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Impact of media on society
Introduction about violence on television negatively affect children
Impact of media on society
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In the two essays, Don’t Blame TV by Jeff Greenfield and Who Us? Stop Blaming Kids and TV by Mike Males, both authors defend the theory that television has little impact on today’s youth and that other significant factors are to blame for the negative changes in society. While the topics may appear similar, there are many differences in how the authors attempt to defend their theses, making one more successful than the other. In any well written argumentative essay there must be a clear thesis, good supporting examples, some objections along with any rebuttals, the writing should be focused with a natural flow.
Firstly, the thesis of Greenfield’s essay is somewhat broad and it is not explicitly stated so the reader can understand the topic. He states in his thesis that TV
has been blamed for the decline of scores on scholastic achievement tests, for the rise in crime, for the decline in voter turnout, for the growth of premarital and extramarital sex, for the supposed collapse of family life and the increase in divorce rate (1).
Further along in the essay he gets to his real thesis with a Latin phrase describing false causation: post hoc, ergo propter hoc (1). In other words, it is incorrect to conclude that since these changes in society followed the rise in television usage, television must be the cause. This thesis is what he attempts to support in his essay, but it is naïve to surmise that the increase in TV and the increase in societies problems are merely coincidental. On the other hand, Males makes his thesis very simple and clear in the first line of his essay by quoting James Baldwin: “Children have never been very good at listening to elders, but they have never failed to imitate them” (qtd. in Males 1). By this refe...
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...violence directly and his avoidance of sex is less apparent. The lack of evidence in Greenfield’s essay is also a major contribution to it’s overall failure. For these reasons I would have to choose Mike Males’ essay for it’s clear and simple thesis, examples with supporting facts, confrontation of opposing views, and overall focus and continuity.
Works Cited
Greenfield, Jeff. “Don’t Blame TV” Contemporary Reader
International Association of Chiefs of Police “Recommendations from the 1997 IACP Summit” theiacp.org (1997) Web. (12 Apr. 2011)
Males, Mike. “Who Us? Stop Blaming Kids and TV - For Crime and Substance Abuse” Progressive Oct. 1997
Nagourney, Eric. “Behavior: TV in Child's Room Sets Off Academic Alert” New York Times (2005) Web. 12 Apr. 2011
Shapiro, Jeremy F. “Sex and Television: The Impact on Our Children” Daily Strength (Nov. 2008) Web. 12 Apr. 2011
Not only educational shows accomplish these goals, but fictional television programs can often incorporate information that requires viewers to grapple with a topic using logical reasoning and a global consciousness. In addition, not to diminish the importance of reading, television reaches those who may never pick up a book or who might struggle with reading problems, enabling a broader spectrum of people to interact with cognitive topics. Veith has committed the error of making generalizations about two forms of media when, in truth, the situation varies depending on quality and content. However, what follows these statements is not just fallacious, but
Jeffrey D. Sachs’s essay “ A Nation of Vidiot” focuses on his views about the American relationship with televisions. In his essay explaining why people should avoid watching TV too much. And the author also gives readers a reason to believe in the articles that he wrote. He explained the problem to television advertising used to sell the product and the country's politics. There are fine examples why developing countries the consequences that have ever television were created. And he has to convince his readers when he criticized some of the problems seen too much television can cause people watch television as reduced memory, and body weakness. However, for the children, the TV screens the main tool of the children. The authors also offer TV how difficult and dangerous for television viewers. Overall it’s a pretty interesting read, but one thing is sure: the essay is a
The first rhetorical strategy Springen uses in her argument is citing statistical data about the number of hours children spend watching television, the effects of watching that amount of television, and what the most highly rated television shows are among children. She cites in her essay that “American children 2 through 11 watch three hours and 16 minutes of television every day.” This data shows the reader the staggering amount of time children spend watching television each day. Springen further cites data concluding that when children watch over 10 hours of TV every week “they are more likely to be overweight, aggressive and slow to learn in school.” This data exemplifies to the reader the negative effects television has on young impressionable minds and bodies. Finally, Springen cites that among the top 5 television shows “for children 2 through 11…Survivor Thailand” ranks among them. This data shows that children exposed to television are also being exposed to programming that is far too mature for their age. By citing “bad” data about the way television negatively affects children, Springen persuades the reader in her argument to agree with her position that there is no good reason for her children to watch television on a daily basis.
In the intro of my essay, I listed vague examples about how television impacts society. Throughout my content I did not elaborate on Postman’s believed the age of typography was, and the difference between the past and the age of show business today. In addition, I lacked comparing Postman’s argument to Francis
...d that television holds on us, Postman give two ideas. The first idea that he gives, he describes it as ridiculous to create programming that demonstrates how “television should be viewed by the people” (161).
"How TV Affects Your Child." Kids Health - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's
Author also point out television undermines the family. Most parents are now relying on outside sources such...
Showing the cause and effects of the growth in the use of the television is the purpose of this piece. Individuals do not grasp the full extent of the different areas that the TV has the ability to reach and even manipulate. These “dirty” our sources of truth by perfectly formed propaganda that is absorbed into every area of our lives as a “true” sense of reality or what life should look like.
Weigel, R. H., and Jessor, R. (1999). "Television and adolescent conventionality: An exploratory study." Public Opinion Quarterly, 3779-90.
White, A. V. (2006). Television Harms Children. Opposing Viewpoints. Television. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Mothering, 2001, 70)
In Sach’s essay “A Nation of Vidiots,” he explains how he believes that the use of television that we intake can contribute to making
... for children. Children are exposed to 20,000 advertisements a year. The average child watches 8,000 televised murders and 100,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary school. By the time children graduate from high school, those numbers more than doubles. Furthermore, television is shown to influence attitudes about race and gender. Pro-social and anti-social behaviors are influenced by television.
Throughout the book, McKibben compares the two experiences, contrasting the amount of useful information he received from nature, as opposed to the amount of useless, hollow information the television provided. He goes on in the book to make several very important observations about how the television has fundamentally changed our culture and lifestyle, from the local to the global level. Locally, McKibben argues, television has a detrimental effect on communities.
Palmer, Edward L. Children in the Cradle of Television. United States of America: D.C. Health, 1987.
How TV Affects your Child? Kids Health. October 2011. Web. The Web.