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Television Violence In Society

Violence is all over the media today, contained within the daily news, music, newspapers, and television. It is especially seen within popular programs among children. Children are easily influenced by what they view, which is why violence on television negatively affects the way children behave.
All too often today, we hear about children committing some heinous crime which is frequently media-related. Take for instance this excerpt from Douglas Rushkoff's essay "Hating What Sucks": In October of 1993, a five-year-old named Austin Messner set a fire that cost his baby sister Jessica her life. The local fire chief blamed Beavis and Butt-head's antics for having inspired the child's pyromania, and Attorney General Janet Reno, already riding a wave of public distaste for violence on television, had a new example of just how dangerous the media had become. MTV ducked for cover and changed the "Beavis and Butt-head" time slot so kids couldn't watch (Rushkoff 221).
In other words, Rushkoff is saying that people watch the mannerisms of characters on television, and feel that their actions represent real life; the way the characters act, speak, and handle situations portray the regular fashion in which everyday people act. Kids are especially prone to this idea. MTV's "Beavis & Butt-head" aids in promoting the idea to children that everything they do is permissible and normal behavior. MTV portrays the idea that it is acceptable for anyone to mimic the antics of these two characters, who often perform obstructive and potentially harmful acts.
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry tells the public that "extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater aggressiveness. Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated, or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see" ("Children & TV Violence", Internet). Beavis and Butt-head are incessantly up to something; whatever they want to do, they will go...