Violence on Television - Essay Example

2 December Assignment Whatever one witnesses, one tends to emulate -this sentence holds very true for most people around the world may it be with things like fashion or violence being depicted on television. Movie and television stars are so famous because common people try to live like them and dress like them in order to make their lives feel glamorous and much the same way, everything else that is shown on television is copied and tried by people at least once especially if it looks appealing. Violence on television shown in the form of films or even on the news does have an impact on society and its various dimensions. There are many different kind of people living in a particular society – some that may be educated and rational and others that are not so. Moreover, children in society tend to emulate whatever they see on television as a means of living their life for example, with superhero movies there have been so many cases of children trying to imitate superhero powers and jumping off buildings in an attempt to fly. Violence refers to extreme aggression being executed by physical or mental force and occurs when a person gets very angry and is not able to control his anger and is depicted a great deal on television. Due to the same, it does have an impact on society and contributes to violence in society in many ways. (F, Seymour, and Robert D. Singer) 1: Therefore, the following questions is posed; does violence shown on television in the form of television shows, movies and even advertisement have an impact on the minds of both adults and children and subsequently contribute to violence in society? Television programs today have an array of subjects ranging from criminal activities to investigative shows where crimes being committed in neighbourhoods, among families and even on a global scale are depicted and appeal to viewers the most. (Henrey J Kaiser Foundation) From the point of view of the channel or the directors of the show, such shows are mostly in the form of thrillers and suspense which tend to arouse a great deal of interest in the minds of the audience and are thus good for increasing the ratings. However, these shows depict a great deal of violence, which is harmful for audience of all ages to watch. Moreover, the shows may also have explicit violent content which may scar the minds of people. The shows easily portray scheming, violent physical activity, criminal activities such as theft and murder and thrive on these subjects where the criminals are normal people living ‘normal’ lives by the day and committing such activities by night. This obviously has a very negative impact on the audience. These shows that display such explicit violent content tend to get ingrained in the minds of the viewers as they begin to use the language as used in the show, however offensive it might be and tend to act in the same manner as the actors on the show in similar situations. (Anderson, Kerby) For example, if on the show a man becomes violent and aggressive in a petty issue like parking his car or talking to the traffic police, people watching the show tend to use the same angst while dealing with a similar daily situation because they feel that using aggression will get them what they want which may be equal to what treatment the actor got on the television show. (Huesmann, L.R, and J. Podolski) Moreover, if children tend to view these television series and shows the effect is even worse on them because they are at a stage in their lives where their minds are still growing and developing and they are gullible towards all kinds of situations. Many parents and older people do not think twice before letting their children sit with them and view television serials that might not be suitable for them. Violence being shown on television thus gets imprinted on their minds and this violence tends to come out in society when they deal with similar situations. 2: Are children affected worse by violence shown on television as compared to adults? Children, more than adults, are not able to control their emotions and thus when they begin to feel negativity, they tend to execute the same by physically acting upon their feelings and this tends to cause violence. Violence in children is becoming an increasingly recurring phenomenon because of several reasons including the atmosphere that the child has been brought up within. When a child is subject to violence and is forced to witness his family members committing violent actions on a regular basis, or he is pampered to such an extent that by throwing tantrums and being a little violent he is able to get with what he wants while getting away with violence, he tends to accept the same as a way of his life. (Unspecified) Therefore, if he witnesses violence on television, it is but obvious that he will try and copy the same thing and apply it in his life. The psyche of a child gets affected by watching war movies, action films and serials and children think that they must live in the same manner. (Children and TV Violence) Hitting siblings, getting into conflicts with friends at school and getting into arguments with teachers makes a child feel unwanted and he thinks that violence is the only way by which he can get around to doing what he wants because television programs that he views on a frequent basis make him believe in these things. (McCluskey, N) Many children exposed to violent television series even become bullies and bully their younger siblings or friends at school because they feel that the aggression that the television actors displayed on television made others fear them and they were able to get what they want. Children develop such a mindset and it carries on with them in their teenage years, turning them into violent human beings later in life. The point here being made is that many children do not understand what they are watching; if they are watching a show where the criminal activity has been glorified, they tend to think that that is the moralistic way of living life without even understand the gravity of the crime or the heinousness of the same. (Brezina, Timothy, Alex Piquero, and Paul M) However, children cannot be blamed for this aspect only; many adults are also not able to understand the violence that they watch on television and the manner in which it was committed. They may be uneducated or irrational in nature and interpret the violence as an act deliberately done to harm someone else instead of understanding the consequences of the same in real life. Many people are not able to even distinguish between real and reel life, forgetting that such violence committed in reality is far graver than what has been committed on the television show. Table 1 depicts a better understanding of the kind of violence shown through various television programs, to give a clearer picture of the shows that expose both children and adults to violence. 