...attitude of today's youth are affected by television programs. 1.0 INTRODUCTION “Televiewing causes people to duplicate inappropriately, in other areas of their lives, behavior styles developed while watching television.” (Kottak, 1990, p.3) Television programs can be educational as well as entertaining. It can give people the opportunity to travel around the globe, expose them to new ideas that they might not have encountered from their community and also a chance to learn about different cultures. Pro-social messages from shows on television will give a positive impact on the behavior of today's youth. However, these youths are more likely to learn negative values from these television programs. Television has now become a debatable issue as some question its influences on the attitude and psychological development of today's youth. Nowadays, the world of television has been discovered by children at very young age. As we know, television is an effective educational tool. With programs showcasing wildlife, scientific theories etc, it helps these children to be broad-minded and also have a better understanding about the world around them. However, we have to remember and be aware that the television also is seem to posses more negative effects than positive ones. A day in a youth's life will generally be filled with activities such as playing with friends, reading, doing homework and being physically active but this can be easily replaced with the presence of television. This...
Words: 4840 - Pages: 20
...The Reality of Television Media About six years ago, a three-year-old child in London who weighed 83 pounds died from obesity. The parents—who may have partially been at fault for being unable to say “no” to their child’s destructive eating habits—were appropriately devastated. Obesity-related deaths aren’t especially common in children that young; however, childhood obesity has increasingly become a threat to children everywhere, with 20% of children aged six to eleven being obese (Ogden qtd. in CDC). Such a sad, shocking statistic ought to raise eyebrows and turn heads, yet parents don’t necessarily hold all the blame for their children’s obesity. It is likely that most children that young wouldn’t even know of such fattening foods without frequent exposure to it, regardless of how the exposure occurs. While I am not here to strictly talk about childhood obesity, it is part of the bigger picture: as the years go by, children are exposed to more and more television. It has gotten to the point where most children spend at least 1.5 times more time watching television than attending school (Herr)! More specifically, the average American youth watches about 1500 hours of television per year—that’s about 62.5 days per year of pure television (Herr). Many studies have been performed on the adverse effects of television on children, and generally speaking, television truly has a profound effect on their lives. Whether it be through advertising or typical programming, television...
Words: 3206 - Pages: 13
...In today’s time and age, mass society and mass media is a massive cultural wave that more or less plays a large role in society. Like it or not, mass society and mass media is largely intertwined with one another. In this essay, it will be discussed whether mass media is influenced by the presence of mass society. Mass society is a social system that is determined by mindless standardisation, the weakening of religion, a sense of alienation and moral emptiness, strained family and community ties, political indifference and the replacement of refined and high culture such as art and literacy with low culture which gives way to bland and unsophisticated tastes. The society concerned in this context is born from the modern, industrialised era where factory-produced, mass consumer goods precede home-grown goods which are produced on a smaller scale. The Industrial Revolution that took place in the 19th century contributed to the ‘soulless’ uniformity of the society and paved a way for the decline of traditional and aristocratic ways of past societies. Mass society is largely related to mass culture in which consumerism tendencies play a dominant role. It can also be defined as the young society which has been transformed from having individualistic, communal and pluralist characteristics to one which are of the total opposite of these values. Mass society is often seen as a threat to the American social, cultural and political life because it has changed American mass culture from...
Words: 1572 - Pages: 7
... The child's diaper is wet and Annette scrambles in the bathroom, searching for a clean one. Although this scenario is make believe, it is reality for many young teens across the nation. The United States has a higher teenager pregnancy rate than any other developed country in the entire world (http://btio.com/facts.htm). A solution must be found for this escalating problem! About one million teenagers become pregnant each year and more than 530,000 give birth (http://babynet.ddwi.com/tlc/pregnancy/teenfact.html#intro). Thirty-one percent of mothers are unmarried when they give birth, and that is including two-thirds of all teenage mothers (DiConsiglio, p10). Our nation's government can only offer help in this major problem by fathering the mother and child with a welfare check each month. The problem still does not become resolved, and the government continues to fork over our money to the young families. Next, to even begin to come up with a solution to this problem, one must identify the cause of it. Is irresponsibility of young adults the only reason for this growing problem? Why are more and more teenagers becoming pregnant as time goes on? And why hasn't this been such a big problem thirty years ago? All deserving speculation, there are many possible reasons why teenage Americans are becoming unwed mothers. Today’s youth are not being taught morality. Politician, Alan Keys, says that children are not getting the moral guidance that promotes abstinence from sex...
