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Bang! Bang! You’re Dead!
Have you ever wondered
how much violence is on television today? By the time a child finishes
elementary school, he or she will “have witnessed 8,000 murders and more
than 100,000 acts of violence” (Diamant 40). Violent shows on television
cause children to act aggressive; Therefore, in order to control
their children’s aggressive behavior, parents need to exercise more control
over their children’s television viewing habits.
Violence is everywhere in the world of entertainment. Most of the
movies in the theaters contain at least
some sort of violence. Even the popular
Star Wars series contains violent content such as murder, torture,
and dismemberment. Television
cartoons also contain violence, such as Batman
and the Joker fighting with each other. It seems almost impossible
for either of the characters to die even though they perform all kinds
of violent actions on each other. This gives children a false sense
of reality, making them believe that there are no long-term consequences
to violence. According
to Anita Diamant, a writer for Parents Magazine, TV affects children’s
health and welfare and “makes them fearful of the world, desensitizes them
to the pain of others, and teaches them that it is normal for adults to
resolve conflicts with fists and guns” (40). Chidley, another writer,
writes of a syndrome called “mean-world syndrome” that is similar to Diamant’s
idea. The characteristic of this “syndrome” is that “children exposed
to television violence develop a view of the world as more dangerous or
sinister than it actually is...the same effect has been reported in adults,
particularly among the elderly” (Chidley 36-42).
I have four young cousins. Their ages are eight, six, four, and two
years old. During the day,
the two younger ones watch several hours of
television. When the two
older ones come home from school, they immediately
park themselves in front of the television for the next two hours.
Their younger brothers always join
them. My cousins usually watch cartoons that
have fighting scenes. Sometimes they try to mimic what they see
and start fighting.
At first it is playful; after a while, the fighting gets a little more
serious. At this point, I usually hear one of my cousins crying because
someone hit him too hard. This happens almost every day. Their
parents do not seem to notice what effect these television shows have on
their sons.
My four young cousins think that violence is the answer to all problems.
For example, if they don’t get what they want from another sibling, they
sometimes hit or threaten to hit that sibling. They think that if
they resort to violence, they will always get their way.
Children
are not the only ones who react to what they see on television or in the
movies. There are adults who react aggressively to what they have
seen on television or movies. John Hinckley, Jr. was the man who
attempted to assassinate former President Ronald Reagan. John Hinckley
was obsessed with Jodie Foster’s character, in which she played a teenage
prostitute in the movie Taxi Driver. This movie is about a taxi driver
(played by Robert De Niro) who is in love with a prostitute (Jodie Foster).
This taxi driver stalks a political figure in hopes that he would win the
affections of this prostitute. Hinckley thought that “killing..a
President would win him the love of a stranger [Jodie Foster]” (Lang 26).
In one of Hinckley’s letters to Jodie Foster he admits that “the reason
I’m going ahead with this attempt now is because I just cannot wait any
longer to impress you” (qtd. in Lang 26). This admission by Hinckley
clearly demonstrates that he attempted to kill the former President Ronald
Reagon because of what he saw or felt for the fictional prostitute portrayed
by Jodie Foster. Hinckley behaves the same way as Robert De Niro’s
character. So if John Hinckley, an adult, imitates what he sees in
a movie, what do you think television and movie violence is doing to the
uninformed mind of children?
From April
23 to May 3 I conducted a survey to find out if parents knew how much television
their children are watching (see Appendix 1). I also asked about
how they are censoring and monitoring what their children watch. Thirdly,
I asked them if they thought violence on television causes violence in
real life. I surveyed ten parents who had children between
the age of one to twelve years old. Nine out of ten parents said
that they thought violence on television causes violence in real life.
One parent, Jerry Okamoto, says that “children get influenced quite easily
especially because they follow examples of adults therefore violence on
T. V would be the same” (Yim). Children think that the adults on
television are as good a role model as the adults in their real life. In
this way, children think that it’s acceptable to follow the actions of
adults on television too. Similarly, another parent says that the “younger
generation might think it's a joke so they do it but the truth is dangerous”
(Yim). In other words, children have not grasped the concept of reality
versus fantasy. Therefore, they will be blind to the real consequences
that occur because of their actions.
I know of several solutions that will help parents control the content
and time their children spend watching television. First of all,
they have to talk with their child about what the difference between reality
and fantasy is. Understanding a child’s grasp of reality versus fantasy
will help parents decide what shows their children are mature enough to
watch. Secondly, there are other activities that a child should participate
in besides watching television. For example, parents should encourage
them to take up new hobbies to occupy their afternoons after they finish
their homework. Children should also be encouraged to do more reading instead
of watching television at night. Reading helps to expand a child’s
vocabulary and will help them do better in school. Thirdly, parents
should buy a television that has been fitted with a v-chip. By around
the year 2000, most television will have this as a standard feature. The
V-chip is a device that allows “parents to screen out violent programming
[and] promises to provide a new weapon in parents’ battle for
the minds of their children” (Chidley 36). Only parents can unlock
this function by entering a special code.
Some parents might argue that they will not have time to monitor their
child’s viewing habits because
they work all day. If parents cannot be there to monitor their child,
they should find a responsible adult to watch over them to make sure that
they watch shows that are appropriate for their child. Another argument
might be that they do not have enough money to buy a television that has
a v-chip installed in it. If they cannot afford a television with
a v-chip, then they have to manually turn off the television if they do
not want their children to be watching a particular show. At this
time, parents can “disapprove of the violent episodes in front of their
children, stressing the belief that such behavior is not the best way to
resolve a problem” (“Children and TV Violence"). Another parent might
argue about their child going over to their friends house to watch something
that they are not allowed to watch at home. How can they keep their child
from doing this? Failing to teach your child proper discipline might be
worse than television. Once a week, a parent can sit down with their
children to look over the TV Guide. The TV Guide will help both the
parent and their children decide what their child is allowed to watch
during the week.
Television may seem like
a harmless past time. If a child is aggressive as a child, he/she will
most like be very aggressive as an adult. According to an article on the
Internet, the impact of this violence that children see on television “may
be immediately evident in the child’s behavior or may surface years later,
and young people can be affected when the family atmosphere shows no tendency
towards violence” (“Children and TV Violence”).
As we move into a new millennium,
our society will advance technologically at a very fast rate. Children
will have access to more and more realistic video games that contain a
lot of violence. Soon, the television will not be their only source
of entertainment, because there will be other gizmos that will further
distort their view of reality. For example, virtual reality games
require that players wear head gear that gives them a total experience
of the game as if they were actually in the game. When they are “in”
this game, they will see weapons in their hands in which they will use
to fight the bad guys. After a while, children will actually think
the real world is the same as what they see when they play these virtual
reality games. This will eventually lead to more children who act
aggressively all or most of the time. Therefore, parents must take
control now of their children’s television viewing havbits before this
problem becomes too large to handle.
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