media influences on behaviour

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Outline and evaluate research theories in to media influences on behaviour.

Certain forms of media compose the multi-billion dollar a year entertainment industry. The largest markets in the entertainment business are TV and movies. Almost one and a half billion Americans attend movies in the theatres each year. Over one billion households worldwide have at least one television set.

TV and movies have positive aspects, which enhance the society. Numerous films and programs bring joy and satisfaction to many people; however a number of observers will argue that some elements of entertainment are not appropriate for young children. Violence on TV and in movies is a controversial aspect under much scrutiny nowadays.

A reason TV and movies are under scrutiny is that children in America are exposed to more violence on TV with each passing year. The average American child watches 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary school.

Studies suggest that television violence is responsible for the increase in childhood violence. Conversely, it is widely believed that American children are negatively affected by violence on TV and in movies because it desensitises them to violence, and leads to sometimes irreversible patterns of behaviour and actions in their adult lives.

Watching violence is a popular form of entertainment, and watching it on TV is the most frequent and influential means of children being exposed to violence. For example, some early local news programs provide extensive coverage of daily violent crimes simply because it is believed by many executives that covering crime increases ratings. Violence is only one form of human behaviour, while smiling, laughing, poking fun in a harmless way, teasing, flirting, arguing, reasoning, family discussions, and showing simple affection between human beings may be considered some of its other forms but violence is the form that is dominantly displayed in all kinds of packaging on TV and movies and video games, etc. Other forms of human behavior and activities may not be given an equal opportunity in the entertainment industry. Those choosing what will entertain society seem to be admitting that violence is viable type of human behavior and other forms appear less presentable, attractive and marketable.

Television is a focal component of American life. American children spend less time in school than watching TV (Sege 32).Yale graduate, Dr. Robert Sege is a physician and researcher studying the development of a medical response or eventual cure to violence involving children and adolescents. Sege found that in 1989 the common child in the United States spent more time watching TV than doing any other activity, other than sleeping. In the early 1990s, The Nielson Report, a leader in internet media and market research, stated that children ages two to five viewed nearly twenty-seven hours of television each week, and teenagers between the ages of twelve and seventeen spent twenty-two hours a week watching TV (Sege 32). During the past several decades, the number of violent programs on TV has been increasing steadily. Many researchers believe in the possibility that a direct relationship may exist between the violence witnessed on today’s television and the increasingly violent behavior of children and adolescents (Palermo 23). During a time in the 21st century when the homicide rate is rising six times faster than the population, a controversial yet common theory is that television violence causes real violence (Egendorf 27). A thesis that is hard to refute.
In support of the accusation that violence is prevalent on U.S. television, while studying eight different television networks the Washington-based Parents Television Council found 3,488 instances of violence, which is an average of 7.86 violent acts each hour out of the 443 hours of children's programming analyzed. Also noted were 858 incidents of verbal aggression; 662 occurrences of disruptive, disrespectful behavior; and they found 275 examples of sexual content (Ngoei). The numbers displaying violence on TV leads into a question many researchers strive to answer: Does violence on television directly effect how children act?
One man that actively works against television violence and believes that it may have negative effects on children is L. Brent Bozell. Bozell is president of the Parents Television Council is striving to assist parents in monitoring their children’s TV viewing by educating them on the facts. Bozell says that there is more violence directed toward young children than anyone towards any other age group. Bozell says, "Too often we dismiss violence in children's programming as inconsequential." Bozell continues to comment, "Studies have shown exposure to television violence to be positively associated to aggressive behavior in some children, and exposure to sexual content increases the likelihood that children will become sexually active earlier in life" (Ngoei).

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The government has been tracking the number of arrests in schools very closely in attempt to recognize trends, and eventually find a way to decrease crime rates. In the book, Violence: Opposing Viewpoints, Bill Owens, a Colorado governor and avid media researcher writes, that over a million children under eighteen-years-old are arrested every year. Around thirty-two percent of the arrested youth are under the age of fifteen. In the 1996 through 1997 school year alone, public schools across the country reported 4,000 instances of rape or sexual abuse and 11,000 cases of fights in which weapons were used (Egendorf 28).

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