Television Violence

The analysts watched over 33 hours of entertainment programs in a sample week and monitored specific acts of violence. The results indicated that some violence was contained in 70 percent of the programs! The violence could be categorized into three types: -     Violence for its own sake -     Overtly graphic views of brutality and human suffering -     The portrayal of anti-social behavior Later studies found that even shows specifically geared towards children have violence in them. Cartoons averaged eight episodes of violence a show. The Effect of Television Violence on Children What effect does television have?

Television violence and its effects on viewers has been a controversial issue for many years. Some viewers believe that there is an increasingly large amount of violence on television and this widespread public concern has "led to calls for stricter controls on the depiction of violence in programmes" (Gunter and McAleer 1990:92). Exactly how much violence is there on television though? Many cultivation theorists have studied this, acquiring data in the form of content analysis. They agree on a definition of a violent act, for example Gerbner in his study used the definition, "an overt expression of physical force against self or other, compelling action against ones will on pain of being hurt or killed, or actually hurting or killing" (Gunter and McAleer 1990:94).

Television, Violence and Censorship Society has been bombarded with violence from the beginning of time. These concerns about violence in the media have been around way before television was even introduced. Nevertheless, there have been numerous studies, research, and conferences done over the years on television, but the issue still remains. Researchers do acknowledge that violence portrayed on television is a potential danger. One issue is clear though, our focus on television violence should not take attention away from other significant causes of violence in our country such as: drugs, inadequate parenting, availability of weapons, unemployment, etc.

Research, experimentation, and actual media coverage has pinpointed actual methods used for deceptive advertising. Television influences society in many ways. People are easily swayed to accept a belief that they may not normally have unless expressed on television, since many people think that everything they hear on television is true. This, however, is not always the case. It has been observed that over the past twenty to thirty years, normal social behavior, even actual life roles of men and women and media, regulatory policies have all been altered (Browne 1998).

Before the average American child leaves elementary school, researchers estimate that he or she will have witnessed more than 8,000 murders on television. This steady diet of imaginary violence makes America the world leader in real crime and violence. It is time for parents and the American public to take notice of the scientific evidence that proves the correlation between violence seen on television and violence acting out in our society. To ignore these studies continues the growing culture of violence in our country. As Texan writer Molly Ivans says, “the first rule of a hole is, if you are in one, stop digging.”

Because while Guiliani administration is talking about crime rates in the New York City going down, all I  see and hear in the media are reports about horrible crimes committed by New Yorkers. As George Pettinico states in his article " Crime and punishment: America changes it's mind ": The media's extensive coverage of crime, especially the most brutal and horrific cases have heightened the public's fear and anger over this issue to a near frenzy. When asked in January of this year, " How often do you see reports of violent crime on television ? " 68 % replied " almost every day ". Although the media have played an important role in raising the public's awareness of lawlessness, crime in America is far from a media - created phenomenon.

Currently the media plays a highly influential role that is evident amongst the citizens of Iraq. Some speak of the US in particular as having distorted views, focusing too much on tragedy. Currently the US media displays all of the negative activity due to the war and deducts the success of Iraq. “The introduction of the television shows progress…….new car sales have skyrocketed in Iraq, along with newspapers, peaceful demonstrations and other signs of a political system that has replaced totalitarianism”(T. Roeder, The Gazette). According to the article, Iraqis critical media, television leaves out other positive progressions of the country, such as renovated schools and hospitals, in addition to repaired water and sewer systems.

Television you could say made a big enough impact that it made the War end how it did. The president was under pressure from the American public, the soldiers were becoming more and more worn down and a large majority of this was due to television. So in conclusion I agree very strongly that television did play a big part in changing opinions during the Vietnam War, if it hadn’t been for television it may not have ended how it ended.

Violence on TV For a long time now the debate has been, and continues to be, as to whether or not violence on television makes children more violent. As with all contentious issues there are both proponents and detractors. This argument has been resurrected in the wake of school shootings, most notably Columbine and Erfurt, Germany; and acts of random violence by teenagers, the murders of two Dartmouth professors. Parents, teachers, pediatricians, child psychiatrists, and FCC Chairmen William Kennard and former Vice President Al Gore say violent TV programming contribute in large part to in violence in young people today. However, broadcasters and major cable TV providers like Cox Communication say that it is the parent’s fault for not making it clear to their kids as what they may or may not watch on TV.

We expected that the effects of television violence and domestic would be strikingly similar to one another and the results of our study prove the similarities and provoke awareness to the differences. Television Violence and Domestic Violence have Similar Effects on Children A staggering amount of research has been done over the past several years regarding what is shown on television and how it affects American society. Much of this research has focused on television violence and its effect on a child’s aggression. According to the research that has been done, there seems to be an overwhelming indication that television violence does in fact affect a child’s personality. There has also been a significant amount of research that has been completed, analyzing actual violence, particularly domestic violence.