TV Violence and Children
Children from the ages 6-11 spend more time watching television than
they do in the classroom. The level of violence that they see on prime time
television is about five violent acts per hour and the level of violence on
Saturday that includes cartoons morning programming is about 20 to 25 violent
acts per hour. At this rate, the average American child will see 8,000 murders
before they finish elementary school!
As a child sits in front of baby-sitting television, her eyes are glued
to the viewing of shoot em' up rip em' up kind of entertainment. We have to
remember that the entertainment media plays an extremely powerful role in the
formation of values and morals, to all youngsters' minds of all ages, all
socioeconomic levels, and all levels of intelligence. These programs "play"
with kids' minds; these programs have a tremendous negative effect on our
children. We, as a society, must save our future and take an active role in
protecting our children from the violence on our television.
Television cartoons often feature dehumanized characters, such as
Transformers and the Ninja Turtles, who engage in the destructive acts of
violence by fighting our real life social problems. With acts of violence, kids
learn to think that's how they should solve their problems. MTV's Beavis and
Butt-head encourages fire, smoking, foul language, drinking and stealing. With
these bad attitudes seen depicted as normal on TV shows kids are lead to
believe it is cool be have that type attitude Is this what we really want our
society, especially our younger generation, to believe?
If we truly thought that television had no impact on viewers, why would
companies spend billion of dollars on television advertising? If commercials
have an effect, then so do the shows that the children watch. For example,
youngsters mimic many of the violent acts that they see such as Beasvis and But-
head. One day, a five year old boy watch his favorite cartoon, Beavis and Butt-
head, and sees the characters pull one of their famous arson stunts. And the
result, he sets his own house ablaze and his younger sister is killed.
Children do learn from television especially when they lack direct exposure
or first hand experience with violent grotesque acts. These do take a toll on
children and the way they will view life as they grow up. I know some who that
are sweet, innocent, full of dreams, hopes, laughter, and life. These kids have
learned about there environment from their parents, not by watching television.
The article “On Punishment and Teen Killers”, Jennifer Jenkins gives another example of how a teenager acts. She says “He [teen who killed the woman] reported to a friend, who testified at his trial, about his ‘thrill kill’ that he just wanted to ‘see what it would feel like to kill someone’” (Jenkins). As said earlier, children learn these
The reasons behind the rare violent outbursts of children remain some sort of a mystery. As we saw in Kip Kenkel’s story, it is easy for kids today to get wrapped up in violent popular culture. Today, extremely violent movie scenes and music lyrics about murder and violence plague children.
But incidents like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are predictable; they are not a random act of brutality because such violence is a learned behavior. Americans glorify violence and this attitude is illustrated through the tolerance of violence portrayed through the media. And although distinguishing between violence as pure entertainment and violence as social criticism is important, good intentions can still lead to terrible outcomes. The effect of viewing violent films has been insufficiently considered, yet plays a significant role in encouraging aggressive behavior.
...dolescents to weapons. In many cases children have access to a weapon, particularly a handgun, within their own home. With lack of supervision, children experiment with these dangerous weapons, and may even take them out of their homes. Another contributing factor to violent acts among children is the role of the media and the way that television and movies portray violence. Every where you turn on television and in movies, you see someone killing someone or someone getting killed. Kids see the brutal ways, or the quick and smart schemes of combat tactics. They falsely believe that these types of behaviors are acceptable, because the next week they are back on the show demonstrating another episode of violent acts, with no consequences.
Odysseus ' principles and characteristics are a prototype of an ideal Homeric Greek leader. Odysseus is noble, clever and loyal. Through his distress and blunders, he gains knowledge that was not only crucial for his survival but for his companions too. Odysseus’s cleverness constantly allowed him to avoid death because he relied on trickery, rhetoric and disguise. “The society depicted in The Odyssey is one where male values were dominant and where all socially relevant transactions took place between the male members of the community”. (Whittaker 39) While males’ dominance takes the forefront in society, their principles are continuously being challenged by the allurement of women. In The Odyssey, many instances of such seduction reveals
Television with its far reaching influence spreads across the globe. Its most important role is that of reporting the news and maintaining communication between people around the world. Television's most influential, yet most serious aspect is its shows for entertainment. Violent children's shows like Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and adult shows like NYPD Blue and Homicide almost always fail to show human beings being able to resolve their differences in a non-violent manner; instead they show a reckless attitude that promotes violent action first with reflection on the consequences later. Contemporary television creates a seemingly insatiable appetite for amusement of all kinds without regard for social or moral benefits (Schultze 41). Findings over the past twenty years by three Surgeon Generals, the Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence, the American Medical Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other medical authorities indicate that televised violence is harmful to all of us, but particularly to the mental health of children (Medved 70-71).
