Go Watch Tv example essay topic

Although some people believe that television is very educational for children, I believe that television has had more negative effects on our society than positive. Television has brought violence, sex, and drugs directly into the living rooms and bedrooms of our nation's families. Because of this our society's morals and standards are becoming extinct. The opposition might say that education and technology are an important asset to our society, not to mention teaching children important motor skills and the fundamentals of education. Mike Males is the author of the article "Stop Blaming Kids and TV". In his article he argues that children are only doing what they see their parents doing.

All these things are being passed down from generation to generation; drug abuse, alcoholism, anger, and hate. Television is not to be blamed for the violence in today's schools and neighborhoods. Yes, kids do get a lot of bad traits from their parents and I believe Males to be correct to some extent. But how would that explain the decreasing morals of today's society. If all our emotional problems came from our parents, then why isn't today's society like it was fifty years ago?

I believe this is a result of violent, sex driven television and the vulgar entertainment industry we call Hollywood. Furthermore, television has become a baby sitter for many families across the nation. I grew up on a farm, and when my Mom was fed up with my brothers and I, she told us to go outside and play in the yard. I cannot even begin to count what percentage of my childhood was spent outside with my brothers. I can only imagine what kind of condition I would be in if every time my Mom wanted some space she told us to, "Go watch TV".

When the average parents gets a baby sitter they try to select someone who they trust, a friend of the family maybe, or some one with a good background with kids. But who thinks to check the background on the television set. It is true you can control what your kids are watching to some extent. But even Males admits to the statistics that", 'the average American child will witness...

200,000 acts of [TV] violence' by the time that child graduates from high school" (179). Scott Stossel writes in his article "The Man Who Counts the Killings" about the investigation and controversy of the relationship between TV and violence among children and teenagers. Stossel writes about the shocking statistics of prime time television and children's programs. "On average there are more than five violent scenes in an hour of prime time, and five murders a night.

There are twenty-five violent acts an hour in Saturday-morning cartoons-the programs most watched by children, usually without any supervision". All these statistics show that TV is not the one hundred percent perfect, educational, blameless, and superior technological advancing tool it is made out to be. As a matter of fact television is responsible for hundreds of thousands of violent acts each year. Something like this cannot be condoned by our nation and must be censored a hundred times better than it has in the past. It is quite clear that the mass acceptance of television as a family pastime has influenced millions of violent acts in our society. As if this was not enough to condemn the TV set, there are still many downfalls of the television.

Studies have proven physical conditions related to watching too much TV, specifically the deterioration of eyesight among kids. Thousands of hours spent in front of the tube have caused nearsightedness in children and adults. Over seventy percent of Americans are overweight, this is mostly blamed on our grease filled diets, but I'm sure it doesn't help that the average American will spend one fourth of their life sitting on a couch in front of a TV. In closing I must once again stress the importance of filtering what children are watching on television. The TV has become the center of almost every family room in America with all the chairs directed towards the promising screen of entertainment. I urge you to take a look at how the things you watch make you feel, and what kind of affect television has had on your life.

If you weigh the pros and cons, and seriously contemplate them, I think you will agree with me when I say, "If the cost of the development of technological advances and mass communication is even a single child's life, than I say it costs too much".

Bibliography

Males, Mike. "Stop Blaming Kids and TV". The Progressive October 1997 Report in The Contemporary Reader 7th ed.
Ed. Gary Goshgarian. New York: Longman, 2002.
178-172 Stossel, Scott. "The Man Who Counts the Killings". The Atlantic Monthly May 1997 Report in The Contemporary Reader 7th ed.