If you turn on the television at around seven-o clock at night, you will seeplenty of violent shows.
This violence on television affects the behavior ofchildren, causing their play to become more aggressive. American parents do notexercise enough control over their child’s television viewing habits, oftenusing the television as a sort of electronic baby-sitter. Violence is everywherein the world of entertainment. Most of the movies in the theaters contain atleast a little bit of violence. Even the popular Star Wars series containsviolent content, such as murder, torture, and dismemberment.
Television cartoonsalso contain violence, such as Wyle E. Coyote getting run over by a truck andgetting up unhurt, that affects the way children behave. When I was a child, mysiblings and I watched about five to six of hours of television per week, butfrom the beginning, our parents explained to us the difference between realityand fantasy. We knew the real world was not the same as what we saw ontelevision and at the movies.
In contrast, my cousins now watch about an averageof ten hours of television per week and their parents have not quite explainedthis concept to them very well. They have not quite grasped the concept ofreality versus fantasy. I have four young cousins. Their ages are twelve, ten,eight, and seven years old. During the day, the two younger ones watch severalhours of television.
When the two older ones come home from school, theyimmediately park themselves in front of the television for the next two hours. Their younger brothers always join them. My cousins usually watch cartons thathave fighting scenes. Sometimes they try to mimic what they see. So, they startfighting.
At first, it is playful, after a while, the fighting gets a littlemore serious. At this point, I usually hear one of my cousins crying becausesomeone hit him too hard. This happens almost every day. Their parents do notseem to notice what effect these television shows have on their sons. My fouryoung cousins think that violence is the answer to all problems.
For example, ifthey do not get what they want from another sibling, they sometimes hit orthreaten to hit that sibling. They think that if they resort to violence, theywill always get their way. I know of several solutions that will help parent`scontrol what and how much their child watches. First of all, they have to talkwith their child about what the difference between reality and fantasy is. Understanding a childs grasp of reality versus fantasy will help parents decidewhat shows he or she is mature enough to watch. Secondly, there are otheractivities that a child should participate in besides watching television.
Forexample, parents should encourage them to take up new hobbies to occupy theirafternoons after they finish their homework. Children should also be encouragedto do more reading instead of watching television at night. Reading helps toexpand a childs vocabulary and will help them do better in school. Thirdly,parents should buy a television that has a v-chip installed into it. By aroundthe year 2000, most television will have this as a part of its standard feature.
The v-chip locks out certain channels or shows that contains violence. Onlyparents can unlock this function by entering a special code. Some parents mightargue that they would not have time to monitor their childs viewing habitsbecause they work all day. Another argument might be that they do not haveenough money to buy a television that has a v-chip installed in it.
Anotherparent might argue about their child going over to their friend`s house to watchsomething that they are not allowed to watch at home. How can they keep theirchild from doing this? If I were a parent, I would be concerned about my childsfuture. If a child is aggressive as a child they will mostly be very aggressiveas an adult. This is one reason why so many crimes are committed. Secondly, everadult has authority over their child no matter how old.
It just depends on thedegree of authority. I think that children should not have too much freedom orelse they can end up doing something that is harmful to their bodies and theirminds. Watching too much violent shows on television does not help theirdevelopment as a person. Therefore, it is imperative that their parents exercisetheir authority over their children`s television viewing habits.
