The 90’s series ‘The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers’ are a prime example of children imitating the things they see on television. This program had an incredible following of millions of young children who dreamt and imagined that they themselves were power rangers. As a result of this, dinnertimes were filled with dozens of children play fighting, and therefore inevitable increasing their desire for actual combat. The ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ was is another good example of children wanting to imitate there super heroes, they wanted to be ninjas and such programs ignited their interest in weapons, such as kendo sticks and ninja death stars.
The News channels are very popular and it seems they do not alternate much from the theme of violence. To make the news the story has to be bad, shocking, exciting to the audience and the stories on the news are quite often very familiar, mostly another shooting, murder, rape or some act of terrorism. These crimes are so repetitive on the news to the point were we are no longer shocked that ‘a(nother) body of a missing school has been discovered,’ this type of news has almost become dull.
An extreme example of the effects TV has on children is that of a 15 year old boy who was sentenced to life in prison and convicted of murder in the stabbing death of a young girl. The boy was ‘playing’ rough with the young girl outside his family’s home as he imitated his favourite wrestling moves from television, when he accidentally hit the girl in the eye she began to cry and wouldn’t stop. He panicked and hit her, and eventually stabbed her in order “to get her quiet.” He then stuffed her body underneath his bed and even helped in the “search” for her when she wasn’t seen for several days. One day, as his mother was putting away some clothes in his room, she smelt a foul odor coming from what she thought was under the bed and she was horrified at what she found. The teenage boy is now behind bars where he will grow up, grow old, and then die.
What is happening in the world today? Rapes, school shootings, gangs, everywhere you look there is violence and in many peoples' living rooms is the unnoticed reason behind it, the television, were its viewers are pulled into its realistic world of violent scenes. Television has become a teacher that is listened to more than any other in the lives of children now, and is welcomed into their homes. A lot of psychologists believe that the continued exposure to violence can speed up the impact of the ‘real world’ on a child and make the child become unhappy, and have a greater distrust towards others. Sometimes it could even make the child have awkward approaches to adult problems, it can destroy a young child’s mind, and the effects may be permanent.
“TV AIDS IN EDUCATING OUR CHILDREN”
The documentaries, educational films, discovery/historic/geographical channels are no doubt beneficial to ourselves and our children. These educational programs widen our views, opinions and most of all extend our knowledge to a higher level. As these programs are presented with visual imagery, they are easier to remember while being a great deal more interesting. This is an obvious advantage of television and is extremely beneficial.
“COMMUNITIES ARE BROUGHT TOGETHER THROUGH TELEVISON”
TV is often the topic of much conversation; it brings discussions about certain topics which undoubtedly helps create a bonding between friends, family, colleges and even strangers. Researchers have found that more than 25% of conversation is related to programs on TV, “Did you watch Untied last night?” “I couldn’t believe it when Fred got shot on……” Would you struggle to communicate with your friends if you were to give up television? The programs on TV create in depth discussions. Examples of this is when a family is watching a documentary on a particular subject, family members are able to put across one another’s views on the topic. These can permit them to have interesting conversations between adults and children so therefore it can increase the amount of communication in the family, therefore helping to unite a family.
You also find a lot of people discussing a specific topic (e.g. drugs) in a talk show (e.g. Trisha) and by that you are open to a lot of new point of views and it can broaden your thinking. This is not only done through talk shows, but it is also done by documentaries that show people about other countries or cultures. It can have a great influence on the spectators who think differently.
“TV CAUSES US TO BECOME LAZY AND THEREFORE NO LONGER READ”
Television makes people think less and read less. We no longer have to think as when we are reading the presenters or narrators on programs do it for us. All the visual ideas are already presented and we do not have to imagine as we do when reading a book. People have lost their imaginations and there will to think, we are so addicted to TV that even if we believed the healthier thing to do would be to read we could not force ourselves to switch off the TV. Once the television is on we are in a state of hypnosis, brain dead to the world surrounding us.
As you can see there are advantages and disadvantages to the television, there is no doubt television influences our attitudes, behaviors and beliefs. Reality shows, Talk Shows, and Soap Operas all contribute to us being prevented from seeing the real truth in our society and what is considered important or not. On the other hand TV is extremely educational and is probably the greatest form of media. I believe that TV should not be an essential part of our daily lives, moderate amounts of it is certainly harmless, if not advantageous.
By the time a child becomes an adult, he has witnessed over 12,000 acts of violence on a television screen per year. That equals 144,000 acts of violence between the ages of 5 and 18. The child has witnessed over 8,000 murders before finishing elementary school (APA 1997).
GCSE English Coursework – T.V. ‘Good or Bad’
