The Effect of TV Violence on Youth

The Effect of TV Violence on Youth

In this essay I will assess whether violence on television causes

violence in society. This is such a common claim that most people

believe that it simply must be true. However there is no proof

although some sociologists suggest that there is a relationship

between the two.

Teenagers are constantly being bombarded with so-called ‘parental

warnings’ and ‘film certificates’ which intend to provide us with

guidance on what we should and should not be watching, if it be on the

box or at the cinema. Many politicians try to convince us that

television is bad for us, a device which ’corrodes the moral values of

society and corrupts children with relentless images of violence’. Is

this a fair and accurate statement? Or merely a harsh and unfair

account of what TV provides us with?

52 % of children aged 5-17 spend most of their day glued to the ’box’

including me. I believe that the content on TV does not contain much

violent content as it is thought to have. TV broadcasters usually kick

off with a small dose of daytime entertainment, comprising mainly of

DIY and gardening make over shows until the afternoon after which

children’s programmes are shown. Programmes which are broadcasted on

terrestrial TV have to comply with strict regulations before they are

shown to the public-this is the job of the independent television

commission (ITC). The ITC have strong views on programmes of a violent

or unsuitable nature and have the power to control when certain

programmes are shown. Ones that can be considered violent containing

scenes of gore etc are shown later in the night and may be issued with

a war...

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...ese violent acts, imitated them and in turn became

violent adults in the future.

In conclusion, there are some studies which suggest that there is a

correlation between television violence and it’s effect on the

behaviour of young people. TV may be able to influence children in

which games they play, and some studies may have found some sort of

correlation, but there is no real proof suggesting that watching TV

leads to children’s behaviour becoming more violent both immediately

and in the future. Therefore to me it is clear that family and the

society in which a child lives have proved to be more effective in

influencing the child’s behaviour rather than the extent of the

violence seen on television.

Bibliography

v Article from www.carelpress.com

v www.gnfc.com

v www.jeannebeckman.com/page18.html