impressions of television essay

Impressions of Television
SOME AMERICANS COMPLAIN THAT THERE IS TOO MUCH VIOLENCE
IN TELEVISION,
PARTICULARLY IN AN ACTION SERIES OR CARTOONS. THEY ARE AFRAID
THAT PEOPLE,
ESPECIALLY CHILDREN, WILL SEE THESE SHOWS AND THINK THAT THE ONLY
WAY TO RESOLVE
PROBLEMS IS THROUGH VIOLENT ACTS. I THINK THAT THERE ARE A LOT
OF FACTORS OTHER
THAN TELEVISION THAT EFFECTS PEOPLE. HAVE YOU EVER TRIED
SOMETHING JUST BECAUSE
YOU SAW IT ON TELEVISION? I'M SURE THAT ALL OF US HAVE DONE THAT
AT ONE TIME OR
ANOTHER. TELEVISION SHOWS THAT ARE VIOLENT CAN HAVE NEGATIVE
EFFECTS ON THE WAY
THAT CHILDREN ACT.
TELEVISION HAS EMBEDDED ITSELF WITHIN THE LIFE OF THE
TYPICAL AMERICAN
PERSON. ACCORDING TO THE ENCARTA 96 CD ROM ENCYCLOPEDIA THEY
CLAIM THAT,
"BETWEEN THE AGES OF 2 AND 65 THE AVERAGE AMERICAN WILL WATCH
72,000 HOURS OF
TELEVISION—AT 24 HOURS A DAY, A TOTAL OF 8 FULL YEARS. THE DAILY
AVERAGE IS
ABOUT 4 HOURS. THE HEAVIEST VIEWERS ARE HOUSEWIVES AND SENIOR
CITIZENS. CHILDREN
WATCH THE SAME AMOUNT OF TELEVISION AS DO ADULTS; TEENAGERS WATCH
ABOUT AN HOUR
LESS PER DAY."
"EARLY EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCHERS COMPARED THE PLAY OF
CHILDREN WHO HAD

SEEN AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR ON TELEVISION WITH THE PLAY OF A CONTROL
GROUP OF
CHILDREN WHO HAD WATCHED NONVIOLENT PROGRAMS. CONCERN WAS
INTENSIFIED BY
FINDINGS THAT INDICATED A HIGHER LEVEL OF AGGRESSIVE PLAY IN THE
VIOLENT-
TELEVISION GROUP"(ENCARTA).
ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SURF SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS TO
SEE THE VIOLENCE.
THE NINJA TURTLES ARE A PHENOMENON THAT HAS CAPTURED THE
IMAGINATIONS OF MOVIE,
COMIC, AND EVEN CARTOON FANS ACROSS SEVERAL GENERATIONS. A GROUP
OF YOUNG,
TEENAGE TURTLES WHO USE KUNG-FU AGAINST A GROUP OF DIFFERENT
TYPES OF CREATURES.
THIS SHOW ANIMATES EXPLICITLY HOW THEY BATTLE THESE CREATURES TO
FIGHT FOR
JUSTICE AND THE AMERICAN WAY. THEY LIVE IN THE SEWERS WITH THEIR
TEACHER WHO IS
A RAT, USING AN ASSORTMENT OF WEAPONS SUCH AS THE SWORD,
NUMCHUCKS, NINJA FORKS,
AND A NINJA STICK TO FIGHT FOES. IT SEEMS TO ME WHEN I LOOK
OUTSIDE TO SEE THE
CHILDREN PLAYING, THEY MIMIC THE NINJA TURTLES, PRETENDING THAT
THEY ARE KILLING
KRANG OR SHREDDER. IT NEVER FAILS IT ALWAYS SEEMS THAT THERE IS
ONE CHILD THAT
COMES IN CRYING BECAUSE ANOTHER KID (WHO THOUGHT HE WAS
DONATELLO) WAS HITTING
HIM WITH A STICK THAT HE USED FOR A SWORD. ALARMINGLY THIS

