Is Television A Harmful Medium? “In 1961 I worried that my children would not benefit much from television, but in 1991 I worry that my grandchildren will actually be harmed by it. Newton N. Minow, FCC Chairman The impact of television on the childs development is a controversial issue that has been a subject to a lively debate in recent years. Some Americans claim television is a kind of entertainment that can also be very educational. Others believe that it does great harm to children, which are very vulnerable in psychological matters. Both parties can be justified in their beliefs, and neither is actually wrong. The thing is that some TV programmes are rather useful and help children to liberalize and broaden their outlook.
But who can guarantee that kids will only watch these safe educational programmes? According to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 (Section 551, “Parental Choice in Television Programming,” Section (a)), an average American child is exposed to 25 hours of television each week and some children are exposed to as much as 11 hours of television a day[]. At the same time the findings claim that children in the United States are, on average, exposed to an estimated 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television by the time the child completes elementary school[]. The numbers are really horrible, taking into consideration the fact that almost everything children are seeing is essentially going into their minds in some sort of uncensored or unfiltered way []. What is worse, children tend to assume that acts of violence acceptable in everyday life. Thousands of kids nationwide have cable or satellite TV installed in their bedrooms. As a result they watch whatever they want and the television programming content is full of abusive and destructive information. This content not controlled by neither the broadcasting company, nor by the parents.
The Essay on 2005 From Web Children Television Violence
Sponge Bob Square Pant is Taking Over FACT: The average American child will have watched 100, 000 acts of televised violence, including 8000 depictions of murder, by the time he or she finishes sixth grade (approximately 13 years old). We live in an era where both parents are often working and children have more unsupervised time. The children of America spend their time on many different ...
The violence shown on television very often leads to aggressive behaviour, desensitization to real-life violence and “mean and scary world” syndrome. The researchers and doctors tend to agree that TV programming is actually harmful to children. Increased fear, animosity, cruelty and emotional outbursts seem to be only some few of a great list of negative impacts of combative programs. All this is all about harmful programmes; the negative impact of actually watching TV wasnt yet mentioned, though this issue needs consideration as well. Television is, to some extent, responsible and guilty of increased obesity and lack of adequate physical development among both adults and children. But this is another type of problem; let us return to the divisive issue of harmful TV programming. Those, who think television is only an entertainment, are probably not taking into consideration the amount of time spent in front of TV.
This addiction makes considerable impact on our minds and behaviour. But watching combative programmes doesnt necessarily make the child behave violently, one may claim. This is true; the possibility of negative influence is determined by numerous factors, such as: age, personality, relationships in family, amount of time spent in front of TV etc. But even if TV programs will not stimulate violence, they will still make children think cruelty is a normal type of behaviour. In addition, aggressive images may result in increased fear among children. If you dont want your child to suffer psychologically, you should accept the fact that television is a source of harmful information. And try to manage and control TV viewing to the maximum, if possible.
The Essay on Violence On Television Children Leland Parents
... violence. Television and other media have caused unnecessary violence and effected the children of the entire country. Television causes violence in children. It also inspires harmful ... people believe that parents should control the censorship of programming they cannot do it all. The V-chip ... does give parents some control" (Zog lin 59). Children are impacted by all education in every part of their ...
Searching for TV programs of high quality and watching them together as a family might be good suggestions in proper television content management. Although satellite and digital channels provide a wonderful opportunity to discover numerous outstanding facts and events, it remains the source of inappropriate and harmful information. Keep in mind that it is not safe to leave a child unsupervised in front of a TV set. On the contrary, the results may be deplorable. Its up to you to decide whos in charge: you or the remote control.
Bibliography:
“Parental Choice in Television Programming”.
The Telecommunications Act, 1996, Section 551(a): Findings. Public Law 104-104. 8 Feb. 1996. Dobson, James C., Ph.D., Media influence. Children and television Excerpted from Coming Home, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
1998. Focus on the Family. 12 Oct. 2004. . Television’s Impact on Kids. Media Awareness Network, 2004.
11 Oct. 2004. Methvin, Eugene H. “T.V. violence: the shocking new evidence”. Reader’s Digest Jan.
1983 Minow, N. Newton. How To Zap TV Violence The Wall Street Journal, 3 Aug. 1993. Television Violence (Senate 10 Sept. 1993), [page: s11470] 12 Oct. 2004.
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