Television Violence: A Dilemma

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Television Violence: A Dilemma

This is our society – the American society – where freedom of press is guaranteed, where you are free to express your opinion – but we should regret that the liberty granted does not care for the hue and cry raised by social organization which go unheard, especially with respect to the violence shown on our television networks. On average, young children watch about 100,000 acts of violence before they are through with their schools.
Several studies have been conducted by researchers, scientists and pediatricians to explore the relationship between aggressive behaviors displayed by children and violence on television. It is established that children tend to copy what they watch on television. Various studies have concluded that the children watching violence on television have a greater probability of exhibiting aggressive behavior towards others in real life. It has been noticed that in many of the cartoon shows, the victims of violence are caused no harm which becomes part of their beliefs i.e. Violence does not harm.
Television is one of the strongest audiovisual media and is a very forceful tool for mass education, and is most popular in children. It contributes to the early growth and development of childhood behaviors. A report from NIMH – National Institute of Mental Health – confirms the immense influence of television on behavior. Base on the evidence from 2500 studies carried out in different nations (Methvin, January 1983), the research community has a consensus that “Violence on television does lead to aggressive behavior”(49). Having established that relationship, based on scientific researches, it is shameful for a dynamic society like ours to note that (Wurtzel & Lometti, Sept.-Oct. 1984) “despite slight variations over the past decade, the amount of violence on television has remained consistently at high levels” (23), and (Methvin, January 1983) “the...