Although children are constantly being exposed to violence through movies, television, and video games which could influence the harm done, kids today are more sophisticated at a younger age; they understand the implications of violence and how to use violent weapons. In the article “Kids are Kids- Until They Commit Crimes”, Marjie Lundstrom explores the stories of two young boys, Lionel Tate and Thomas A. Preciado, who both commit violent crimes and try to play it off. Tate unsuccessfully tried to put pro wrestling on trial for “savagely beating a six-year-old girl..” and Preciado claimed he was mimicking a TV show of robbing a bank and was tried as an adult for stabbing the mini mart clerk to death. The real question is how do we know if these indications are true, if these children really were imitating or if those are all just excuses. It is absurd to argue that a modern child, who sees the effect of violence around him in the news every day, does not understand what it means to kill. The fact that child killers know how to load and shoot a gun is an indicator that they understand exactly what they are doing and should not be able to make excuses as such. With this it is proven that a child's surroundings do not fully influence their wrongful doings and the Supreme Court Justices shall retain their
disciplining our children. A child is a gift from God and should be treated as such. I do
The internet has enabled our society to accomplish great things that would not have been achieved without the advanced technology available to us today. Everyone knows that there are both pros and cons to the advanced technology available practically worldwide. However, everyday youth are finding new ways to engage in inappropriate behaviors such as cyberbullying and sexual misconduct (sexting) with technology, and most adults are practically blind to this rising problem until it is too late. There are however, many solutions that schools, adults, and parents can do to put a stop to these cyberbullying and sexual misconduct activities occurring online.
One of the main concerns in the world with the problem of child pornography is the new and improved online chat rooms. “As the world wide web becomes progressively easier to navigate, computer costs plummet and technology proliferates, and the intimate chat rooms of the internet become progressively more user-friendly and accessible to juveniles, serious problems are bound to occur” (Schultz 1). The problems in this topic of discussion are gradually increasing more and more each day. One of the main reasons for these problems increasing every day is the increase of technology in the society nowadays. The article, “On-line Vigilantes Hunt Pedophiles” states how catching predators in online chat rooms is really like and what the consequences are for the crimes (Schultz). The internet task force, also known as the Vigilante Website Perverted Justice, is able to catch these juveniles and criminals, such as criminal Ray Dooley. The officers in the internet task force faked to be a young fourteen-year-old girl, Rachel of Harper Woods and caught the man on sight of the crime, when trying to meet up with Rachel for sexual intercourse. I...
In a research analysis of Media and Violence, studies show that “Although the typical effect size for exposure to violent media is relatively small ... this ‘small effect’ translates into significant consequences for society as a whole” (“Media and Violence: An Analysis of Current Research”, 2015). This states violent behaviors can come from the smallest variables, or clips from videos, which is why it is important for parents to control what their kids see, read, and watch, and limit the amount of violence exposure.
Some individuals attend school and associate themselves with peers who influence them to engage in drugs and violence, which can lead them to commit criminal acts. Some people view violent acts such as physical fighting as a way to express strength, power, and control, leading them to engage in violence and crime. Some children experience violence and crime in their household, which can greatly affect their development into adulthood. Children who experience violence in their lives are more likely to engage in violence. However, other people engage in violence and crime because they feel forced to represent a label that society has imposed on them.
Children are more likely to grow and become violent because they have learned these types of behaviors by witnessing the criminal behavior of violent parents. In a situation where a child will grow and see violence as a norm, it is assumed that a child will grow and have signs of criminal causation (Akers, 2010). Sometimes people are predisposed toward criminal behavior and some psychologists believe that people who seek out dangerous and exciting activities may lead them to act recklessly and perhaps act out in criminal ways. This can be caused by a psychological abnormality in which people are chronic thrill seekers and because of that they may break laws to be able to seek out their next thrill, such as jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge, it’s illegal and they will still jump. If we were to compare or contrast these theories, we could assume that some biological criminal behaviors could be associated with psychological criminal behaviors.
When children see a violence, they want to imitate for it. After playing violent games, a teenager may lash out, if things do not go on his or her way.
Does violence on television have a negative effect on children and teenagers? The violence shown on television has a surprisingly negative effect. Television violence causes children and teenagers to become less caring, to lose their inhibitions, to become less sensitive, and also may cause violent and aggressive behavior.