing, imitating, and making behaviors their own(Anderson, Bushman 19)." Helping prevent children from negative influences, and instilling positive influences can help make society safer for future generations to come.
According to the article, Violence in the Media, written by the APA, it provides information on how ferocious television episodes can affect a child’s senses, feelings, and attitude. To be more specific, it can make them become numb, frightened, and more pugnacious due to the amount of violent TV they watch. Furthermore, according to the same article, the APA also wrote, “By observing these participants into adulthood, Huesmann and Eron found that the ones who'd watched a lot of TV violence when they were 8 years old were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults.” Psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard Eron held a study that concluded that the result of watching violent television can lead to jail and criminal actions. This will also cause a child to become more aggressive and therefore will become a nefarious person. All in all, the American Psychological Association decided that violent television can shape a child’s disposition. In fact, it can also encourage a child to execute bad deeds and crimes when they become
Many Americans feel that the viewing of violence in the media reinforces negative behavior in society, especially among children and young adults. "Three thousand studies have been done since 1955 on the link between television and violence; 2,980 of them found a correlation between the two. We hear little about that because we get most of our news from television" (Peterson). With this much research one must acknowledge that there is a problem in America involving sex and violence in the media. We cannot blame all societal problems on the media and its portrayal of these issues, but we can become educated, ourselves, in order to better facilitate the healthy lives of our children.
Entertainment is one of the most favorite pasttime for families to do in their free time. Movies, games, and TV shows, so many good ones, so little time. Parents are face with so many decisions when raising their children. Some decisions are not easy to make, ex: schools to send them too, daycare system, and place of residency. With the everyday stress that parents face, it is good to know that somebody is looking out for us. Entertainment ratings are a wonderful tool to allow the parents to know what is age-appropriate for our children.
Does allowing children to watch violent television and what they see on a daily basis in their lives from peers and adults effect their actions, and thoughts? The answer is simply yes! When it comes down to the facts, children’s behaviors are greatly influenced from what they see going on around them. Children can be taught to be violent or they can be taught to be kind, they can be taught to be confident, or they can be stripped of their self-confidence, they can be taught to be great or they can be taught to fail in life all from observing how adults and peers in their life act.
As television has become increasingly popular over the past few decades, it has allotted researchers a large amount of time to collect data and explore many aspects of this wonderful, yet harmful invention. It is safe to say that almost every household in America has a television, and it is on and used for multiple hours a day. The vast variety of different shows to watch is outstanding; shows about food, homes, the news, imagination, reality, horror, action-thrillers, the list could go on and on, there is always something to watch for everyone. However, is everything on television appropriate for all of its viewers? The answer to that question is up to the reader, but may they be informed of the effect violence on television has had on children, and will effect those children for the rest of their lives.
Which is the primary reason for my selection on this topic. I have witnessed the effects of television, music, cartoons, movies and video games on youths in my community, even in my own home. My little sister who is about 13 years old has grown up way faster than I did when I was her age, as well as my 14-year-old cousin who can already have a full conversation about sex. When asked where does she learn it from her reply is simply, television. It frightens me that they can comprehend the concept of sex and how it is done easily, but is naive about the consequences and aftermath of its actions. It angers me that the media does not tell both sides of the story; they flaunt sex, yet they do not advise you about protection and how it...
Violence and explicit themes on television have been a main benefactor in behavioral problems in children, causing educational issues as well. Studies have shown that “excessive TV viewing can lead to poor grades in school” (Boyse Online). TV has even been shown to affect the mood of the child, usually “TV doesn’t improve their disposition. They’re grouchy and irritable right after they watch” (Winn 19). When violence is included in speech or an action a child’s favorite show or movie it wouldn’t be uncommon if that youth would try to imitate it. “Many shows glamorize violence. TV often promotes violent acts as a fun and effective way to get what you want, without consequences, Even in G rated movies violence is common” (Boyse Online). As children are growing it’s important what parents put in the stomach’s of their child so it’s also important what being fed to their brain. This makes them vulnerable and susce...
