Television and Media - Daytime Talk TV is Immoral Essay

Numerous studies have concluded that the content and amount of television programming watched by individuals – especially by children - has a direct result on the behavior of that individual. The behavior affected by television viewing can be anything from a desire for a certain food or material good to violent distemper (Zuckerman 1985.) Recently, more and more woman have given up their traditional role of raising their children opting instead to work during the day and leave their children to take care of themselves. Unfortunately, many children find that spending countless hours in front of the television to be a worthwhile way to entertain themselves. Most parents tell their children never to talk to strangers, but what they fail to realize is that every day their children are subject to the messages and ideas of strangers on the television. In fact, a study concluded that an average American by the age of 18 has spent more time watching television than they have spent in school; this study also went on the state that children spend more time watching television than any other activity besides sleeping. This may explain why an additional study revealed that if a child was told something by his or her parents and then viewed on television something that contradicted what the parents had said, four times out of five the child opted to believe the

When the first television was first successfully shown, people thought that this invention brought people to a new age, and that the television was a huge benefit to humanity. Unfortunately, since then the Golden Era of television's moral and standards have fallen drastically. We are far away from the days when Lassie and the town of Mayberry ruled the airways and were the talk of America. What was once intended as a benefit for society has become its detrimental fall, now instead of upholding American society's standards, television is working to corrupt the very society it intended to help.

Today’s society has lost its values and social responsibility. Our lives have become literally “empty” of anything to value or to relate to. We have grown so afraid to risk true emotion from within, that we seek it outside ourselves. One way this emptiness is filled is by the seductive stimulation of reality TV.

After hearing a song on the radio or a commercial jingle on TV more than 1000 times, that tune just gets stuck in your head. Similarly, the portrayals of television programs become part of our being and therefore can subtly influence attitudes behaviors and ultimately values. Sometimes these changes are for the better, sometimes not.

Many unrealistic images of families and their situations are fed to viewers as they watch reality shows. The shows that are currently being shows such as Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant give off the image that although it is hard to have a child at that age, it is still a wonderful experience. Many of the viewers of these shows are teenagers and they can give the appearance that it is okay to have a child at such a young age. In reality, having a child at that age is a difficulty. These false personas go against the grain of how normal families should be. Every reality show that is on television displays some amount of falsity. Not every teen mom can have everything that she wants, and not every family has as much drama as what is shown in these programs. The question that should be asked is if these shows are hurting society? The answer to that is yes. Although the programs are entertaining, they falsely advertise to individuals that their life should have the same issues and drama that is created in the shows; consequently, they believe their lives are subpar compared to the ones that are displayed on television. Due to these unrealistic family images, society is straying from morals.

     The problem with reality television is more than just one issue, there are several issues that can be researched on this topic.  The issues of this research are how reality television affects the morals of our youth at home, in school, and in society.  Is violence on television affecting the way children view what is moral or immoral.  This research will point out what children tend to think or feel about what they see on television.  Reality television is not the only shows where children see violence and immoral acts; they also see it on cartoons.  Cartoons are the most watched shows by younger children and adolescent’s alike.

According to the University of Iowa's Children's Hospital, each year television exposes youth to more than 14,000 sexual references and jokes. (Skeen par. 2) From what has been observed in daily routines, you can walk through a high school and easily hear several cuss words, a good amount of sexual jokes, and maybe even some talk about drugs or alcohol. Televisions, especially reality shows, have taught our youth today that it is acceptable to behave this

Television has had an impact on our lives, bringing new information that we probably haven’t heard of before. It informs the viewers of lives of people who struggle with themselves and shows the viewers how to solve them. Reality helps more people than does harm because it educates on certain people’s lives that need some educating on. These shows are improving young audiences knowledge by spreading positive messages through blunt situations.

