Free Essays on Media Violence

Two hundred thousand.........................................believe it or not, by the age of eighteen, the average American child will have witnessed this many dramatized killings (Television 1). The glamorization the media gives to violence is polluting children’s thoughts and desensitizing them to reality. One reason, among many others, the media has this control, is because parents do not censor enough violence from their children. Most parents respond by claiming that their eight year old son or daughter could never become one of those serial killing, stalkers on the news every night (Gerdes 108). The fact is that some of these kids do end up robbing, stealing, degrading women, and killing. A child’s innocence makes him/her all the more vulnerable to violent television programs and movies and explicit lyrics and novels. Studies have repeatedly shown an increased aggressiveness among children exposed to larger quantities of violence. It cannot be argued then, that d ue to the influence the media has on children, Americans must resolve to oppose violent acts portrayed in the media. Before interpreting the media’s effect, it is crucial to understand what it is, how it works, and where it comes from. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, media can most basically be defined as a way of mass communication. Now it a reasonable question to wonder why television ads are the most expensive and profitable? TV reaches more people than any other media source out there, so if a commercial does not make persuade people to buy the product, the money spent on it would not be worth it. Just the same, crime on television must be sold to the audience or the show would not be productive. A shocking statistic that proves television’s dominance over society is that the average American watches approximately 1,669 hours of TV each year and sixty six percent of American children have TVs in their room! (Katz 1) When the hours are tallied... Free Essays on Media Violence Free Essays on Media Violence Two hundred thousand.........................................believe it or not, by the age of eighteen, the average American child will have witnessed this many dramatized killings (Television 1). The glamorization the media gives to violence is polluting children’s thoughts and desensitizing them to reality. One reason, among many others, the media has this control, is because parents do not censor enough violence from their children. Most parents respond by claiming that their eight year old son or daughter could never become one of those serial killing, stalkers on the news every night (Gerdes 108). The fact is that some of these kids do end up robbing, stealing, degrading women, and killing. A child’s innocence makes him/her all the more vulnerable to violent television programs and movies and explicit lyrics and novels. Studies have repeatedly shown an increased aggressiveness among children exposed to larger quantities of violence. It cannot be argued then, that d ue to the influence the media has on children, Americans must resolve to oppose violent acts portrayed in the media. Before interpreting the media’s effect, it is crucial to understand what it is, how it works, and where it comes from. According to the American Heritage Dictionary, media can most basically be defined as a way of mass communication. Now it a reasonable question to wonder why television ads are the most expensive and profitable? TV reaches more people than any other media source out there, so if a commercial does not make persuade people to buy the product, the money spent on it would not be worth it. Just the same, crime on television must be sold to the audience or the show would not be productive. A shocking statistic that proves television’s dominance over society is that the average American watches approximately 1,669 hours of TV each year and sixty six percent of American children have TVs in their room! (Katz 1) When the hours are tallied... Free Essays on Media Violence America’s Road to Independence: In the year 1783 the Treaty of Paris was signed, granting America their freedom from Great Britain. There were many reasons why the colonists wanted their freedom and separation from their mother country of England. Great Britain laid down many laws and Acts which were the main reasons leading up to the revolutionary war, otherwise known as America’s War for Independence. For eleven years even before the actual revolution started, Great Britain bullied the thirteen original colonies with several harsh acts and proclamations. The Proclamation of 1763 came first. It prohibited settlements west of the Appalachian Mountains and trading in that area without a license. Less than a year later the Sugar Act was passed. It lowered taxes on molasses, but put new taxes on wine, coffee, cloth, and of course sugar. Colonists reacted to this harsh act by smuggling in the goods they needed. This way they did not have to pay the tax and it was much cheap er for them. In 1764 the Currency Act was passed. This prohibited colonies from issuing paper money and required all of the debts to be paid for in gold. In 1765 the Stamp Act was passed which required all written materials to be printed on stamped paper including newspapers, birth, marriage, and death certificates (King, McRae, Zola 95). These items were many of the basic necessities, which made the tax even more realistic. The colonists reacted to this act by forming a Stamp Act Congress. Nine colonies of thirteen showed up and all wanted representation (Dadante, 25 September 2000). These three acts were the start of the build up towards the war. In 1765 the Quartering Act was also passed requiring colonists to house and feed the British soldiers. Colonists did not want them in their homes so they taxed themselves to build barracks for the soldiers. A year later the Stamp Act was repealed because of the violent acts that the Sons of Liberty committed, a violent libe... Free Essays on Media Violence â€Å"The average child watches 21 to 23 hours of television per week...the average person has viewed around 200,000 acts of violence by the time he reaches 18 years of age† (Steele). Lights, camera, action! â€Å"Jerry, Jerry, Jerry† is the chant heard from the audience as The Jerry Springer Show begins each day at 2:00pm on the Fox television network. In a recent episode titled â€Å"Sexy Stories†, which aired on July 11, 2 women stripped down to their undergarments and were romantically involved in a kitty pool filled with whip cream. They poured chocolate syrup all over each other and ate strawberries and bananas while the Springer crew poured nuts all over them. They basically became human sundaes while the audience chanted â€Å"we love lesbians!† While this ridiculous banana split session was going on, the husband of one of the women in the pool was trying to fight the other woman, but was restrained by Springer security. Undoubtedly, there w ere children home alone watching the sho! w, viewing the violent and distasteful behavior that always dominates The Jerry Springer Show. Television networks should not air violent and inappropriate shows such as The Jerry Springer Show at times when unsupervised children are likely to be watching. Violent behavior is prevalent on The Jerry Springer Show. Fistfights are normally broken up quickly, but the hatred and anger shown by the guests is not something children should be witnesses to. Benjamin Spock, M.D., in his book titled â€Å"Problems of Parents† writes, [A certain number of judges, prosecutors, and psychiatrists have been impressed with the frequency with which a severe delinquent, asked in court where he ever got the idea for his crime, has promptly answered, â€Å"On a television program†] (Spock 253). Violent behavior definitely has a negative effect on children. It may even affect the way their young brains perceive behavior. Robert Steele writes, â€Å"children repea...