Words: 844 - Pages: 4
... Society, Television, & Violence On average, American’s watch at least four hours of television a day. Over the year’s television undoubtedly has become more violent. Even though television is a reflection of life, television can manipulate certain situations to make them more violent than what they are, and convey a negative message toward society, particularly the youth. This is evident through, the increased violence seen in today’s children/teens. Unfortunately, numerous television shows are highly violent. Being that children’s minds have not yet fully developed, they become immune in a way to the true and actual horror of violence. The biggest problem is that shows that are violent seem very realistic. Children imitate the violence seen on T.V.; they gradually accept violence as a way to solve their problems. Television can be a major influence in the behavioral growth of a child, as well as forming values. When the youth watches violent programs they, can potentially become more aggressive and violent. Viewing repetitive violence without a consequence allows the youth to believe that they too can, participate in violent acts, and get away with them. A shocking statistic, that less than five percent of television shows show a consequence from using violence. A 9-year-old boy surrendered after the robbery of a midtown Manhattan bank. His lawyer claimed his crime was influenced by crime programs on television and that he was only playing...
Words: 641 - Pages: 3
...wide and growing acknowledgment of the fact that media isn’t just a “mirror of the society” – a smooth polished surface presenting an undistorted reflection of the world around us. For if that were true then all a newsman would have to do is to point his/her camera at the world and hit the record/air button. But in reality, the recorded content is often relayed back to the tv station where rather active decisions are taken at every step of the production process regarding how much of what content should be shown and when. Therefore it can be argued that the media plays no small role in molding our perceptions of the world we live in and in extension affecting the world itself. While this paper shall acknowledge the importance of media in today’s society, it shall neither reiterate the nature or extent of its positive aspects but shall instead focus on presenting an argument that exposure to violent media is harmful to children. One of the reasons it is true is that recent studies show that children today from ages 2 to18 with the exception of sleeping, spend more time watching television than they do performing any other single activity. (1) Additionally, today’s media bears no resemblance to the media a few decades ago; while viewers today are constantly bombarded with images of blood and gore, such a thing would have been almost unimaginable back then. When children are Gollamudi 2 repeatedly exposed to such violence for a prolonged period, it can diminish their autonomic...
Words: 1040 - Pages: 5
...Professor Online Principles of English Composition I November 3, 2013 The Destruction of Youth Mom and Dad are sitting on the couch watching the television. The food on the table is more than enough for a family of two. Located somewhere in this home are two children. They have not been outside any time, since Friday afternoon after school. There have been all kinds of arguments since the day “it” arrived in this house. There have been many meals missed since “it” showed up. The children are back talking their parents, and missing their homework assignments resulting in falling grade point averages. Out of all of the possible causes, for all of these problems, the video game system is the “it” that lies at the core of the issues. Video games are destroying today’s youth with their addictive nature, their lack of morality, and the ease of access to mature games. The addictive nature of the video games children play is quite revolting. Most children, that actively play videos games, often have a rather glazed over look in their eyes. Like the junkies shown on television, the only time they lose this glaze is if someone starts talking about a video game. According to an article written by Kara Shemin, “a recent study published in the journal Pediatrics indicates that heavy video gaming can become habit-forming for children, pre-teens, and teens and lead to depression, social phobias, and even poor academic performance.” (Shemin) Amazingly, it does not matter what game, or...