Haggerty’s is a freelance journalist in Washington D.C.. She has the experience of being a business and real estate reporter, and also the editor for The Washington Post for more than twenty years. Haggerty has also graduated from George Washington University with a bachelor’s degree. She is a fan of reality television and has written this article to show the effect of reality television in the world we live in today and the messages they are sending to their audiences. Haggerty focuses on popular reality television shows, such as Keeping up with the Kardashians and the Real World, and how their messages can negatively affect the viewers of these shows. She also talks about how these reality shows have an impact on our lives, from perspectives on beauty standards, messages of violence, and social ratings. The author is able to show us how reality television effects us as a culture through the examples, ratings, perspectives, current situations, and reality television today. This article she has written is within the past six years and is still current today. She shares different perspective on each side of the argument of reality television having negative effects on culture and society and is not biased in her scholarly article backing up a lot of her reasoning and facts with evidence and other reliable resources. The source is accurate and reliable because she has posted her article on CQ Research’s website, which presents award-winning extensive reports on the essential

For decades there has been debate as to how television media affects our children. Many parents have been concerned since the beginning of television. Through extensive research over the last few decades, television has been thought to desensitize and have detrimental effects on our children, which inhibits them from developing feelings of security, compassion, diplomacy, and discernment. Television watching also promotes violence, unsafe sexual practices, and eating disorders in children.

Television has come to define American culture and its youth in very significant ways. What began as a platform for entertainment has branched out into becoming a remarkable and unexpected way for younger children to learn. It is important to note what is being broadcasted on television because of how much influence it has on the youth. It has become the dominant storyteller in homes rather than parents, the church, or schools (Signorielli, 2001). As technology further advances, children are generally also becoming more comfortable with television and therefore spending more time watching television. Children should not be receiving most of their learning from television to begin with, however the learning that they are receiving should at

Reality television only shows what viewers want to see and is dishonest and distorts the truth about reality. After years celebrity Kate Gosselin has been attacked for everything she did and does. People magazine says “When the show melted down along with the Gosselin marriage after Jon was caught partying with other women, the twins – 10 years old at the time – were old enough to grasp that their world had been shattered” (Coyne 58). This statement shows that reality television brings fighting and divorce to families in reality television. Reality television shows unreal situations and make people start to fight and change. “A study found that people who watched reality television of the surveillance docu-drama variety (as opposed to competition shows) were more likely to believe that relationship drama is normal and to overestimate the amount of bad behavior – such as gossiping – that women engage in” (O’mara 2).When reality television shows problems, those problems start to happen in our society because people see it on television and want to be like reality stars.

Ever since television was invented, it has become increasingly controversial every year since. So many programs and movies shown on television have become increasingly violent and show sexual innuendos and sexual content. If you were to turn on the six o' clock news, you would hear about the murders and the kidnappings and the rapes and all of the horrible things which happen in society, presented in a neutral manner which makes them all seem not quite so bad. Imagine how that looks to twelve year old child. Television has, since its invention, always been America's favorite source of entertainment. As society has changed, violence and sexual content have been added ever so increasingly over the years. After all, isn't that what

The role of mass media in the society cannot be underrated. All breaking news consistently aired and disseminated to the public as soon as it occurs. Furthermore, some forms of mass media such as the television heavily contribute towards the shaping of the consciousness of many people. According to Berger, “the media entertain us, socialize us, inform us, educate us, sell things to us (and sell us, as audiences, to advertisers), and indoctrinate us – among other things” (17). Moreover, television is a story-telling centralized system. All the programs viewed on television create a coherent system that signifies various messages in every homestead (Gerbner 177). Crime drama programs are not an exception and is not a new thing on television;

The central distortion that these shows propound is that they give useful therapy to guests and useful advice to the audience. And that they are not primarily designed to extract the most riveting and most entertaining emotional displays from participants. This leads to such self-serving and silly speeches by hosts as: "I ask this question not to pry in your business but to educate parents in our audience" (Oprah, trying to get graphic details from a female guest who claims to have been sodomized by her father) and "Do I understand, Lisa, that intercourse began with your dad at age 12, and oral sex between 5 and 12? Do I understand that you were beaten before and after the sexual encounters? (Phil, reading from prepared notes, to a crying teenager).