Tv Negative Influence

Television is a word that is synonymous with modern culture. The majority of Americans own televisions, and most of us watch at least some programming each day. But we rarely stop to think about the impact of what we are watching, or of what our children are watching. Is television subconsciously changing our beliefs, or skewing our worldview? Is it making us smarter, or more violent? Most importantly, is television a positive or negative influence on society, or a little bit of both?

Firstly, “Impact of Media Use on Children and Youth” starts off with a general overview of various positive and negative impacts television can have on children, dependent on the personality and susceptibility of a child to things like violence and advertisement. It states that, “The average child sees 12,000 violent acts on television annually, including many depictions of murder and rape. More than 1000 studies confirm that exposure to heavy doses of television violence increases aggressive behavior, particularly in boys” (“Impact of Media”). But, it also has the ability to teach children and help them learn new information in a unique way.

In comparison, “Violent Crime on American Television: A Critical

It also covers more territory and argues that television can have a positive impact on children’s lives just as easily as a negative impact, with the right parental guidance. Hestroni tends to focus on disproving claims that television violence definitely causes real world violence, and instead convinces us that violence is dependent on many factors, not just television shows, and that those who become violent after watching television shows tend to have a predisposition to that behavior beforehand