TV and Violence in Today's Society
TV definitely has an impact on society with both positive and negative outcomes. Unfortunately, we are pummeled with negative news, for that is what sells in America. With such influence should TV violence prevail and continue to seep into the psyche of individuals who believe the acting depicts real events and choose to emulate them?
The mental images, concepts and schemes that are portrayed in programs are surreal fantasies of writers tuned solely to the intent of drawing viewers to attain higher ratings. The ratings put out by Nielsen, measure rankings for TV broadcasts, cable, and syndication. A higher rating means more people are watching, thus these programs often warrant higher commercial value, thus producing revenue for the affiliates airing the programs.
Of course, it almost stands to reason that those most influenced by violence in programming would be children, teens, young adults, and people with low self-esteem and education. Common sense also warrants that children look to carton and adult characters on TV as real life entities. These "people," the characters, are cherished, revered, and idolized by viewers who believe they are real.
Such veneration leads to copying their very actions and deeds and might instill a sense of reasoning in a viewer that their actions actually belong to the character of the show, program or broadcast. Their acts of violence might then be emulated and done so even though it is inappropriate.
Some studies, however, say that TV violence desensitizes the acts of fierceness. They believe school bullying is not a case of emulation of the acts as witnessed on TV. The case against TV violence being a precursor to vicious acts in today's society states that if violent programming led to violence then we would be live in an even more vicious society. Why? Is it because we watch so many acts of vehement behavior on television? Or is it because we are so desensitized by the programming that the conduct of characters is merely a desired and acceptable way to pass leisure time?
Both sides of the argument carry some weight; however, the need for more tangible and even exposure to less TV violence, one that interprets the differences and possible influence on varied age ranges of viewers, their ethical differences, and the social context in which the programming is viewed might bear positive results.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rich_Albright
The mental images, concepts and schemes that are portrayed in programs are surreal fantasies of writers tuned solely to the intent of drawing viewers to attain higher ratings. The ratings put out by Nielsen, measure rankings for TV broadcasts, cable, and syndication. A higher rating means more people are watching, thus these programs often warrant higher commercial value, thus producing revenue for the affiliates airing the programs.
Of course, it almost stands to reason that those most influenced by violence in programming would be children, teens, young adults, and people with low self-esteem and education. Common sense also warrants that children look to carton and adult characters on TV as real life entities. These "people," the characters, are cherished, revered, and idolized by viewers who believe they are real.
Such veneration leads to copying their very actions and deeds and might instill a sense of reasoning in a viewer that their actions actually belong to the character of the show, program or broadcast. Their acts of violence might then be emulated and done so even though it is inappropriate.
Some studies, however, say that TV violence desensitizes the acts of fierceness. They believe school bullying is not a case of emulation of the acts as witnessed on TV. The case against TV violence being a precursor to vicious acts in today's society states that if violent programming led to violence then we would be live in an even more vicious society. Why? Is it because we watch so many acts of vehement behavior on television? Or is it because we are so desensitized by the programming that the conduct of characters is merely a desired and acceptable way to pass leisure time?
Both sides of the argument carry some weight; however, the need for more tangible and even exposure to less TV violence, one that interprets the differences and possible influence on varied age ranges of viewers, their ethical differences, and the social context in which the programming is viewed might bear positive results.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rich_Albright
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