The entertainment that television is now portraying is not exactly what the younger society of America needs to be exposed to, but unfortunately in today's economy that is the only kind of entertainment that sells. There is so much unnecessary exposure to violence, aggressive behavior, and sexual acts now being broadcasted daily on television, movies, music, and even the news. The broadcasting systems are now targeting younger children and teens. The crime rates have skyrocketed due to delinquent juvenile behavior over the past ten years. The whole viewing society is now becoming very tolerant and at ease with sex and violence. Youth and children are picking up on these behaviors daily. Studies have shown that by the age of 18, the average American teen will have viewed around 200,000 acts of violence on television. The violence and sexual content that television and music are now portraying has negatively influenced younger children and teens to commit murder, exhibit aggressive behavior, and become tolerant of violence and sex.
Most people when analyzing this issue tend to focus on drugs, sex, and violence in terms of the television media. How ridiculous though, it would be to forcibly say that television is the sole cause of changing behavior and attitudes in children. More apropos it would be to ascertain which types of imagery, programs, and activities are more likely to alter a child’s behavior and determine which of these appear on television. “A recent study at UCLA reported on the percentages of unrealistic outcomes displayed on TV shows. Characters who commit violent acts receive no punishment 73% of the ti...
A very effective way to keep children from the negative influences of the media is to properly supervise. Overly excessive interaction with violent movies, music, and video games can influence a child’s behavior. Becoming media literate may help gain control. Parents should know what kind of media children are interested in and should keep them from watching any inappropriate material, and all programs should be age appropriate. Most television shows and movies announce the age preferences at the beginning of the program. Parents should be aware and strictly limit your children, also “limit children’s total media time (with entertainment media) to no more than 1 to 2 hours of quality programming per day” (Shelov and Bar-on, par. 9). Children who watch a lot of television can end up doing poorly in school. This should give them time to do more productive activities with their free time. Caregivers should pay careful attention to the shows school children are viewing. They should approve only programs that are “informational, educational, and nonviolent” (Shelov and Bar-on, par. 9). Caregivers should watch television programs along with young people. Also, they should discuss the content of a program with the children. (Shelov and Bar-on, par. 9). I remember growing up in my grandparents’ home, where we spent quality time together, wa...
Television violence linked to bad behavior in young children has been going on for years. Some claim that parents are using it as an excuse to blame the media and I agree in some cases that is true but not in all cases. We cannot ignore the fact that television does feature a lot of violence and aggressive behavior and in young fresh minds these type of behaviors stick. Children begin mimicking behaviors as soon as they are born and as they get older they continue to do so. A two year old learning how to speak hears a curse word and repeats it, sure they don’t know or understand what it means but just because they don’t understand the meaning of the word doesn’t take away the fact that it is a bad word and should not be coming out of a young child’s mouth. The same ...
Children, especially younger children, are impressionable, but with proper guidance from a parental source in regards to television viewing, kids are not likely to act out violent television images.
The media in general reduces the different values of life, also makes violence and even death, which seem funny and unreal that children do not learn to respect themselves and in general, because of the violent television that is influencing them even more. If parents ignore or approve of their child's aggressive behavior, or if they lose control too easily themselves, a TV control plan will not help at all. In the same way, if parents themselves show violent behavior, they serve as role models for their children too.
Television violence causes children and teenagers to be less caring, to lose their inhibitions, and to be less sensitive. In a study on the connection between violence and television done with 1,565 teenage boys over a six-year period in London, William Belson, a British psychologist, found that every time a child saw someone being shot or killed on television they became less caring towards other people (Kinnear 26). William Belson also discovered that every time a child viewed this violence on television, they lost a fragment of their inhibitions towards others (Kinnear 26). In addition to William Belson’s study, studies done by many scientists and doctors show that seeing violence on television causes viewers to become less sensitive to the pain of others (Mudore 1).
should be censored to an extent, yet they do not see the significant effect that regular television shows really have on their children.As a child grows, more and more statistics are proving that they are being exposed to too many shows that should be censored. Many studies have concluded that young children are most affected by what they see on television (Dritz, Russel 1996). For example, a child that watches a cartoon with a lot