Ashley time in front of television sets, therefore

Ashley time in front of television sets, therefore

Ashley Hanshaw Negative Effects of Television on Elementary Aged Kids In today’s society television plays such an immense role in our everyday lives that it is difficult to see if it influences a child’s behavior. The article “Television Violence” says that television has the prospective of being a very beneficial learning tool if it is properly used and monitored by an adult. On the other hand if used in a disparaging way it could, supposedly, turn our elementary aged kids, as well as future leaders of tomorrow, into tedious kids full of hatred (65).Elementary age kids do not know the difference between real and make believe, therefore they do not understand why they should not imitate the violence they see on T.

V. It is very important that an adult is present when children are allowed to watch T. V. so that they can monitor what is being watched. Children are not able to distinguish fantasy from reality; this makes it very easy for them to adopt behaviors that they see into their lives. Television is a source of entertainment, knowledge and information for any type of audience.

The audiences can include children, adults and older peoples. The television inspires every individual of any age. Young children who are at the initial stages of their growth and development mostly spend their time in front of television sets, therefore it is very easy for them to adopt what they see on T.

V. into their everyday lives. They get into each program, they have their favorite characters and they want to be just like them (Violent TV, movies, makes kids meaner to each other, 3).

As the child watches the television programs with full attention they get inspired by the presentation of the programs and then finally try to imitate the same without knowing the depth of the activities. The children do not understand the principle that adopting the same act can be harmful for them. Children have a strong observation, on the basis of this observation they grasp everything that they keenly observe. The mind of a child is like a computer; the brain generates things and stores them in its memory. (Mortimer, p.

6-20) Children who are not monitored by an adult will most likely learn how to initiate violent acts by watching television. In the article “Viewers Have Had Their Fill of TV Sex and Violence,” Mark Dolliver gives some examples of this. In December of 1993 a young ten year old child, after watching an episode of Beavis and Butthead, went into his two year old sister’s room and lit her baby crib on fire. This not only burnt the house down and gave the ten year old kid solemn third degree burns, but also killed the two year old baby by smoldering her to death.In addition, in October of 1993 after watching a movie entitled “The Program ” a handful of school kids imitating a scene from the movie laid down in the center of a busy junction and dodged traffic. Two of these elementary aged kids were killed, two had stern injuries that put them in the serious care unit of the hospital for a month, and one had a splintered collarbone and multiple fractured ribs.

All of these children where watching T. V. without adult supervision. These cases prove that advice should be given to the television producers that the violence they put in this shows causes violence to occur in real life.Television programs that are being viewed by children should never, under any circumstances, depict or describe an act of deadly or damaging violence (Gorman, p110).

Children usually adopt those things which fascinate them. The young children do not have the power or sense to distinguish between the harmful and useful; they simply see what they want to see. Violence and aggression are cited as the most awful aspects of television, and are seen amongst the common of the public, but principally within the media, as a characteristic of high concern.People have always had the knowledge to support the fact that viewing violence teaches people how to perform violent deeds. (Calamai, p. A03) So it can be concluded that television violence refers to all violence emerging on TV screens and absorbs the act of injuring or murdering someone or the imitation of injuring or killing someone. The violence as shown in the television is harmful and dangerous for the young children because these children are immature and are not able to discriminate the rightness and wrongness of a certain thing.

The children of today are the future of tomorrow therefore, they should be properly brought up in an environment of peace. The children should develop good qualities so that they can become good adults and responsible citizens of their country. Everything that children view on T. V. should be monitored by an adult. By supervising your children you are assuring that they are not learning how to perform violent acts. Personal Statement I chose to write about this topic because it is something that I see with in my family.

I have two nieces that are in elementary school and they always imitate what they see on TV. whether it is violence or just an attitude that they portray. All the time when I ask them why they hit each other or why they are doing karate moves, they tell me it is because they saw it on a show they watch. I just think it is very important that if you are going to allow your kids to watch TV that you make sure there is an adult present to monitor what they are seeing. Kids believe that what they see on TV is real; therefore they think it is okay to do the same things. Work Cited Chipping away at TV violence (2006).

U. S. News & World Report, Vol. 19 Issue 4.

p 23 Dolliver, Mark (2002). Viewers Have Had Their Fill Of TV Sex and Violence. Adweek Western Edition, Vol. 52 Issue 14. pp 61 Gorman, Megan (2003). Violent TV Makes Kids Violent Adults.

Prevention, Vol. 55 Issue 9. pp 110 TV violence, Alaska Business Monthly, (2000). Vol.

16 Issue 9. pp 65 Violent TV, movies, makes kids meaner to each other (2002). Nation’s Health, Vol. 32 Issue 8.

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V. violence hits kids. Education Digest, 60(2), 2000, 16-20.