Words: 1094 - Pages: 5
...We’ve all heard it before. An elderly person rants on and on about how “corrupt” the youth of today is. Yes, we’ve seen examples of youth disregarding the idea of being law-abiding citizens, but do youth really deserve all of the blame? Not necessarily so. Today’s youth, like youth throughout time, are being influenced. The problem is just that the influences of today’s world such as, the media, education, drugs, and alcohol are growing steadily negative and poorer in quality. Social networking, the media, music, education, various drugs, and alcohol affect today’s youth in negative ways. Youth and the Media Some of the most influential vectors affecting teenagers are social networks, the media, and music. Social networking sites dominate the time of many teenagers. Paired with the entertainment industry, and things being said on television or the radio, social media can definitely change people's mindsets and emotions. Think about it. Very often, you see children posting statuses on Facebook or tweeting on twitter. And when these kids are watching television, listening to the radio, or reading magazines, often times the wrong messages are being projected to the ears of teens. The result is a changed teenager. The result is a teenager whose mind is being corrupted by the face of a few people. Nowadays, many teens have a Facebook account. The website is simple. You upload some statuses, you like somebody's pictures, you see what your friends like and update. Even though...
Words: 3076 - Pages: 13
...Today’s media is unlike any other before; it just keeps growing bigger and better. There is so much information and so many different ways to acquire the information on anything that one would want to know. There is television, newspapers, magazines, internet, and many more. The only question that draws to my mind is; with everything that is available is it hurting our children and adolescents? Today’s media may not be the only reason for today’s children acting more violent, their obsession with sex and a cause of insecurity, but it is an immense cause. The media today is extremely essential in society no doubt. It provides us information on any subject or matter. We receive information on subjects like the weather, local, and worldwide news, to entertainment. With the positives of the media outweighing the negative aspects people may think that the media is not hurting today’s children and adolescents, but the truth in many people’s opinion is that the negative can be very detrimental. To see how detrimental the media truly can be on children, one needs to examine just how much children and adolescents are exposed to it. Today’s children ranging from infants to 17 become exposed to an enormous amount of media and in most opinions much more than ever before. In today’s society, “the average American child spends three to five hours a day watching television” (Adams, 2008 para.2). If one really stops to think about that statistic, it seems somewhat absurd. In most...
Words: 2109 - Pages: 9
...done since 1955 on the link between television and violence; 2,980 of them found a correlation between the two. We hear little about that because we get most of our news from television" (Peterson). With this much research one must acknowledge that there is a problem in America involving sex and violence in the media. We cannot blame all societal problems on the media and its portrayal of these issues, but we can become educated, ourselves, in order to better facilitate the healthy lives of our children. "Violence grabs the headlines, but violence itself is a result of a society that promotes selfishness, greed and instant gratification" (Peterson). Violence on public television often catches us in a serious debate. Concerned parents fear that viewing inappropriate images presented by the media will corrupt America's youth. They cringe at the idea of our nation's children growing up to be vicious killers due to the brutal violence often seen on TV. Some blame television for most, if not all, of the ills of society and its children. "Truly it accounts for about 10 percent of violence, which means that 90 percent is caused by other things," Leonard Eron says. "Violence is a multi-determined behavior. It's caused by genetic, biological, physiological, macroeconomic and macro social factors, all of which can account for some part of the variance." Understanding the source of individual violent attacks helps us to isolate the cause, as well as to learn from others mistakes...
Words: 2119 - Pages: 9
...Summary Entertainment has often been regarded as a means of indulgence although it can prove fundamental to the development of ideas. Lack of entertainment can however cause the brain to shut down. Entertainment enables s sense of innovation. As a result, numerous ideas are created. Studies show that almost half of discoveries are done during entertainment when the inventor enjoys the task he partakes. However, over entertainment has its own pitfalls. This paper argues that society is becoming over entertained. Generation Fun: Are we as a Society Becoming over Entertained? In a society where we are overwhelmed by bright lights, images, and electrical gadgets it is worth questioning one of the most important parts of our society, Entertainment. Entertainment is multidimensional and could be personal or involve the general public. Playing a game of chess or scrabble could be viewed as a personal form of entertainment. Watching a movie however is a general form of entertainment as the experience is shared with the general public. As entertainment continues to become a trillion-dollar industry, the society has continued to live up to the entertainment culture of the “entertainment age.” The question, “Are we as a society becoming over entertained?” can be approached using different angles given its complexity. I have developed my point of view that as a society, we are spending too much time on entertainment or enjoyment. Entertainment can take an individual...
