A little bit over a half century ago the invention of the television was viewed as a technological curiosity with its black and white ghost-like figures on a screen with a life of their own. Now that curiosity has become a constant companion to many children. Television has all but replaced written material such as books, and unfortunately violent television and the constant bombardment of violent programs are endangering our society.
Violent images on television, and in the movies, have inspired people to lie down in the middle of highways, extort money by placing bombs in airplanes, rape, steal, murder, and commit assaults and dangerous stunts. It increases aggressiveness and anti-social behavior making them less sensitive to violence and to victims of violence. It also increases their appetite for violence in entertainment and in real life too. Media violence is especially damaging to younger children because at that age they cannot tell the difference between real life and fantasy.
Despite the negative effects media violence has been known to generate, society continues to push the limit. No one has said it better than Circuit Judge Alvin B. Run said in 1987 in his seismic decision in pornog
Though the craving for violence and explicate material is going to continue for some time, we need to be dependent on parents and as a culture to reduce the effect that media violence has on children. First off parents should limit the amount of television children watch per day and become a larger part in the learning process of their children. Children are exposed too much to violence every day on TV, so parents should not rely on TV to baby sit their children all day long. Another need is to monitor programs children are watching and knowing that just because they are not watching as much violence, does not mean he or she still can't be influenced by it. Another problem is for our society to not be quick to point the finger in blame and realize that it is their fault as much as other influences. “The hunt for witches to explain society’s ills is ancient in our blood, but unholy for that nonetheless” writes Oliver Stone in response to the blame of causing violent acts by teens reenacting scenes from his movie “Natural Born Killers” (607). Parents should make a greater effort to better help children to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Without proper instruction, children have a hard time drawing the line between what is real and fantasy. Real violence has consequences which are that pain is too re
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