The Effects of Television Violence on America Essay

Today violence has become an every day experience in life. Playing video games or turning on the television, and flipping through the channels at random, you will most likely stumble upon various forms of violence. Does it desensitize or help us tolerate violence? And the most controversial issue, does it cause violence?

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

Television has many shows with violence with it like Power ranger, Criminal Mind, and The Walking Dead. In the show The Walking Dead is a show where a group of people try to survive in a zombie apocalypse and have to use guns to shoot down the zombies. A child mind is easily molded easily, so when a child sees violence on a television show they can learn to do violent actions in the future. An example of this is when a child watches a show with a lot of fighting in it. Shows with a lot of fighting in it are Power rangers and The kids next store. Most children mimic what happens on television and start learning violent actions. This can lead to the child to think that violence is tolerable and start to do more violence actions in the future. Later when they become adult they are more likely to use violence to solve their problems. An example of this happening is when an adult is teased and start a fight with someone. Not all shows have violence in them, Dora the explora and Curious George are shows that are educational. In Dora the explora a girl with her monkey friend go on adventure and have to use problem solving to get to their destination. Scientists like Leonard Eron have tested that television does have a negative effect on society. The study of human behavior is Anthropologist and archeologist. The scientist tested if television had a negative effect on society. They tested this by having parent volunteer their child to watch several type of shows. The children were separated into two group, group A and group B. Group A were shown violent shows and group B was shown educational shows. Eight years after the test children from group A were more likely to be more aggressive and do

In fairy tales, children are pushed into ovens, have their hands chopped off, are forced to sleep in coal bins, and must contend with wolves who've eaten their grandmother. In myths, rape, incest, all manner of gruesome bloodshed, child abandonment, and total debauchery are standard fare. We see more of the same in Bible stories, accentuated with dire predictions of terrors and abominations in an end of the world apocalypse that is more horrifying than the human imagination can even grasp.

I chose this topic because I want to be a videogame designer and I wanted to defend my right to create what I want. Unfortunately, after researching this topic it is clear that it is no longer possible to say violent media is completely harmless. Videogames and television do have harmful effects on children and young adults. Research has been done since the 1950’s and almost all studies show clear evidence that media violence does cause increased violent tendencies, desensitization, and antisocial behavior – which is the same as sociopathic and psychopathic behavior, it does not mean introverted.

“Corporate greed is the beating heart of America!” (Law & Order) There is an insatiable hunger that strikes every commercial business. It is an unquenchable desire for more money. Who wants more money? Most corporations do not have to think more than once about this question. They already know the answer. Their only mission is to increase the amount of money they make in one way or another, and to discover effective ways to acquire even more of this coveted resource. Businesses exist for money and use money to exist. Quite simply, they are controlled by how much money they have or how much debt they have. They are controlled entirely by greed and the love of money. The truth is that most corporations would do anything in order to

The world we live in today is filled with violence everywhere you look. Whether it be through the news, books, video games, or movies, society is constantly being bombarded with violence and war. Growing up, children learn at an early age that violence can solve any problem. Violence is never the answer. People who act out in violence ruin their own lives and others' lives as well. People die for no reason every day from unstable men, women, and children that act out violently. According to the WHO, World Health Organization, one person is killed every minute. Most problems of this world can be solved peacefully; however, people choose to act out violently instead of working

No matter where we are or what we do the media is always going to be a factor in how children are brought up. Unfortunately the media is also a source of a lot of violence. We live in a time where violence is literally at every corner and the media just provides another root to seeing that violence. This quote found in a Oxford research paper tells a perfect story about violence in the media: “Unfortunately, the presence of violence in electronic media content is almost as prevalent as the media itself. Violence can be found in music, television shows, video games, and even YouTube videos. Content analyses have shown that nearly all media contain violence, irrespective of age rating”(Busching, Robert, Johnie Allen, and Craig Anderson.). This goes to show that no matter how children are raised, it is impossible to get away from violence when that is exactly what our media is made

Violence is an issue in human nature. Everyone has their own definition and their own interpretations of violence. The big question is if the world is still growing in its violent nature, or is it finally reaching its solemn, peaceful generation. The evolution of violence has grown in many different paths from survival of the fittest, genocide, slavery, etc. According to Steven Pinker’s article “Violence Vanquished,” he explains how the world is entering an era of peace because we do not deal with the same violence our ancestors did in the past. That is true. We abolished slavery, stopped brutal wars, and revolutionized with strategies such as commerce. Pinker analyzes his arguments very well, but negates common issues of violence that we still

Everyone’s seen the classic cartoons. Wile E. Coyote chasing the Roadrunner around a bend, only the Roadrunner turns, but our comedic--and usually stupid--villain doesn’t. So, he falls from a height of what looks like about 500,000 feet, only to become a small puff of smoke at the bottom of the canyon. After all, if what happens to you when you fall from that height were to have happened to Mr. Coyote, that would have been a very short lived cartoon series. Maybe this example is an exaggeration, but the idea is the same: violence comes streaming into our homes every single day through our TVs not to be viewed, but to be devoured. It’s been proven that sex and violence sell. For those

The media in today’s society is very influential on children. There are many things that children at a very young age are learning, for example violence. Many children learn violent behavior and they become violent and aggressive children because they are exposed to so much mature content. Many parents are not aware of what their children are watching, and without knowing it, their children are raised by the media. Many television shows contain a lot of violence, for example kids fighting each other, kids bullying other kids and kids yelling and disrespecting their parents. Unfortunately, at a very young age children are learning to be aggressive and violent because they are spending more time watching television than spending it

Television is especially influential on the children of today. Thirty years ago, not every home had a television; they were considered a luxury that only the rich could afford. Now, most households have two televisions and children watch them incessantly. Many children's programs are extremely violent and a child can learn violent behavior from watching these programs. For example, about a month ago, in Norway, a small girl was beaten, stripped, and left to die by three boys aged 5, 6, and 6. When asked why

The media is a part of everyday life in American kids. Children are surrounded by technology, entertainment, and other media that is full of violence. Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the internet all contain violence. Today's media has a negative influence on children. The media does have an influence on them, but does it really influence them to act out even though they know it's wrong? Mass media, and its components, are very powerful and can influence one's mind, as well as their behavior. Children that imitate characters who use violence in the media and display aggressive behavior, tend to give them reason to believe that violence can happen without consequence. For children who grow up with poor adult examples or an

          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.

some adults), however, do not always realize this is not the way difficult situations are handled in