“Monkey see, monkey do” has become a well-known saying in today’s society, but is it correct? Just sixty years ago the invention of the television was viewed as a technological curiosity with black and white ghost-like figures on a screen so small hardly anyone could see them. Today that curiosity has become a constant companion to many, mainly children. From reporting the news and persuading us to buy certain products, to providing programs that depict violence, television has all but replaced written material. Unfortunately, it is these violent programs that are endangering our present-day society. Violent images on television, as well as in the movies, have inspired people to set spouses on fire in their beds, lie down in the middle of highways, extort money by placing bombs in airplanes, rape, steal, murder, and commit numerous other shootings and assaults. Over 1,000 case studies have proven that media violence can have negative affects on children as well. It increases aggressiveness and anti-social behavior, makes them less sensitive to violence and to victims of violence, and it increases their appetite for more violence in entertainment and in real life. Media violence is especially damaging to young children, age 8 and under1, because they cannot tell the difference between real life and fantasy. Violent images on television and in movies may seem real to these children and sometimes viewing these images can even traumatize
MY IDEA AND RESEARCH
An average Indian child spends about 28 hours a week with T.V. and 36 hours a week in a classroom. By the time of his graduation he spends 18000 hours in front of a T.V. set and only 13000 hours in a classroom. So generally observes 200,000 violent acts and 16000 murders through media. Perhaps you’re thinking,
Wait a minute, kids are going to learn more from their parents than the TV. I wouldn’t count on it. If your child spends more time in front of TV than talking with you, there’s a good chance the TV is teaching him more than you think.
FACTS The American Academy of Child and Adult Psychology, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Psychological Association all agree that violence in the media is related to real-life aggression. According to IDC , 57% of T.V. program contain violence which any how effects the mind of every child. Children programming like pokemon, bayblade, popeye etc contains 5 times more violence than prime time television. 25% of these violent acts involve handguns and other harmful weapons. Children’s TV shows contain about 20 violent acts each hour.
