Popular Media

Values portrayed in popular media
Veronica Goff
ENG 122
January, 30 2012

The programming shown on television today is not an accurate depiction of our lives. It is fantasy that when seen by the masses, becomes popular and then a coveted reality. Statistics show that the average American, from the ages 2 to 65, watches approximately 153 hours of TV every month at home, and 560% increase in violent crime, a 419% increase in illegitimate births, divorce rates have quadrupled in the past 30 years.  The values portrayed in popular media are negatively affecting American's with the loss of quality family time, poor body image, and decreased moral values.
The content shown and heard on the television is a factor in America's moral decline because the industry is a huge part of our lives. "The average American, from the ages 2 to 65, watches approximately 153 hours of TV every month at home." (Neilsonwire, 2012) American people are constantly viewing and listening to this input, and people tend to create personal mental relationships with the characters on their favorite shows. These characters may be more violent, drug addicted and spending a vast amount more money than a typical person ever would yet, every day viewing has our society starting to believe this is what life is supposes to be like.
This is an important social issue; the decline in American moral values is prevalent. Since the introduction of television, the rise in illegitimate births and violent crime has gone up while SAT scores have gone down.  In that time the Number of hours watching television has only risen. According to William J. Bennett's (1993) paper "Quantifying America's Decline", from 1960 to 1993 the has been a 560% increase in violent crime, a 419% increase in illegitimate births, divorce rates have quadrupled; 3 times as many children living in single parent homes, an increase in teen suicide rate, and a drop of almost 80 points in SAT scores.  Bennett further shows that... [continues]

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