…haven’t been posting lately T_T I’ve been working on an Essay for school. It was worth 50 points, like half our grade >_> Don’t have the grade for it yet, but here’s my essay. It’s about T.V. Violence affecting society. It’s called An Inescapable Influence: A screen of Visuals Affecting Society.

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 Students avoiding fights in the hall, walking home in fear and even sleeping in bathtubs at night to avoid stray bullets shot at drive-by shootings. The world is a really scary place and unfortunately many children know it from T.V. shows like Cops and America’s Most Wanted. T.V. influence much to society but especially to young children, they become more aggressive, less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others and they also fear the world around them.

        Children behaving more aggressively are one of the main causes of T.V. violence.  When the author was in preschool she was a quiet kid that kept to herself who was bullied by the kids opposite of her. One day, just sneaking around in hopes of understanding them she overheard one conversation of their favorite T.V. shows. That night she asked her elder sibling about it, all he said was, “…don’t watch those shows, ever.”  One study done by George Gerbner of University of Pennsylvania observed preschool student before and after watching violent television. Most males started lashing out at classmates and disobeying their teachers. Did you hear that? MALES. Tannis Macbeth Williams and other researchers from University of British Columbia compared the levels of aggression between of first and second graders of two Canadian towns. One with television access and the other, due to mountain ranges, had none. WHEN THE MOUNTAIN TOWN GAINED TELEVISION ACCESS HITTING, BITING AND SHOVING LEVELS HAD RAISED 160 PERCENT. Coincidence? I think not. These kinds of things are on television: Nanny 911, Super Nanny and cartoons of sibling rivalry like Animaniacs.

        In addition to behaving more aggressive they become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. You may not notice- but you see it, hear it and know it. Stereotypically children are always told to apologize for harming others. They’re T.V. shows where the hero rebels and saves the day! Those kinds of shows happen to be very inspirational for adults but they happen to give kids the wrong idea. They think they will make a difference, good difference

        If none of the above damage happens, this will happen: they will fear the world around them. Consider the statistic: one in six people has SEEN or KNOW someone that has been shot, and they are between ages ten and seventeen. Even as adults, wouldn’t you be scared if you see a person shot right before your eyes. If it’s that scary to you could you imagine what a traumatizing sight it is for an adolescent? Even if they see it on T.V. it scares them because they will know it exists. Even Newsweek concluded that “It gets dark early in the Midwest this time of year. Long before many parents come home from work, the shadows creep up the walls and gather up corners, while on the carpet a little figure sprawls in the glow of an anchorman’s tan. There’s been murder in the loop, a fire in a nightclub, an indictment of another priest. Red and white lights swirl in urgent pinwheels, as the ambulances howl down the dark streets. And one more crime never gets reported, because there is no one to arrest. Who killed childhood? We all did.” How did we do it? Here’s how: the actual invention of the television, creations of crazy T.V. shows and just plain exposing them to mind damaging programs in the first place.