Censorship is the regulation and control of information and ideas that are circulated among people within a society. It refers to the examination of electronic and print media for the purposes of altering and/or suppressing parts of the media thought to be inappropriate and/or offensive (Microsoft Encarta 97) The implication of censorship is that it is necessary for the protection of the viewing public. The following is a discussion of violence portrayed in the media, its impact on the viewing public, and censorship of the media. This paper also provides a viable solution to the negative impact of the violence in the media. Violence In the Media and Its Impact It's inconceivable not to think that television couldn't influence our attitudes and behaviors. Neil Postman makes this point by outlining America's movement from a typographic society to telegraphic society. (Postman, 1985) This is not to suggest passivity. Much of what is aired on television is fictional. However, proponents of censors

The V-chip is the most current weapon in the censorship battle. Parents are able to block certain channels so that children are not exposed to violent programming. Analysis As stated above the effects of television violence on viewers, especially children are not definitive. Evidence can be provided to support either position. A logical inclination would be to agree with Feshbach and Singer. Some underlying issue is the basis for such drastic behavior as lying in the middle of highway and not merely the influence of television. Another factor should be considered before drawing any correlation between television violence and influence of viewing television violence, the existence of bias among the researchers. Howitt's and Cumberbatch's Mass Media and Society was published in 1975 they espoused then that the media on whole needed to be reevaluated. It would be interesting to know their respective opinions about the content of today's media. There are many unanswered questions produced by the continuous research on television viewing of violent programs. What does it say about American society when a gratuitously violent television programs get high ratings? What does it say about how we socialize our children? Are the programs an accurate reflection of our reality? Solutions The alternative options aren't new and have probably been discussed before. These alternatives aren't difficult to implement. Parents can and should take responsibility for what their children watch:

1. help the child select appropriate programs,

Some topics in this essay:
Censorship Unfortunate, Media Society, Albert Bandura, Microsoft Encarta, Neil Postman, Censorship Censorship, Gordon Kittross, EB White, Feshbach Singer, Austin Messner's, television violence, viewing public, television viewing, censorship media, violence media, viewers especially children, violence viewers, implication people, viewers especially, correlation television violence, especially children, viewing television violence, programs american, programs american society, impact viewing public,