Tv Violence
Steven Darbyshire
Professor Gerald Spence
English 101
10 February 2013
What Happened to the Beaver? Wally and the Beaver have moved out of the neighborhood and the Kardashians have moved in. The fact that you know who the Kardashians are is a testimonial to the success of mass media marketing. What was once a platform to display the best qualities found in America has steadily become a means to display the worst. A modern day circus sideshow is just one click of your remote control away. What’s even more concerning is that our children can work the remote better than we can. Former President George Bush Jr. once said, “We cannot blame the schools alone for the dismal decline in SAT verbal scores. When our kids come home from school do they pick up a book or do they sit glued to the tube, watching music videos? Parents, don 't make the mistake of thinking your kid only learns between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.”(qtd. in Alexis 247) .The connection between the desensitized youth of our nation and the American mass media is undeniable. American Children spend more than fifty-three hours a week watching TV or using video games, cellphones, and computers (Kaiser Family Foundation). That is an incredible amount of time for anyone, let alone a child. Sociologists believe that the media is used as a means to educate youth in regards to beliefs and values. Youth are shown that their lives can be better or more exciting by taking part in a certain behavior, which in-turn could lead to unrealistic expectations and problems later on down the road (Basirico 44). Television depicts violence as a means to solve problems, whether it is on a cartoon or in an action TV show. The message is in most cases the same; hurt the person making you angry. “ By the age of eighteen the average American has seen two hundred thousands acts of violence on television, forty thousand of these being murders” (Basirico 177). That means that on average kids are seeing about 2200
Professor Gerald Spence
English 101
10 February 2013
What Happened to the Beaver? Wally and the Beaver have moved out of the neighborhood and the Kardashians have moved in. The fact that you know who the Kardashians are is a testimonial to the success of mass media marketing. What was once a platform to display the best qualities found in America has steadily become a means to display the worst. A modern day circus sideshow is just one click of your remote control away. What’s even more concerning is that our children can work the remote better than we can. Former President George Bush Jr. once said, “We cannot blame the schools alone for the dismal decline in SAT verbal scores. When our kids come home from school do they pick up a book or do they sit glued to the tube, watching music videos? Parents, don 't make the mistake of thinking your kid only learns between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.”(qtd. in Alexis 247) .The connection between the desensitized youth of our nation and the American mass media is undeniable. American Children spend more than fifty-three hours a week watching TV or using video games, cellphones, and computers (Kaiser Family Foundation). That is an incredible amount of time for anyone, let alone a child. Sociologists believe that the media is used as a means to educate youth in regards to beliefs and values. Youth are shown that their lives can be better or more exciting by taking part in a certain behavior, which in-turn could lead to unrealistic expectations and problems later on down the road (Basirico 44). Television depicts violence as a means to solve problems, whether it is on a cartoon or in an action TV show. The message is in most cases the same; hurt the person making you angry. “ By the age of eighteen the average American has seen two hundred thousands acts of violence on television, forty thousand of these being murders” (Basirico 177). That means that on average kids are seeing about 2200
Cited: Basirico, Laurence A., Barbara G. Cashion, and J. Ross. Eshleman. Introduction to Sociology. Redding, CA: BVT, 2012 BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. "TV Basics." Http://www.tvb.org/media/file/TV_Basics.pdf. N.p., 2010. Web. 16 Feb. 2013. Alexis, Jonas E. In the Name of Education: How Weird Ideologies Corrupt Our Public Schools, Politics, the Media, Higher Institutions, and History. (Longwood, Fla.)Xulon, 2007. Print.