Sanford 1 Yale Sanford Professor Weaver Argumentative Writing 2 December 2013 Violence as a Nuisance With a click of the remote

you can enter a different domain, a place where murder mysteries send chills up your spine or where super heroes roam the town fighting crime copiously. As decades pass, life in front of a television set has continued to be a lifestyle in the homes of Americans and its where we get our news and our entertainment consistently. With endless amounts of channels and genres the television has become a place where individuals, particularly our nations youth pick up habits and sometimes not for the better. Looking at whats displayed on television today, many shows and actions within those shows pose a threat to our youth and can lead to increased aggression amongst children 12 years of age and under. Our youth are exposed to an abundance of programming these days and are usually the center target when it comes to advertisement and promotional stimuli. With such a huge pool of young viewers in society, it is not socially just to expose these individuals to situations that exhibit graphic content and use violence for entertainment purposes. When a viewer turns on the television today, they have a range of entertainment options that include primetime shows that utilize guns, murder and graphic scenes to captivate audiences and for young children, when and if exposed, contribute to an altered perception of society. Also as a result, the child may look to aggressive actions as acceptable because they saw it on the television. Throughout the United States, now is the quintessential period in which to realize this problem is relevant as gun violence over the past few years has escalated to a national and global concern. The media and

Sanford 2 television shows that display harmful and violent actions are damaging to children in many levels and as a result, can lead to aggressive traits as they mature. Children are a sponge as they go throughout their day, soaking up every new life experience and learning what society is all about. A good portion of that day may be spent in front of a television set and children often look to these shows as engaging and most of the time comical. Violence on our televisions are negative stimuli for children and hold ramifications far larger then what may be thought. When the child is exposed to violence on the television, the child reacts in a way similar to what was displayed on the television. A superhero in the eyes of a child may be a big, powerful man or woman who fights crime and keeps the people safe. But in actuality some sort of violence is brought out to solve the altercation. This can be entertaining but damaging to a child and may lead to the Star Wars effect; an increase in aggressiveness, (Emmons). Everyone who watches television knows the words to a theme song or funny lines to a movie, because they reached you in a way that differs from the rest of the show and was entertaining to you; it grabbed you. In the case of children, violence on the television often shows it effects in a different light. Kids are more likely to try to replicate the sounds and the noises associated with the stimuli on the television, also known as the Star Wars effect, (Emmons). After viewing shows and cartoons that use sound effects to represent for instance a gunshot, that child now may look at objects around the house and use the sound effects they heard to represent or reenact the scene. The child does not realize that this is not suitable and causes outbursts in aggression and desensitizes the child from the reality of the situation. The last thing we want is to have our children grow up in a world that is desensitized and aggressive towards others. As

Sanford 3 human beings within a society, we have a right to protect who can not protect themselves and have an obligation to develop children who know right from wrong and live in a positive world. Nowadays the notion of growing up in front of a television is not so far stretched. An average child watches about 27 hours of television weekly and experiences violence without the parent and especially the child even realizing. By the time the child is ready to leave elementary school and on their way to middle school, they have consumed more than 8,000 murders through the television and have seen that a majority of these murder cases involve the criminal getting away with the crime and displaying no shame or guilt, (Parents Television Council). As a society, the utilization of violence to entertain our population is degrading and needs to be revamped in a way that stimulates and engages our youth, not creating an allusion of reality and using violence as the centerpiece. This allusion of reality leads to desensitization or the ability for that child not to hold the significance of severity the violence is actually posing. Desensitization holds many cards that change the way children look at the environment around them. One of the biggest concerns is that the child would become less sensitive to real life events or not understand its magnitude because they have been exposed to fictional situations over and over. With desensitization emerges the notion that the violent act was justified leading the child to believe that it is ok to replicate it, this is indeed an increase in aggression, (American Psychological Association). The problem is not stagnant, it has been here for decades and we have a right to eradicate the issue in front of us before we have a generation of aggressive individuals. Diving deeper we can start to define what is violent or graphic and put a stamp on what is acceptable and what is not and understand why this causes an increase in aggressiveness. Violence in the media and graphic content can be defined as the depiction of especially vivid, brutal and realistic acts of violence. Furthermore, anything that embodies the use of weapons,

Sanford 4 crude language and realistic violent scenes such as murder scenes can be viewed as byproduct of violence or graphic content. We have all turned on the television and seen a message on the screen stating The preceding program contained scenes of extreme violence and should not have been viewed by young children." Is this all we have to deter our youth from defying their parents and watching it anyway? Looking at shows that have been popular for some time on television, we can see a consistent angle that involves murder or a harmful course of action. People like drama, especially cop drama and while this might be appropriate for a mature adult to consume, it should not be in arms reach for a child. Shows for instance like CSI, NCIS, Law and Order all who have a strong cop plot, all use murder as a means of entertainment, (Parents Television Council). There is a place in society for graphic material, but what is the burden that we are placing on the backs of our youth? Even though the networks like to hide behind ambiguous rhetoric and vague meanings, they have a right to produce a product with everyone in mind not just the majority and legally have an obligation to make sure children are not harmed. In actuality, the damage is being done and if we do not act, the problem will continue to pose health risks on our youth. The key word to understanding why violence leads to aggression in this case is exposure and how much of it is relevant. Even though some of these primetime shows air during safe harbor time (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.) or the time in which content can be more vivid without FCC regulations, doesnt mean that the problem is solved. Some instances of exposure dont happen on purpose and need to be realized. For instance a parent might be viewing a mature show intended for individuals who know the difference between right and wrong and not suitable for younger audiences. This is fine until the child flips to the channel or walks into the viewing space of the parent. Even though the content audience was intended to be for mature viewers, the child may

