Greenspan begins by talking about the ever so popular Jerry Springer Show. He interviews a man (Bruce Spolansky) who spent over two hours on the phone just to get seats to the show. The man said this after the disappointing experience he had,

“I was looking forward to some fights, or strippers or Ku Klux Klan wars or something. Instead there was nothing….” *

Due to the hype and complaints by thousands of concerned parents and the city council of Chicago Mr. Spolansky had attended the first “

“More than half of the 101 news professionals questioned said they would rather air tape including a gunshot and death than no footage at all.” *

This raises a question however, how can content be controlled when parents aren’t there? The V-chip was invented which was supposed to take care of that, but it didn’t. The chip is now built into televisions but must be programmed by the parents for it to work. The chip automatically turns the screen off when violent or sexual content comes on. However, if parents don’t take the time to set up the program, than it does no good. This brings in the proximity play issue. When parents get home from work the kids are usually glued to the television screen unaware of anything happening around them. If the parents would encourage the children to read a book or come help them cook supper the effect would be greater. That would teach the children independence and respect for their parents, instead of dependence on the television and their peers.

Whoa, Whoa, Whoa mom, back the train up. Is there a difference between real violence and carton violence? Don’t forget when you were younger cartoons were reality! I don’t think it is an issue of real violence vs. cartoon violence, I think it’s more about content. Whether it’s a 20 year old real kid killing his parents, or a 15 year old cartoon character killing one of his classmates it doesn’t make a difference, content is content.

In conclusion, the thought that everything we watch, everything we are exposed to, on a long term basis can affect who we are, is simply amazing. The media really can shape us if we’re not careful. Consider this; the average American child watches more hours of television per week than they actually spend in class.*** How can something that takes up that much time in our lives not affect us? Watching one TV show probably

Some topics in this essay:
University Oklahoma, Whoa Whoa, Jerry Springer, Bullet Theory, Real World”, South Park, Comedy Central, Television Greenspan’s, , Beavis Butthead, bullet theory, magic bullet theory, magic bullet, jerry springer, real violence, sex violence, greenspan’s article, carton violence, whoa whoa, phone calls, media messages,