PROBLEM SOMETIMES
ESCALATES WHEN THE CHILD GETS OLDER AND THE CHILD IS SUBJECT TO
MORE IDEAS
BROUGHT ACROSS ON TELEVISION.
NOT TOO FAR AWAY IN THE CHANNELS OF THE TELEVISION YOU
HAVE MTV. IT IS
A MUSIC BASED CHANNEL THAT PLAYS ALL TYPES OF MUSIC VIDEOS AND AN
OCCASIONAL
DEMENTED CARTOON SUCH AS BEVIS AND BUTTHEAD. IT IS A CARTOON
ABOUT TWO
ADOLESCENT BOYS WHO HAVE NO PARENTAL SUPERVISION. THEY REEK
HAVOC WITHIN THE
NEIGHBORHOOD AND AT THEIR SCHOOL. THEY ARE ALWAYS GETTING KICKED
OUT OF CLASS
FOR SOME GHASTLY ACT OR FOR MOUTHING OFF TO THE TEACHERS. I
THINK THAT THIS
SHOW PROMOTES ALLOT OF NEGATIVE IDEAS THAT YOU CAN SEE
DEMONSTRATED BY SOME OF
THE CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS. SOMETIMES THIS PROGRAM SEEMS TO SHOW
THAT IT IS ALL
RIGHT TO BE DISCOURTEOUS TO AUTHORITY FIGURES.
MTV IS A STATION THAT IS DIRECTED AT THE TEENAGE
POPULATION OF AMERICA.
MOST OF THEIR VIDEOS ARE EXPLICITLY SEXUAL OR VIOLENT. FOR
EXAMPLE A VIDEO BY
RAP STAR COOLIO SHOWS HOW A GROUP OF CHILDREN PERSEVERE ON THE
STREETS BY
KILLING, ROBBING, AND TAKING THE ATTITUDE KILL OR BE KILLED. IT
EXHIBITS TWO
KIDS FIGHTING A BLOODY FIST FIGHT AND ONE REVEALS A SWITCH BLADE

WITH THE INTENT
TO KILL HIS OPPONENT. IT IS SO DEPRESSING BECAUSE I KNOW IT IS
REALLY HAPPENING
ON TODAY'S STREETS. I DO NOT THINK THAT THE MAKERS OF THESE
VIDEOS SHOULD
PROMOTE THE VIOLENCE. INSTEAD THEY SHOULD BE TRYING TO PROMOTE
THE SOLUTION:
TRYING TO FIND OTHER WAYS OF SOLVING PROBLEMS INSTEAD OF KILLING
EACH OTHER.
TELEVISION HAS BECOME MORE COMMON WITHIN THE AMERICAN
HOUSEHOLD. DUE TO
THE AMOUNTS OF TELEVISION SETS IN THE HOUSEHOLD THERE HAS BECOME
AN INCREASING
AMOUNT OF TELEVISION STATIONS. ACCORDING TO THE 1992 GUINNESS
MULTIMEDIA DISK
OF RECORDS ,"AT THE END OF 1992 THERE WERE OVER 1,125 COMMERCIAL
TELEVISION
STATIONS WITHIN THE UNITED STATES ALONE." THIS STATISTIC IS VERY
FRIGHTENING.
IT MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR PARENTS TO MONITOR OVER ONE
THOUSAND CHANNELS.
CONGRESS IS NOW PASSING LAWS LIMITING WHAT CAN BE PLAYED ON
TELEVISION WITHOUT
CROSSING OVER THE LINE OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH. I DO NOT THINK THAT
PASSING RULES
OR LIMITING TIMES THAT CERTAIN SHOWS CAN BE PLAYED WILL STOP
CHILDREN FROM BEING
EXPOSED TO VIOLENCE ON TELEVISION. THE ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY
LIES NOT ON THE
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, BUT UPON THE INDIVIDUAL PARENTS TO MONITOR

WHAT THEIR
CHILDREN WATCH.
WORKS CITED
"BROADCASTING, RADIO AND TELEVISION," MICROSOFT ENCARTA 96
ENCYCLOPEDIA. CD ROM.
1993-1995 MICROSOFT CORPORATION. FUNK & WAGNALLS.
1995 GUINNESS MULTIMEDIA DISK OF RECORDS, 1994 GUINNESS
PUBLISHING LTD. CD ROM
1995 GROLIER ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING, INC.