Televised Violence example essay topic

Recent studies from all around the world have proved that Television has an effect on people as individuals and as a whole. We have coined the phrase "couch potato" for people who sit around watching TV all the time. There has been numerous studies on people of all ages from toddlers to senior citizens on what effects television has on the human psyche. No one can say and believe that television has no effects on society. It is argued constantly whether television reflects society or society reflects what they see on television. TV has become a major part of every American home.

Many other developed countries are just the same. Society is what is on television. It is real people acting like another real person writes them to act. Society is making TV so in my opinion neither society or TV actually "reflect" one another, but they blend into pure entertainment. One way or the other, people and society as a whole are affected by television in many ways. Many People like to argue that television is horrible and that it ruins kids minds.

There is good evidence to support this view also. Robert DuRant is one of the many people that believe what children are exposed to teaches them how they are supposed to act. He has studied how exposure to violence in the media results in fighting, carrying a weapon, and an intention to use violence. In a study done in 1999 by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, it was shown that American children watch an average of three to four hours of television a day. (American 1) The most suprising results of DuRant's studies were that girls were more affected than boys were. Kids who had already seen violence on television were more likely to imitate what they saw and were more likely to be violent in school.

Often children who see violence on the television cannot differentiate what is reality and what is television. This can mean big trouble for the child and the people who may be around the child when he chooses to figure out the hard way. Whether television is "horrible" or not is everyone's own opinion, but it does effect society's young and old. (McLellan 1-3) There has also been studies about TV making Americans fat. When you throw in a Big Mac and some fries with two and a half hours of TV a day, of course your going to gain weight.

Unfortunately many Americans today actually do this on a daily basis. Not saying that television makes us fat by itself. Like the Big Mac I mentioned before, fast food is really blamed for making Americans fat. Television has proved a major cut in exercise and physical activities simply because it provides something else to do. Before television was around people did things outside because there was not much point in sitting around inside. People did read, but most of the time people read before bed or after they have been active and are relaxing.

This is another way that television affects society and the people who make it up. Television consists of images and situations within which we grow up and live. In other words, we learn from TV whether we even realize it or not. At any time of day you can turn on the television and see something that you have never seen before.

If you are not even paying attention you might even catch something subliminally. Considering how much Americans watch TV now days, most people seem to be paying more attention than that though. It is the same thing as sporting events have done to kids even before television. Before television, but not before sports, all boys wanted to be a football player, baseball player or some sports star. Now days there are still those who want to do those things because they see them on TV, but there is also those who want to be movie stars and newscasters.

This alone proves that television has effected society just by the fact that it has created a humongous amount of jobs. Some people shape their lives around being on and around the television business. Others shape their lives around watching television. How many women do you know, and even some younger girls, that tape their favorite soap or soaps when they have to go somewhere during the day.

Everyone knows at least one woman who does or has done this. This is also an example of an effect of television on society, planning around what comes on TV. Some specific shows have been shown to influence peoples behaviors. WWF, for example, has been proven to increase not only the use of violence, but also the use of cigarettes, alcohol, drugs, and more. (McLellan 1-3) What are kids thinking when they are watching wrestling and the coolest guy comes out and downs a beer and then wins the match. They are thinking, man that is cool, I want to be like him.

Okay, so all kids do not think exactly this way, but a good number of them do. Oprah influences society in another way. Millions of women watch Oprah every day and pay very close attention to what she and her guests have to say. Women ask Oprah and Dr. Phil their most important questions. How does TV not affect society again? Oh yeah, it really affects society in many ways and on more than one level.

Advertising companies sure do believe that television has an effect society. If they did not think that television was affecting people they would not pay hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars during big events, for thirty second commercials. The commercials during the super bowl have become almost as popular as the game itself and recently have cost brand names billions of dollars. Companies pay big money to advertise during the Olympics also. Advertising companies are really developed around advertising on television, because almost every American has a TV in his or her house.

Violence is all over the media these days and it too affects the way society sees reality. Humans are unconsciously attracted to violence and when TV writers were finally allowed to show it on television they knew it would be a jackpot. Television networks will put violence in a commercial for a show that will come on later to attract the viewer's eye and make him or her want to watch the show. (Szaflik 1) This is sad but true.

Can we stop it now that it has gone this far though? Children are the most influenced by watching TV. Children are still learning new things every single day and are exited about it. What they see on TV makes them wonder about all the situations that they are seeing. Depending on what they are watching this could be a very bad or a very good thing.

For a kid who grows up watching I Love Lucy and the Discovery Channel, he should be fine. He will still be influenced by all of the shows ideas and situations, but he will be learning reasonably good things. But the kid who grows up watching gangster movies and horror films with violence and sex in them might not turn out so fine and dandy. This child is going to grow up with all the wrong ideas about sex and violence and life itself. While not every kid will be a screw up because they watched rated R films when they were young, the ones without good families will more than likely become one. Television now is way worse than what was shown on the big screen in the 50's.

And violence and sex offenses have raised non-stop since then. This is an effect that TV has on society. While television can be good entertainment and even educational, some is also bad. No matter which way one chooses to look at the matter, television does affect society. Television not only affects society in the short-term, but also in the long.

Columbia University's Jeffery Johnson did a study on about 700 boys and girls about some longer-term effects of television viewing. He and other researchers followed the kids for seventeen years and took into consideration family income, childhood neglect, and psychiatric disorders. With all these things accounted for, the fact still remained that violent television viewing resulted in adults who behaved more aggressively than people who viewed TV much less. This study was published in Science magazine. The editorial that accompanied the study said that it probably underestimated the effects of TV violence. Research shows that one average hour of television viewing contains four or five acts of violence.

Most cartoons contain twenty to twenty five violent acts an hour. America's first major study on the effects of violence on television was a 1972 U.S. surgeon general's report that said, "Televised violence, indeed, does have an adverse effect on certain members of our society". (Blakey 1) Shannon Kennedy believes that television is a drug. She believes it is addictive and a destroyer of human life. Not unlike drugs or alcohol, the television experience allows the viewer to blot out the real world and enter into a pleasurable and passive mental state. The worries and anxieties of reality are ignored by becoming absorbed in a television program as by going on a 'trip' induced by drugs or alcohol.

And just as alcoholics are only vaguely aware of their addiction, feeling that they control their drinking more than they really do, people similarly overestimate their control over television watching. Even as they put off other activities to spend hour after hour watching television, they feel they could easily resume living an active, non-television watching life. With television pleasures available, those other experiences seem less attractive, more difficult because it requires one to actually get up and do something for themselves. 66 percent of American homes have more than three television sets in their homes. 54 percent of kids have a set in their bedrooms.

Billions of dollars are spent each year on advertising just for TV shows because commercials influence people to watch more TV, and this is what they are going for. (Kennedy 1) Television has been affecting society ever since people could purchase a set. Television has become a major part of today's society and affects everyone who spends time watching it. I am not saying that TV is bad even though most of the evidence of it affecting society in negative. I believe that television can be a useful educational tool and great entertainment. It is everyone's own opinion whether television is a good idea.

People like Kennedy think that it is a drug, and many scientists think it causes people to commit crimes and be more aggressive in older ages. Either way you look at it television does affect society.

Bibliography

American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Children and TV Violence. July 2nd, 2002.
Blakey, Rea. "Study links TV Viewing Among Kids to Later Violence". CNN. com. August 4th, 2002.
Kennedy, Shannon. Television and Society: Viewing Ourselves in a Box. August 4th, 2002 McLellan, Faith.
Do Violent Movies Make Violent Children?" Szaflik, Kevin. School page. 22 July 2002 Questions.