Watching TV

Paper Summary:

In this article, the writer notes that statistics on television viewing in the United States indicate that an average American watches more than 4 hours of TV each day. The writer points out that it is obvious that an activity carried on for such long periods would have a profound influence on the person's life and on the society in which he lives. Whether the effect of television viewing is predominantly negative or positive has been a subject of intense debate for a long time and valid arguments can be found on both sides of the fence. The writer concludes that there is an urgent need for parents in particular to establish healthy television viewing habits in their homes, so that excessive TV watching does not replace other important healthy activities necessary for the balanced development of their children.

From the Paper:

"Another disturbing and well-researched negative effect of television viewing is the link between violence in television content and aggressive behavior. Research shows that two-thirds of all television programming contains violence, an average hour of TV viewing contains four to five acts of violence, and children's programming , such as cartoons, average 20 to 25 violent acts every hour. If we add all these violent acts together, it would indicate that the average American child has seen 100,000 acts of violence and about 8000 murders on television by the time they leave elementary school. What is worse, many TV shows glamorize violence with violent acts being depicted as a fun and effective way to get what one wants and without consequences. Since most children imitate what they see, watching violent TV programs teaches children that violence is an acceptable way to solve problems in real life. The effect of TV violence does not remain restricted to children: for example, a study that tracked about 700 boys and girls for 17 years also revealed that aggressive behavior induced by watching TV violence at an early age persists well into adulthood. Moreover, repeated and constant exposure to TV violence makes children desensitized to real world violence and the human suffering it causes. It can also traumatize young children as they cannot fully distinguish between fantasy and reality and can come to view the world as a mean and scary place."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Blakey, R. (2002). "Study links TV viewing among kids to later violence." CNN.com/ Health. Retrieved on February 20, 2007 from http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/parenting/03/28/kids.tv.violence/index.html
• "Fact Sheet: Television's Effect on Reading and Academic Achievement." (2002). National Institute on Media and the Family. Retrieved on February 20, 2007 from. http://www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_tveffect.shtml
• Hershberger, A. (2002). "The Evils of Television: The Amount of Television Viewing and School Performance Levels." Retrieved on February 20, 2007 from http://www.iusb.edu/~journal/2002/hershberger/hershberger.html
• "Television Statistics." (n.d.) Television & Health: The Sourcebook for teaching Science. Retrieved on February 20, 2007 from http://www.csun.edu/science/health/docs/tv&health.html
• "What do I need to know about children and TV?" (2006). University of Michigan: Health System. Retrieved on February 20, 2007 from http://www.bipolarfocus.org/1libr/yourchild/tv.htm

More papers on Watching TV:

• Essay # 6814 : "Children and TV Advertisements"
• Persuasive Essay # 2447 : "Children and TV Violence"
• Analytical Essay # 140004 : "Kids, TV, and Later Violence"

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