Sanford 5 look at what is displayed on the screen and change the way the he or she looks at society. We have to ask the questions and provide the safest and most logical options for our kids above the notions of entertainment, money and support. Picture a normal Saturday morning, breakfast is being made and your child is watching his or her favorite cartoon. Without a second thought you deem the show acceptable and go about your actions. Lets take a step back and analyze this situation for a second. The fact is, that even though the show is a cartoon and you see no harm in it, it poses more of a threat to the child then primetime shows, the ones that display graphic murders According to the Media Education Foundation, The level of violence during Saturday morning cartoons is higher than the level of violence during primetime. There are 3-5 violent acts per hour in prime time, versus 20-25 acts per hour on Saturday morning, (MEF). This is where we can see that violence is intertwined in our everyday life and because of the availability of it, we as citizens dont see the underlining stigma that graphic stimuli places on our youth. As we go about our daily life we need to be aware of our surroundings stand up for what needs to be changed. The issue of aggressiveness and violence is nothing new and frankly should be not be deemed as a new or ill-researched topic. Statistics range back decades and doctors and psychologists alike have conducted studies that shine light onto a correlation and a strong one at that. Furthermore, we are now starting to see the statistics come to fruition as most of these longitudinally designed experiments are bearing facts that confirm a connection. The study that was published in 1975 that appeared in JAMA a journal that contains scholarly publications raised the first red flag on the matter. The study was remarkable in the sense that it first alerted the medical community to the deforming effects the viewing of television violence has on normal child development, increasing levels of physical aggressiveness and violence, (Centerwall MD.

Sanford 6 MPH.). It all boils down to the fact that this is something that is just popping up in our society. We have to realize that as the decades pass and shows continue to pose a threat; our youth face a road that leads to a jagged cliff. People need to be aware that this problem has been swept under the rug for decades and all that is missing in order to fix this issue is support and face-time. When it all boils down according to the Majority Staff Senate Committee on the Judiciary, more than 1,000 studies on the effects of television and film violence have been done over the past 40 years. The majority of these studies reach the same conclusion: television and film violence leads to real-world violence, (Hatch). This is not saying that your child will become more aggressive or show signs, but the fact of the matter is that the chance for your child to become aggressive is substantially larger when exposed to the television and we can fix this problem once and for all by raising awareness, respect and support. With all these studies being conducted over the past 4 to 5 decades, why is your child still at risk when viewing a harmless television program? Were now in the age where communication rules the proverbial world, and you have the power to stand up and protect our youth and your children. Asking the right questions and having a strong opinion ensures that not only your family is protected but also the country. People have the ability to come up with conclusions or generalizations on the topic and may believe that correlation is not causation. The country has not taken the time to analyze the growing problem of aggressiveness and the issue is not in the public spotlight. The responsibility does not lie with the government, the FCC or the companies that make the television shows. The responsibility belongs in your hands, the hands of parents and now is the time to accept the obligation of protecting your most valuable possession. Parents

Sanford 7 know that childhood shapes the life of a person and everything absorbed in these first years of life can form a person for the good or hurt their chances of becoming an important part of society. Lets face it; children are a big part of the viewing audience but not the overwhelming majority. With this being said psychologists and professors alike have lashed out in recent years saying that there is no correlation between violence and aggression. According to Professor Jib Fowles, Television helps the population, placates the population and has a lot to do with our emotional well being, Fowles said. Viewers use television content, and, in particular, television violence, to help them manage their own emotions. So I see television's violent content as therapeutic for the population, (Fowles). In psychology there is a saying correlation is not causation, and while this might be true, when your child has become aggressive or showing signs of increased aggressiveness, the fact is it doesnt matter what psychology says, the problem has exemplified itself. Wayne Dyer once said, If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. Literally if we change what we consume on the television and promote positive and engaging avenues for children to travel on without violence, the world in which we live in would change for the better. Negative stimuli are a nuisance for children and inhibit them to mature in a proper way. We are in a time period now that is full of resources, whether it is the Internet or social media; we have the tools needed to promote change. All that is missing is public awareness and people and parents dedicated and committed to making sure our children mature properly and without a false reality. We need not to forget the importance that our youth plays in this country, and should equip them with tools so they can one day leave this earth in better condition in which they received it. Aggressiveness has a correlation with violence, its been proven countless times.

Sanford 8 Now is the time to protect the most valuable resource of all, our youth. It only takes one act of violence to change the course of history. Lets work to make sure that never happens.

Sanford 9 Works Cited Centerwall MD. MPH., Brandon S. "Special Communication Television and Violence The Scale of the Problem and Where to Go From Here."JAMA. (1992): n. page. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. Emmons, Sasha. "Is media violence damaging to kids?."CNN 21 February 2013, n. pag. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. Hatch, Senator Orrin G. . "CHILDREN, VIOLENCE, AND THE MEDIA A Report for Parents and Policy Makers." (1999): n. page. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. "Media Violence:Facts and Statistics." Media Education Foundation . (2005): n. page. Print. "Professor Calls Tv Violence A Good Thing." Professor Jib Fowles. Baltimore Sun. (2000): n. page. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. "TV Bloodbath: Violence on Prime Time Broadcast TV A PTC State of the Television Industry Report."Parents Television Council. (2002): n. page. Web. 29 Nov. 2013. "Violence in the Media Psychologists Study TV and Video Game Violence for Potential Harmful Effects." American Psychological Association . (2013): n. page. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.