Words: 1492 - Pages: 6
...How Media Effect Children Franchester White Eng/101 September 7, 2014 Karen Strimkovskey Is your child safe? As a parent, you always want to know what your child is watching on television. The media is a powerful tool that doesn’t always teach a positive lesson. Media have provided the means and opportunity for children to distort reality into fallacies through television and video games. While media programs have a negative effect on children, there are some positive programs. The largest amounts of violence are found in children shows. Children between the age of 2 and 18 spends 6 hours and 32 minutes on an average a day using media with the exception of sleeping this is more than they spend on any other activity. When multiple media is stimulated, this time is increased to 8 hours a day. Big parts of media exposure are violent acts that are also witnessed in video games. On an average, a young child will have viewed 200,000 acts of violence on television (TV). Exposure to violent media wrecks havoc on thoughts, feeling, and most importantly, behavior. “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth,” a report appearing in the December 2003 edition of “Psychological Science in the Public Interest,” points to strong evidence points to the exposure to media violence causes boost in physically and verbally aggressive behavior in children. “Extensive research evidence indicates that media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior...
Words: 1660 - Pages: 7
...are many advantages of the technology then there are many disadvantages as well. First, the cell phone is one of the technological come through into the teen’s life. In the beginning you would think that the communication will increase with the cell phone, but in reality the communication between the parents and children’s has decreases. Before the cell phone the family was force to arrange at the house where they can spend time and meaningful interaction than talking on the phones. This was the point every day to prepare a meal and seat together to enjoy it. Investigations in the University of Minnesota found that traditional family meals make a positive impact on adolescent behavior. In 2009 survey of nearly 10.000 teenagers across the United States superior occurrence of family’s diner was associate with the positive values and better commitment to learning. Compare with those who only few families diners where exhibit high- risk behaviors including sexual activity, suicide attempts, substance abuse, violence and academic problems. One more disadvantage is the computers. Due of the need for a computer to development the education give them the opportunity to have full access to a dangerous world and made the youth of day less resourceful in their education and it becomes one of the plagiarism tool, because every information is accessible over the internet. They spend more time in the internet and give less time to their families. Also, the computers have made them lazy and...
Words: 914 - Pages: 4
...Violent Video Games and the Effects on Children Swameka Williams COM/172 June 6, 2013 Jenifer Casey Violent Video Games and the Effects on Children In today’s world technology is everywhere and in everything. One of the largest parts of technology is the video gaming industry. Video games play a huge part of a child’s play time because much of a child’s time is spent playing some sort of video game. There are all types of video games to play, for example, brain builders, strategy, hidden objects, first person, multiplayers, and even educational just to name a few. Although these types of video games are available, there are also the violent games and games made with an “M” (mature) or “AO" (Adult Only) rating getting into the hands of young children. Parents who allow children to become exposed to violent video games are promoting a decline in emotional and physical health, communication skills as well as academic performance. The first video game was introduce in 1958 by Physicist Willy Higginbotham. His invention was a game like Table Tennis only it was played on an Oscilloscope (Kudler, 2007). Even though video games were introduce in the late 1950s, it was not until 1972 that the first video game console was introduce. Ralph Baer invented The Magnavox Odyssey. Since that time, the video gaming industry has become more popular because of how advance the systems have become. Today, there are many companies that produce and manufacture different video game consoles...
Words: 1627 - Pages: 7
...The article “Consumerism is creating cunning and callous kids’’ retrieved from Globe and mail was published on May 29, 2014. This article discussed the developing effect of consumerism on today’s children, and it impact the identify formation. Despite being raised by altruistic parents, these children end up being callous and mean and are lacking in empathy. Why are children turning this way? This change is the cause of poor parenting and materialism. The vast environment and the ecological system surrounding them influence today’s children. One particular development theory that identify with this issue is the ecological system theory by Bronfebrenner. Ecological systems theory on child development provides an analysis of how it identified five systems, which are microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and chrono system all affect the development of the child (Shaffer, Kipp, Wood & Willoughby, 2013). Each of these systems contains specific roles that explain how child’s immediate environment to economic and political structures of the society shapes the course of childhood. Harried parenting of micro system to the role of media in advertising of exosystem influence can breed values that differ from their parents. The role of family is an essential component of healthy child development. The family values, socioeconomic status and religion prevailing within a culture, subculture or even neighborhoods can affect family interaction and development of the child (Shaffer...
Words: 1398 - Pages: 6