3: Will having disclaimers on television before depicting violent scenes that would discourage the use of violence help in any way and hinder the amount of violence spread in society? “An extensive study in five Massachusetts communities found a relationship between viewing media violence and the acceptance of sexual assault, social violence, and even alcohol use.” (TV and Film Violence) For such people, there should be disclaimers on the television show hindering such violence activity in reality and stopping people from emulating what they see on the screen. For example, the television show Dexter has a great deal of violence being committed; in fact the protagonist is a criminal who helps the police in ‘killing the bad guys’. However, the viewers do not understand the morality and ethics involved in killing someone who has already created destruction in society; for many viewers, it seems like if Dexter does it then so can I. There is no one to even change their thinking and thus such shows should condemn the use of violence and display slogans to the audience while committing such actions in order to discourage the same actions in real life by stating that the acts committed are for the sake of the show and not to be imitated by people in reality. Many advertisements on television depicting violence do have disclaimers on them so as to caution people to not commit the same activities themselves or try the same at home, because they fear that if they do not warn the audience, people will go back and try to do what they see without realising that the activities are acted out by professionals and are only for the purpose of the advertisement. Moreover, the biggest difference in the two is that on television, no one gets hurt but in real life, people just might get hurt. Increased acts of violence on television also tend to desensitize people against the crimes and these situations make children even more vulnerable than adults. Children can get disturbed by watching such shows and even have terrible nightmares and scarring mental images which they might not be able to forget. Most adults that view a lot of violence on television also tend to become very anti social as they imitate what they watch on television and slowly become the characters that they see on screen, in real life. Thus, it would definitely help to have disclaimers on screen discouraging the use of violent activity shown on the show to be portrayed in real life by people. This is because some people get fired up very easily and do not have excellent control over their emotions which tends to make them think and act very irrationally. For such people, having a disclaimer would at least caution them and let them think twice as to why the violence is being depicted. Moreover, many films and television shows have started displaying disclaimers regarding smoking and alcohol if they depict persons on screen conducting such activities and it has been found that these disclaimers have helped to decrease the amount of smoking and drinking among people because they realize that the actors in no way are promoting the use of these harmful products. Much the same way, people need to understand that actors on screen are not promoting the use of violence in any way and thus be discouraged to use violent activity as shown on screen, in real life. There have been several studies conducted in order to understand the level of violence being conducted in real life as influenced by what people watch on screen. In one such study, as shown in Table 2 and Table 3, it was found the annual rate of number of homicides that took place in the United States of America following the advent of the television set, increased by almost 93% from 1945 to 1974. In South Africa, television was banned at the time and as a result apparently, the number of homicides that took place between 1954 to 1974 went considerably down by 7%. In Canada too, it was found that as televisions were introduced, the rate of homicidal tendencies went up by almost 92%. (Centerwall Brendon) This shows that television influences the lives of many people and with the ban of televisions, the violence displayed in society also tends to go down. The relationship between television and violence in society is thus proportional and direct because as people view lesser violence and crime on television, they tend to think more before they act. This is a very psychological aspect of any individual which may be understood easily – when someone has no idea how to behave in a situation or has not seen it happening before, mainly on television, they think before they act. When someone watches something on the television, in terms of being violent, they tend to act in the same manner without thinking twice because firstly, they are already in an aggressive and fuming state of mind, and secondly, their minds tend to make them do as they have seen rather than stop and think before they act. (Hutchison, Courtney) The idea cannot be to ban the television from people’s homes because we live in free thinking democracies where people have their own choice to do as they please, however they do not have the freedom to barge upon other’s rights. When violence is being shown on television and explicit content is being used, disclaimers should be used to avoid children from viewing the same because it is not suitable for them. Moreover, people must learn and understand that just because violence is being shown; it does not mean that they practice the same in their lives. In many cases, it might even seem that people are not affected by the violence shown on television however, they subconsciously become prey to it because they tend to act in an aggressive manner even if they are inherently calm people. (Besant, Alexander) The use of violence thus is strongly discouraged however television channels will not adhere to the same because their television ratings will go down, and what audience does not like to see some good action on screen? Therefore, it is suggested that television channels have strong disclaimers and caution their audience from viewing violence or at least copying the same in their lives. Criminal activities should not be glorified because people get the wrong idea and thus the television and media needs to be more careful because it after does shape the mind of the audience. Works Cited Brezina, Timothy, Alex Piquero, and Paul M. "Student Anger and Aggressive Behaviour in School." Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquincy 38.4 (2001): n. pag. Print. McCluskey, Neal. "Violence in Public Schools: A Dirty Secret." The Cato Institute. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. . Centerwall, Brendon. "Television and Violence The Scale of the Problem and Where to Go From Here." JAMA 267.22 (1992): n. pag. Web. 5 Dec. 2012. . Anderson, Kerby. "Violence in Society-Probe Ministries." Violence in Society-Probe Ministries. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. . "TV and Film Violence." TV and Film Violence. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. . "TV Violence and Children." Children And TV Violence | American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. . Huesmann, L.R, and J. Podolski. "Early Exposure to TV Violence Predicts Aggression in Adulthood." Developmental Psychology. N.p., 2003. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. Henrey J Kaiser Foundation. "Tv and Violence." Key Facts. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2012. Unspecified. "Violence on Television: What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?"American Psychological Association. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. Besant, Alexander. "Violence on Television Hinders Children's Sleep, Says Study."GlobalPost. N.p., 6 Aug. 2012. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. Hutchison, Courtney. "Evening TV and Violent Cartoons Hinder Sleep in Preschoolers." ABC News. ABC News Network, 27 June 2011. Web. 05 Dec. 2012. F, Seymour, and Robert D. Singer. "Television and Aggression." (1971): n. pag. Web. 5 Dec. 2012. . Appendices "TV and Film Violence." TV and Film Violence. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2012. . Table 1 There were 1,846 acts of violence that broke down this way cartoons   471   promos for TV shows   265 movies   221 toy commercials   188 music videos   123 commercials for films   121 TV dramas   69 news   62 tabloid reality shows   58 sitcoms   52 soap operas   34   Table 2 Television ownership and white homicide rates, United States and South Africa, 1945 through 1973. Asterisk denotes 6-year average. Note that television broadcasting was not permitted in South Africa prior to 1975. Table 3 Television and homicide rates, Canadians and white South Africans, 1945 through 1973. Asterisk denotes 6-year average. Note that television broadcasting was not permitted in South Africa prior to 1975. Read More