Exposing Our Children to Subliminal Messages

In the article “TV’s Negative Influence on Kids Reaffirmed” by Jeffrey M. McCall, he addresses the issue of how TV has a negative influence on children. McCall states that young children and toddler’s cognitive ability do not develop as well when they have a television in the background while they are playing and interacting. McCall also argues that TV has a very influential role in the teenage pregnancy rate and how early teens become sexually active. To further prove his point, McCall proclaims that children and teens that are exposed to large amounts of television and video games become socially awkward and have issues interacting in society. McCall also says that the networks are rating their own programs carelessly, which is leading to shows that should be restricted by a V-chip being watched by children, rendering the restricting system null and void.

Those who believe in the value of subliminal audiotapes would be wrong to claim that:

Subliminal messages are messages that are either auditory or visual which is presented below the normal limits of perception. An example of a subliminal messages would be that a message might be inaudible to the conscious mind but may be audible to the unconscious mind, in this case a deeper part of your mind. Subliminal messages may also be in other cases an image that is unperceived but will be perceived deeper in your mind. To put in simpler terms, subliminal messages are basically hypnotism that many companies may use to encourage people to buy the product they 're selling.

Within our society today, media plays a huge role in everyone’s life - an important role. Media offers entertainment, news, information, and education; however, with these benefits come negatives as well. For example, foul language, drug abuse, and sexual content may be presented to an unsuitable audience, specifically children. It’s easy to see sexual content on tv, hear foul language in songs on the radio, or even hear about the abuse of drugs and alcohol. Children are especially good at mimicking what they see and are easily influenced. So, with all this content being shown openly with no censorship, children think this is a social norm, as well as spending long periods of time watching TV, playing video games, and using the internet. Modern technology has transformed the way children learn and interact within their environment, it is having a negative effect on them in this younger generation with all the easy access to all genera’s of media material for long periods of time.

Children are also drawn to more mature programs in order to make them feel older and more mature by watching them, which is why the swearing and nudity need to be cut out. I support this view mainly because of an experience I had when I was about five years old. I snuck into the TV room without my parents knowing, and when I was flipping through the channels, I stopped on a channel that was showing the movie Die Hard. Just from watching a short segment of that movie, I quickly learned the “f” word and said it in class the next day. This initial view on censorship is significant because it can prevent children, who are the most influenced by TV, from practicing what they see. They will not learn these words or actions at an early age, like I did, and therefore will not get into trouble in school or teach them to other children. The downside to this stance is that it violates the right of freedom of speech.

“While most teenagers (60 percent) spend on average 20 hours per week in front of television and computer screens, a third spend closer to 40 hours per week, and about 7 percent are exposed to more than 50 hours of 'screen-time' per week”(Many Teens Spend). Many parents agree that they would rather not have their children view indecencies on the Internet and television, and the government should control the obscenities on the Internet. Others believe that it is the parent’s responsibility to control and censor what their children are watching on the Internet and television.

Parents are too busy to pay any attention to their children and protect them from improper images. The author Aric Sigman states, "The main obstacle is a generation of parents afraid of confrontation and being authoritarian or too busy surfing themselves" (what we need...). What is important here is that parents are not taking the time of responsibility to be strict on what their kids watch or hear. Other cases parents are to caught up dealing with their own struggles they lack the everyday task of parenting when it comes to technology. Adult material is too accessible to viewer on the internet, that's why we need censorship.

The increasing amount of violence, foul language and sexuality available to children on TV is harmful to their development. What was once a time for children to watch TV with content suitable for their age is now directed for an older audience, Family Hour. Statistics show that this is the time most children are watching television with their family members. Despite knowing this, “Since 2000-2001, the amount of sexual content during the Family Hour has increased by 22.1%” (Parents Television Council 55). A poll done later in March of 2007 asked the general public if they thought there was too much sexual content on television. 79% of those that participated in the poll stated that there was too much.

Subliminal Perception: Perceiving without conscious awareness. Succubus: A sexually motivated demon or spirit that preys upon men. Super-ESP Hypothesis:

A subliminal message is a signal or message designed to pass below (sub) the normal limits of perception. In the everyday world, it has often been suggested that subliminal

Subliminal perception is the reaction to a stimulus that occurs without awareness. In other words, subliminal perception is kind of like mind control which can influence your thoughts, feelings, and actions. And in this paragraph I will argue that is does exist. One reason to believe subliminal perception exist for example, subliminal messaging occurred when BBC first began broadcasting radio people thought that it was “the voice of the devil”. Thus, in order to change their perception about the radio BBC took particular phrases using backward masking in their jingles which in the end worked.

In media and popular culture, the popular phenomenon of mind control is often fantasized about, but generally seen as a myth or a conspiracy theory. However, although it seems crazy, the idea of mind control does have a basis in a similar, more scientific idea: subliminal messages. Subliminal messages are stimuli that pass under a typical person’s sensory threshold, meaning they are not detectable to the conscious mind. However, subliminal messages are registered by the subconscious, and theoretically can influence a person’s thoughts, actions, and decisions. The messages can be images flashed or hidden in other, larger images, audio such as speaking that is not perceivable, or other examples of stimuli such as smells that pass below the attention threshold. When used, subliminal message’s purposes are to influence the mind in some way to cause certain behaviors, thoughts, or actions (Treimer & Simonson, 1988).

Before the topic of subliminal messaging can be addressed, one must first understand subliminal perception. Subliminal perception is defined as "the processing of stimuli presented below the level of the consumer's awareness." (Solomon, p.629) Subliminal messaging is

While we are enthusiasts of entertainment and thrilling action, we are parental figures to the next generation of children on their way. Violence presented in media potentially affects children through vivid depictions of gore and tragedy, blurring the line between reality and fictionalized drama. The film industry and its’ supporters thrive off of these displays, drawing in crowds of spectators which provide the industry with an extraordinary amount of profit. Although many of these parents are also part of the viewing demographic of movies, concern looms in the access to this mature content. With the expansion of technology, access to inappropriate scenes and games are accessible to a child who is knowledgeable in the usage of

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.