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Tv Violence

TV Violence


A major topic of conversation nowadays is whether or not voilence on
television causes children to bahave more violently. Shortly after I began to
research this topic, I realized that it is not a clear cut issue. Evidence can
be easily found to support each position. In the following essay I will examine
the different positions that can ba taken on this topic and try ro form my own
view on the affect violent TV has on chidren.
The first position I will examine is the one in which it is believed
that, without a doubt, violent TV increases the likelihood
that a child will
behave in a violent manner. This stands is examined in the Maclean's article
intitled,"Power to the people. Television's teen Rangers Kick up a storm. The
author of this article, Particia Chrisholm, explains a heated debate over the
affects that the kids show "The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" has on children.
According to this article, the "hemeted lycra covered Rangers" acts as a bad
influence on children. Many parents have come to believe that the children
try
to act like the kids hreo's. A cocerned mother, Kathryn Flannery went so far as
to petition the CRTC. The CRTC responded by saying that "the show is avassively
to violent."(Chrisholm 1994 p.52) As a result of the petiton, many stations
voluntarily refused to air the controversial kids show. This case shows the
power that people can have over the CRTC. Unfortunately, the parents were not
able to entirely shield their children from the Power Rangers TV show. Many US
broadcasters, available on cable, continued to air the show.
Another study that supports this belief that TV violence causes children
to act more violently is an experiment conducted by Leonard Eron and his
colleagues
. In these studies, Leonard Eron and his colleagues
studied childern
for a number of years and measuread peer ratings obtained from each child's
classmates. By doing this, they could see if violent TV changed the attitudes
of the...