Television And Its Impact On Children

“Television has changed the American child from an irresistable force to an immovable object.” (Peter). There was a time when all children wanted to do was to run, play, explore, and be adventurous. As time evolved, children have found more interest in television. Statistics show that a child spends 900 hours per year in school,and they spend 1,200 hours per year watching television. When asked to choose between watching T.V. and spending time with their families fifty-four percent of four to six year olds voted they would prefer to watch television. Television has changed the mindset of children over the years it has been proven that the more programs they watch, the more harmful it is to their brain development. T.V.

The main reason we watch TV is for entertainment where we can view shows and movies. Shows and movies expose individuals to a variety of cultures and values that they do not see often. Another use of television is for information such as news, political views, and advertisements. Televisions inform us of news around our community and world, and also persuade us in buying products or donating money to a cause. An ongoing controversy has risen such tha televisions can be harmful to children because of the vulgar language and violence shown through modern day shows or even celebrities. Viewing too much television can be time consuming and may even discourage children to go play outside and be social. Watching the newscast has changed my life by informing me of the violence that goes on throughout my community. Also, a negative effect of watching too much television has taken up my time when I could have been doing more productive tasks.

Part 1: Outline The Similarities And Differences Between The Studies - Bandura et al. (1963) &

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.

     Although Marie Win had her point, I tend to disagree that television is a bad influence on our lives. Television does not destroy family value; it is us who destroy family value. For example parents who have little or no time for their children often substitute television as a baby-sitter and parents blame television as child bad conduct. But it is parents who should to be blame for the child's bad behavior because not providing proper care and guide for the child. Parents should set limitation and boundaries for themselves to cope with the television addiction. Family matter should be their number one priority in family.

Does violence on television have a negative effect on children and teenagers? The violence seen on television has had surprising negative effect. Violence shown on television causes children and teenagers to develop behavioral problems and learning disabilities. Such behavioral and learning problems include; language development, school performance / learning, cognitive development and their general behavior to others (Kinnear 27). In a study on the correlation between violence and television done with 1,565 teenage boys over a six-year period in London, William Belson, a British psychologist, found that every time a child saw someone being shot or killed on television they became less caring towards other people. William Belson also

Television has progressed and advanced over the years to become the cornerstone of leisure and entertainment. Television is an advanced method of storytelling and storytelling has existed since the birth of humanity. As opposed to storytelling, television allows us to experience stories for ourselves without leaving the comfort of our homes. It essentially allows us to simulate and experience human interaction without actually interacting. As a result, television has become embedded into our daily lifestyles. It has become a source of influence so much so that according to Robert MacNeil, “by the age of 20 you will have been exposed to at least 20,000 hours of television. Robert MacNeil wrote the article “The Trouble with Television” as a way to persuade the American people in recognizing the negative effects of television on society and its future.

Television has increasingly become the quintessential epicenter of communication, since its invention, in 1927. At any moment in time 2.5 billion people are viewing some form of television broadcast (Ballard). Modern society has introduced various categories of television. These variations range from educational to violent. This broad spectrum makes it hard to generalize the effects it has had on American youth; however, television seems to have increased moral and intellectual degradation. Through violent shows and monotonous news broadcasts, American youths have become desensitized to the poverties, and hardships of the world. This desensitization has had several, and moreover negative, moral impacts on the youths of America. Nevertheless,

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 does not develop as well when they have television in the background while they are playing. McCall also argues that TV has a very influential role in the teen pregnancy rate and how early teens become sexually active. To further prove his point, McCall proclaims that children and teens that are exposed to too much Television and video games become socially awkward and have trouble interacting in society. McCall also says that the networks are rating their own programs carelessly which is leading to shows that should be blocked

Television has played an integral role in the American home for so long that people wouldn’t know which direction to face their couches without it. For decades it has brought families together for a few hours of shared enjoyment at the end of the day, and given co-workers something to talk about at the water cooler to distract them from the dull tasks that lay ahead of them. TV has capitalized on this ability to distract its mass of viewers from their everyday lives. Content was never really the main purpose of television – its purpose was to produce shows that would attract the largest audiences, and to increase the amount of advertisements seen by a highly consumerist culture. In its attempt to appeal to the mainstream, it has, in a very

There are many forces and factors that shape the society of America. The media has a profound affect on how we perceive the world since it is controlled by others. Many of people come home and turn on the television. They zone out, and are bombarded with ads and TV shows that seem harmless but are harmful on a subconscious level. TV has become universal and affects everybody of all ages, religions, races, sizes, and sexes. There have been a number of recent studies that portray the negative affects of TV. Media, such as television, is a hindrance to America's society because it causes more violence, creates image problems and deteriorates self esteem,

The author sheds light on the idea that younger generations are affected in a positive way when they watch reality T.V. While viewers are engaged watching a show, they learn to think critically and analyze environments and situations. Johnson discusses that in watching these shows, even reality TV for example, “kids are forced to think like grown-ups: analyzing complex social networks, managing resources, tracking subtle narrative intertwining’s, recognizing long-term patterns”(Johnson 294). I believe this could be a positive impact, but could also have some negative outcomes. Johnson believes that even bad T.V. is good T.V. because it teaches real world situations. This is where I believe the negative impact of the exposure of T.V. comes into play, because shows with high levels of violence could lead to the viewer reenacting the seen behavior; this goes for not only violence but other things as well. He also refers to a show that he considers nourishing; the finished series of 24, that “you have to pay attention, make inferences, track shifting social relationships” (Johnson 279). The benefit of these shows does not come from learning and following the characters’ actions; it comes from thinking and questioning situations. Studies done by Matthew Gentzkow, an assistant professor of economics at the university 's graduate school of business, and Jesse M. Shapiro conducted a study collecting data from cities where preschoolers were exposed to

TV shows represent a great influence in children because they learn how to behave by imitating what they watch on TV. By watching TV, children get the idea of how gender roles are structured in society, and they think that is the proper way to classify men and women. Since a young age, children create their own perspective about gender roles and they grow up following the same example they learned when they were little. TV shows are a media that society uses to teach people the differences on gender roles and to keep the traditional point of view that society has been creating through the time; TV shows plays an important tool in the construction of gender. Women and men have always been portrayed in society in a different way; generally, men are considered to be better than women. Women are expected to have roles that are according to the common stereotypes that have been established in society; women’s proper place is at home to take care of the family. The Simpsons deals with common stereotypes about nuclear family and women roles which have always been present in American culture; the show represents and challenges the ideologies about gender roles and patriarchy because sometimes, the show is contradictory since it represents women as the typical housewife, and other times, women are represented as taking a new role because they begin to work outside of the house. Although The Simpsons portrays ideologies of the modern nuclear family and gender roles, it still

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.

As television channels in the 1960’s continued to display numerous violence, American comedy, and offensive commercials, television programming offered scanty, enjoyable shows for the general audience. Newton Minow, the Federal Communications Chairman (FCC) from 1961 to 1963, argued for a better quality of television in his “Address to the Broadcasting Industry” to over 2,000 members of the National Association of Broadcasters. As a result, it generated a national debate about the quality of television programming. Throughout his speech, Minow argues for better television programming since other means of communication offer better content, children are exposed to only violence and cartoons, and the