Not all television programs are bad, there are many excellent shows that combine education and entertainment. Unfortunately a big number of children programs don’t teach them what parents and teachers want them to learn. A child who spends a Sunday morning in front of the television will probably receive violent acts and stereotypes. The developing of fear and the learning of aggressive attitudes and behavior by the children are some negative points of television. TV may not causes direct violence but exposes children to violent behavior. “Studies by George Gerbner at the university of Pennsylvania, have shown that children television shows contain about 20 violent acts each hour. They also showed that children who watch a lot of television are more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place.”()
Violence does not affect every child in the same way, the socioeconomic, cultural and family background of each child plays a major role on how these kids resist in violent exposure. ()
There are many distinctions among viewers in the way that they react to TV violence. Characteristics such as age, experience and temperament can be considered as individual factors that can interact with the viewing of violent acts. The fact is that media promote violence in many ways and children are not the only social group that is exposed. The media owners claim that their programs are what people want to see. They also refer to many researches which show that TV violence does not cause violent behavior on viewers.
The TV programs that have the most “realistic” approach to violence are the news programs. “ Violence dominates television news and entertainment, particularly what we call “happy violence” –cool, swift, painless and always leading to a happy ending in order to deliver the audience to the next commercial message in a receptive mood”. ()
There are many people who claim that the persistence of television news on violence and crime will have a negative effect in our society. It is a fact that television aims to impress the viewer by taking these elements of the news which can bring out the viewer’s feelings. In this way TV news give only one dimension of the fact and lead the audience with the power of the image. “A news program should be focused on the facts with perhaps some objective analysis. However, for business purposes, TV news broadcasts use dramatic, usually violent stories and images to capture and maintain an audience, under the pretence of keeping it informed. What we see and hear in the news affects us both consciously and subconsciously, and sends us about our lives unnecessarily fearing the remote dangers that we see excessively portrayed on the evening news.” ()
The news media and particularly the television news have been criticized for their focus on violence and crime reporting. With the obsession of news broadcasts in violence many problems arise, one of the most important is the misinformation of the public. Television producers often claim that news is the representation of reality and that’s why they have so much violence. But the truth is that they also want a profitable audience and high ratings.
The journalists who present the news are very recognizable figures and they have a lot of power, but the ethics of the news industry are not very clear according to violent images. It is obvious that criminals, from murderers to terrorists copycat in many cases what they see on television. “Violence attracts people’s attention and produces a strong emotional reaction that advertisers covet” ()
The opposite view depends on the critical point of view by the viewers. “The violence factor shows that people can make a difference. It challenges us to help program rather then be programmed by television. It encourages viewers, young and old, to be more selective and critical, to police the violent imagery television brings into our living room each night.” ()
Television violence does not include only the TV news violence, perhaps the most criticized television programs are the violent movies. Studies in films semiotics refer to movies as a sign that functions as a cultural language that provides a specific vocabulary in which viewers are challenged to make a sense of the world in which they live, so it is a very direct communication. In the question “ does violent films on TV have a negative affect on viewers?” Ridley Scott a very successful director answered, “I think the answer to this question is ‘absolutely’. We ‘ve gone into overkill. Just by characterizing and showing a killer or an area of violence in a way is condoning it, and to a certain section of an audience, maybe even makes it kind of heroic, particularly in the younger generation. I think there’s been a very negative effect by being shamed over the head with violence.” ()
From the psychological side, we may be relieved by violence on a film because we are so afraid of it in life. We can sit in front of television and enjoy the scene from a distance and when the movie ends we go back to safety. If we perceive a film content as a representation of reality we can understand that it is very logical for the film to have violent scenes. This vicious circle of violence (from society to film representation and the opposite) creates confusion in the study and the battle against violence.
Of course there are a lot of film genres that doesn’t depict reality such as science fiction films, these films have indeed an enormous impact in children and sometimes they identify themselves to the heroes of these films who can be violent.
Violence exists through centuries and it’s not the television that invented it, but the images and the behavior of violence have become more accessible to us by the electronic mediums. Violence can be seen through various aspects, but the violence in the media has a lot to do with the way that people can act in society.