English 111, Section 06 23 October 1999 “TV: The Other Parent” Is it
parents’ fault or children’s that they sit hours in front their big glowing
box mesmerized, and learning violent behavior as a means of relating to others.
The truth about television violence and children has been shown. Studies have
been carried out and all the results point to the same conclusion: Violence on
Television affects the behavior of children who are watching it. In fact,
violence on TV causes children to be increasingly violent, and the effects could
be life-long. “Some psychologists and psychiatrists believe that continued
exposure to violence can speed up the impact of the adult world on a child’s
life” (Douglas Carter T. V. Violence and the Child). Exposure to violent
material can force the child into a kind of premature maturity, and make the
child become bewildered and have a greater distrust towards others. It even
could make the child have awkward approach to adult problems and they might even
develop a desire not to become adults. Television violence can destroy a young
child’s mind, and the effects may be ever lasting. This is made obvious in New
York, where a 16-year-old boy broke into a cellar. When the police caught him
and asked him why he was wearing gloves, he said that he had learned not to
leave fingerprints from TV. And even another case in Alabama where a
nine-year-old received a bad report from his teacher and had plans to send her
poisoned candy like he had seen the night before on a TV show (Michael Howe J.
A. Television and Children). This proves that after viewing television violence
the world, through a child’s eyes, becomes distorted in comparison. The
children create violence to help keep them-selves satisfied. The reason children
are so drawn to the violence on TV today is that the characters on TV make it
look fun, so the children find it fun to imitate. The Mighty Morphin' Power
Rangers are a prime example of kids imitating TV characters as fun. Our
government has conducted an experiment where children were left alone in a room
with a TV playing a videotape of other children at play, and soon things got out
of hand. The kids who had just seen commercial violence accepted much higher
levels of aggression than other children did. And in other research conducted,
it was found that U.S. children feed off each other’s aggression, academic
problems, unpopularity with peers, and violence. And this promotes the violent
behavior in children today. It has been found that kids who watch more
television are more likely to solve their problems with violence rather than
kids who don’t, and sit down to talk their problems out. But as much violent
programs that there are out in the TV world there were (and maybe still are)
those programs that teach the right way to resolve things. Like the once popular
TV series “Little House on the Prairie”. Michael Landon taught the moral
values of solving problems without the use of violence. Fixing this problem
isn’t easy, it will never go away, and in time will get worse. About the only
way to correct this ever-growing problem is to stop it where it starts: in the
home. The parents should take up the responsibility to be more into what their
kids watch. The parents are the role models for the children so if the parents
can teach the children that violence isn’t necessary, along with keeping a
close eye on what they watch, then maybe this problem soon wouldn’t be as bad
as it is now. After all the children are everyone’s future rulers of this
world and what would happen if they were all violent?