Our Culture and the Media

“Our Culture and the Media”

Benjamin Joseph Lentine
ENGL 101-B09
02/15/2013

Television has become a major influence in our culture today. There are some who claim that it is perfectly harmless, and that it is no better or worse than any other recreational pursuits. There are others who say that though television certainly has its problems, it is a necessary evil. I believe that there are a few positive things that television provides, but as a whole its use should be limited and the content viewed should be carefully screened.
The main benefit to television viewing is the amount of information that is readily available. For instance, news can be instantly broadcasted around the world. You can also learn a great deal from all of the documentaries available on TV. There are also some educational video games that can help teach foreign language, math facts, and other skills to children. While most won’t deny that television can have some benefits, it seems that there are for more negative effects than positive ones.
Karen Springen states in her essay “Why We Tuned Out” that she and the rest of her family doesn’t watch TV at all and she believes that it has only benefited the education of her children and the atmosphere in their house. In her essay, she also states what the American Medical Association’s opinion on television is: “Kids who watch more than 10 hours of TV each week are more likely to be overweight, aggressive, and slow to learn in school.” (November 11, 2002)
Although, it’s probably not necessary to go to the extreme of getting rid of all media in the house and trying to prevent the kids from seeing anything on TV while they are at other locations, its use should definitely be limited. Here are some statistics that I found:
• Approximate number of studies examining TV 's effects on children: 4,000
• Number of minutes per week that parents spend in meaningful conversation with their children: 3.5
• Number of minutes per week that the average child watches television: 1,680
• Percentage of day care centers that use TV during a typical day: 70
• Percentage of parents who would like to limit their children 's TV watching: 73
• Percentage of 4-6 year-olds who, when asked to choose between watching TV and spending time with their fathers, preferred television: 54 (parents are finding it hard to compete with all of the excitement of the media)
• Hours per year the average American youth spends in school: 900 hours
• Hours per year the average American youth watches television: 1500 (www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html)
Just by looking at these, you can see the effects of the media. The bottom two statistics are probably the most unsettling.
Ryan Seacrest, the host of the television talent show, American Idol, says, "Our culture is obsessed with the people we see on television and watch in the movies.” Almost everyone has someone that they look up to and admire. People that watch TV have many people available to them that can be idolized and held up as role models. These characters are carefully, and intentionally, written in such a way that they are very attractive, interesting, or funny. They lend themselves well to be imitated in their mannerisms, speech, clothing style, morals, and attitude. Many times, even the “good guys” from many TV shows or movies do not have the good qualities that you should imitate. Often a TV shows’ main character is immoral, but is glorified for it. I can also, think of a couple superhero movies, where the HERO is as evil as the villain is. Bad is popular or “cool” and anything good and moral is portrayed as “lame”. If kids watch a lot of TV, they could definitely get the wrong idea of what is good and bad.
The different forms of media also affect attention span, also. I and the rest of my family went to Disney World once, and we saw a child there who was sitting down playing video games on his Gameboy. If someone can’t go to Disney World without needing to have even more entertainment, than something needs to be worked on. Another way to see the attention span of children is just to look at what they do in their free time. With many children, much of it is spent on the TV. If they read, their choices of literature are often lacking and reveal the kind of things they have been trained to appreciate and desire. Many of the children’s books that are published recently are just sad. I looked up information on the children’s book series Captain Underpants and almost cried. I found on Wikipedia.com that “The book series includes 10 books and 3 spin-offs, and won a Disney Adventures Kids ' Choice Award in 2007. DreamWorks Animation acquired rights to the series to make an animated feature film adaptation.” Here are a few of the villain’s names: Dr. Diaper, The Turbo-Toilet 2000, and The Bionic Booger Boy. How can this possibly win any kind of award, or be popular enough for a company to want to make a movie of it? Children are soaking up the things that are presented to them.
Watching TV and playing games can affect people’s emotions, too. My older brother has told me that if he watches too many depressing movies, they make him feel unhappy and irritated. This is a problem especially with younger kids. More and more children are also being introduced to violence at a young age. Young kids are watching movies and shows or playing games, that were originally made for audiences much older than who is watching or playing them. Here are a couple examples that I, or one of my brothers, have seen of this: There was a sign at our movie theatre that said that children six years old and under may not watch R-rated movies after 6:00 p.m. There were many complaints about this policy, but I don’t think that children that young (or anyone, really) should watch R-rated movies any time. At a young age, especially. when their mind is very impressionable, choices should be carefully screened. Violent and sexual images from R-rated movies can stick with people for the rest of their lives. Faye Steuer, a professor of psychology at Charleston College, said, “Children learn how to deal with relationships by what they see on TV. They see people having casual sex and using obscenity-laden language... I don 't see how it could possibly be good for kids.”
How can someone say that these things are not be bad for people, let alone children? Ted Turner, the founder of CNN and TBS, said, “TV is the single most significant factor contributing to violence in America.” There has been lots of controversy on whether or not media violence causes real aggression or actual violence.
I don’t know if television is one of the causes of real life violence or not, but I do think that it does affect your thoughts and attitude. Media in general and television in particular is potentially, the most destructive tool to our minds. Bibliography
Springen, Karen. “Why We Tuned Out,” from Newsweek, November 11, 2002

California State University Northridge’s website: Television and Health (www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html)

Facts About Television Violence, by Uttara Manohar (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-television-violence.html)

Bibliography: Springen, Karen. “Why We Tuned Out,” from Newsweek, November 11, 2002 California State University Northridge’s website: Television and Health (www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html) Facts About Television Violence, by Uttara Manohar (http://www.buzzle.com/articles/facts-about-television-violence.html)