The Worst Years Of Our Lives Barbara Ehrenreich Summary

​ Children who are exposed to violent media may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others. Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others as they deal with killing and cruelty most of the time. All shows and games need the kid to kill his enemy to win, he feels happy after killing or destroying whatever facing him to reach the top. That's why I'm not surprised when they become violent or cruel, they enjoy the surfing of others and this moves with them psychologically from media to reality. This is the moment when the kid starts to change into a monster. Also, children who watch a lot of violent T.V shows are more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place. Imagine, when your life is full of fear, running, killing and blood, what will you feel. Of course you will be afraid of living in such world. You will expect harmful actions from outside world all the time and as a result you will be terrified and live in fear from the entire world. Violent shows or video games are really harmful not only for children but for all the family, society and the world as well.

Unfortunately, this utopian argument doesn’t account for the countless studies correlating film and television viewing to perpetuated hate and stereotyping, and unhealthy lifestyle choices. Declining SAT scores and library check-outs over the decades have lead critics to believe that film and television are aiding in the international "dumbification" effort, in which individuals are losing the ability to think without direction. This phenomenon is closely related to the more recent "couch potato syndrome", in which laziness, lack of physical fitness and a passive attitude combine, producing the ultimate unhealthy lifestyle that is currently sweeping the majority of modern America. More important, however, are the two great faults of film and television. First, film and television establish false

The spread of television has affected American households universally, which started in the 1940s but has continued to make a dramatic surge. There is a trend at that is being captured across televisions in households everywhere. Politics, reality television, social media and public information is being broadcast from household to household. Television has in a way become a mode of how we think and interact with each other. Television is starting to leave that bubble where it was strictly entertainment, now television is becoming a source of what we must believe. The consumer demand for television as spiked dramatically, in the way we view ourselves and perceive others in the world around us is through a television screen. Although we are

Video games also play a big role on promoting violence. Even though most adults don’t play video games, our children do. And if we let our children play violent video games, wouldn’t you say that they are going to become violent? Kids learn by their surroundings. So playing a video game that teaches them about punching and kicking others they will do the same with their friends at school. And then we ask ourselves why the kid next door took a gun to school and shot his best friends?

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 book, The Worst Years of Our Lives, Barbara Ehrenreich describes the current American response to the modern television. She believes that television had changed overtime as over a decade ago, a majority of things shown on television were things people could do themselves. Today, however, television is full of violence, close-range shooting, racing, etc. This worries her because today's people are unable to do what they see on television and eventually become "couch potatoes" when they watch for hours at a time. Her belief is that there's no reason for a person to continue watching television due to the boredom and jealousy it causes.

In the United States children watch an average of three to fours hours of television daily (Cantor & Wilson, 1984, p. 28). Television can be a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming is violent. Studies of the effects of TV violence on children and teenagers have found that children may become insensitive to violence. Consequently, they tend to gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems by imitating the violence they observe on television; and they identify with certain characters, good or bad. Therefore, extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater

“Television is providing some sort of compensation for the social atomization that it itself has contributed to , and thus , all the simulated conviviality , while being a pleasant “dream,” is “pure wish fulfillment,” indeed, rather “phony,” and, perhaps, sad”(315).

Additionally, although violent video games might expose children to violent behavior, the amount of violence are not as great as the ones in movies and television. The news is filled with stories of war and murder, and nearly every movie contains some forms of violence. Plus, these two media are different from games in a very important way because they involve real people, not computer-generated characters. One of the social psychological science faculties in

Ehrenreich, in “The Worst Years of Our Lives,” talks about how we watch too much TV and how, “the force has transformed the American people into root vegetables,” and I mostly agree with her. It seems almost anytime I go over too a friend or family’s house, they have a TV on. In my own house, almost anytime my mom or brother is home the TV in the living room or his bedroom is on. Almost anytime we are doing something the TV is on. When we eat, the TV is on, when we talk about something, the TV is on.

Both the article, “Why I just asked my students to put their laptops away” by Clay Shirky, and the article, “The collective conscience of reality television” by Serena Elavia have their differences, but mostly similarities. The article by Clay Shirky talks about how electronics affect students while in school. Many teachers had been letting students use their phones and other electronics during a class but later teachers began to tell their students to put their devices away. The other article from Serena Elavia talks about television and how the producers don’t always show the truth behind the television screen and they are only making the viewers upset. The net Media was described on both of the articles, and how it’s also been affecting us today. Although there are many other differences between the two articles, some similarities include social media, distractions caused, and people’s desire over the topics, both articles agree with the topic.

Video games are also another form of entertainment that can promote violence. Many children spent most of their time in front of a TV playing video games. Video games have become a more recent trend. Many games consist of cursing, shooting, beating, and killing humans and monsters. The most games played are games that include killing and slaughtering other creatures and sports games that also have aggressive behavior. Video games have a stronger effect on children than watching television because the players take a direct and active task in the violence. The violence in these games can give them the idea that violence is an acceptable way to deal with problems.

          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.

As evidence has shown, children view many violent scenes while watching television, movies, or playing video games, but the question still remains: What psychological effect does violence in the media have on children? Research over the past 10 years has consistently shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real-life aggression (Strasburger 129). Violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the various programs. Of course, not all children who watch television, or movies, or play video games develop aggressive behavior. However, there is a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior. A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, examined how children's television viewing practices are related to aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that children who reported watching greater amounts of television per day had higher levels of violent behavior than children who reported lesser amounts of television viewing (Singer 1041). Witnessing violence is an important determining factor in violent behavior. The media serves as a means for children to witness violence. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, children imitate behavior that they see on television, especially if the person performing the behavior is attractive or if the

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.