Children and Violence on TV
In the past twenty years, violence on TV has become more common and more acceptable in society. This generation is growing up in an increasingly cruel world – where children are exposed to violence, murders and bullying on TV. Guidelines have been put in place – but are they really enough? In this essay I shall be discussing the positive and negative effects of violence on TV and ask if legislation is the way forward for TV.
Violence is shown in all types of children’s programmes, from cartoons like “Tom and Jerry”, to children’s dramas such as “Byker Grove”. Violence can take place in different forms – bullying and mugging are just some of them. Today it is
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family, friends and pets.
Real life violence such as CCTV footage and reconstructions of violent events may upset and disturb children if they are not old enough to understand it. It may also frighten them if they are viewing the television alone, without a parent to answer their questions.
However, violence on TV does not always have a negative effect on children. Watching real life TV shows such as “Grange Hill” may help them deal with violence in a positive way, should they be faced with a similar situation like that shown in the programme. For example, the child could learn better ways of reacting (rather than using violence) should they be confronted in an argument. Violence on TV also helps children learn about the real world and current affairs. Personally, I think that while children should not be exposed to violence which is unnecessary to their learning, they also should not be completely sheltered from real life events in an attempt to protect them from the outside world.
There are guidelines to make TV violence more acceptable to a young audience. The guidelines are there for two main reasons: To stop children being influenced by violence, and to censor it so that children should not have to see events that could shock or scare them. Examples of guidelines designed to stop children being influenced by
It is a matter of great importance how much of media content children are exposed to and what exactly they are viewing on media. The issue of violence is not a new phenomenon among children and keeps increasing with time and change in technology and information technology. The causes of violence in children are seen to be multifactorial and exposure of children to media violence is said to be an important factor when it comes to the etiology of behaviors that are violent among children.
From infancy onward, parents and teachers have drilled into the young generation that violence should be avoided at all costs. They have preached cooperation, tolerance, and “using one’s words” as tactics to combat difficult situations. Although those lessons are valid, Gerald Jones claims there is an alternative way. In his essay, “Violent Media is Good for Kids,” Jones argues that “creative violence- bonking cartoons, bloody videogames, toy guns-gives children a tool to master their rage” (Jones). In other words, media violence, used correctly, can serve as an alternative method for powering through adolescence. By reading and writing violent stories, children are able to express
Television is the mainstream of our culture. Violence on television has been a topic of conflict since before 1950. There have been repeated debates on how to protect children from the harmful effects of violence on television. Television is one form of modern media that influences the everyday lives of people. Televised violence has a major effect on how children perceive the world and how they behave. "American television has become the most violent in the world. It is for this reason why researchers have focused their attention toward television violence" (Cantor & Hoffner 424-4-25). Children enjoy watching television and now with the increased technology of cable and movie
In the writing of Gerard Jones “Violent Media is Good for Kids” is very interesting essay in which he describes how violent media can help kids to overcome obstacles, but whether it is convincing or not, I am not truly sure because the way the essay is written is biased. Jones as writer is making this controversial topic to gain more audience to read his writings, in addition, this essay fails in detail, it needs more statistics to support the examples that Jones addresses in his essay. Also, we need more information about what is the opinion of parents of these kids that believed violet media is good so, we need the statistics of the studies of the psychologist that support the idea of good
Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on TV affects children and young people. While a direct "cause and effect" link is difficult to establish, there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable to violent images and messages.
The argument of what children should be able to watch is a very controversial one. With media access so obtainable these days, violent media is practical everywhere. Many writers take a stand on this, and give an opinion of how the matter should be handled. Gerard Jones and John Leo both argue their case on how the approach towards how the situation should be handed. Jones argues that violent media is good for children, since it gives them a way to escape the harsh reality; however, Leo argues that violent media is a main source for many of the disturbing acts that have happened lately. Based of Jones’ writings that provides personal experiences over opinion such as Leo’s writing, parents should take the incentive towards allowing children
Intro - In the article “Violent Media is Good for Kids” by Gerard Jones the author talks about how violent media is good for kids. The author believes that violent media is a way to help children learn to not “ ...grow up too passive, too distrustful of themselves…” or for children to be “...easily manipulated. I feel as if this claim is overall true, but the amount of research that was done could be more.
There is no question that television and films these days are filled with violence and antisocial behavior. Virtually every show, movie or news story nowadays has some sort of violent theme. Studies have shown that for every hour of television, there are 6 violent exchanges shown, and this number increases to 14 exchanges an hour
As censorship of the American media has broken down over the years, the amount of violence allowed to be shown in movies, on television, and in video games has skyrocketed. From coast to coast in our nation, this saturation of hostility in our media has caused many contentious debates between scholars, parents, students and government officials alike. In this controversy, the central argument revolves around the effects violent media has on our society. The question that most researchers strive to answer is this: does watching or participating in violent media cause violent or other harmful behaviors? There are those who would say yes, it does promote destructive behavior in
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’”. In the article “Violent Media Is Good for Children”, the author Jones Gerard suggests that the violent stories in comic books and other media have a developmental functioning the lives of young children. I support the discussion by the author of the article based on the fact that though children should not be encouraged to express openly emotions such as fear, greed and range, they should have a way to let out such emotions in a non-confrontational way. Further, comic books will help the children learn to embrace the emotions of rage and fear and channel them for better use other than resorting to conflict. Violent media can also be important to help children to take control over their feelings and emotions.
Due to violence on television, children become less sensitive to that pain and suffering of others or to become more aggressive to others. It also makes children more fearful to the world around them. (Abelard 1) Viewing habits of children observed for many decades deduced that violence on TV is associated with aggressive behavior, more than poverty, race, or parental behavior. It also reported that a TV show contains about 20 acts of violence an hour.
Television is a big part of today’s society. Everybody watches television, including the children. There is a potential problem with letting children watch television. Ask this question, would someone let their own child watch some of the programming that they watch, too? Some of these programs are intended for the adult generation, not young children. Violence has a major role in television these days. Letting children watch this violence could corrupt their minds and eventually lead to bad behavior. There needs to be a limitation on the types of television programming that parents let their children watch, because violence in television can negatively affect children.
In recent times, the news media has cried out against violent media, painting it as the leading cause for youth violence. Following events such as the Columbine massacre, news sources have vilified violent media, claiming that it is a primary cause of violent behavior in youths. This analysis provides firm research on the subject from the opposing and supporting sources, giving a thorough definition to the term “violent media” and brings forth evidence that other psychological effects and environmental factors are more significant causes of increased youth aggression than violent media.
some adults), however, do not always realize this is not the way difficult situations are handled in
In the book Critique of Violence ,author Walter describes Violence as "The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, male development, or deprivation .The violence that is portrayed in the media has been debated for decades ,and it has rose a question about how does it influence the youth?. From movies to video games society has been accustom to seeing violence in their everyday entertainment. Since children are easy to be influence by their environment, it is safe to say that violence in the media can and will contribute to violent behavior.