"TV Made Me Do It!"

Has our nation been deceived by the media? Has the media sent forth an era that it is all right to define what was considered "old fashion values?" Values are defined by the Webster's Dictionary as,

beliefs or ideas.

Violence on TV affects how children view themselves, their world,and other people. In fact, experts warn that viewing violence can have

lifelong harmful effects on children's health. By the time children

complete school, the average child will witness more than 100,000 acts of

violence on TV, including 8,000 murders.

The more violence children watch on TV, the more likely they

may act in aggressive ways, become less sensitive to other's pain and

suffering, and be more fearful of the world around them.

Since we live in a violent society, we're constantly hearing

arguments that seeing TV violence, particularly children, desensitizes us

so we accept real violence more off handily maybe it even triggers real

violence.

The theory behind the TV attacks is always the same: if Bobby

commits a crime, he's not responsible and his parents are not

responsible: Something Else is responsible. The problem in this society

isn't the easy availability of drugs, or guns, or television, although all

are scape goateed.

All of these things are mere senseless: they do only what we have

them do. All supposedly scientific studies on the subject of TV violence

"causing" real violence are based on a theory of cause-and-effect that is

contrary to humans having the capability of making responsible, moral

choices. So is the media causing the nation to stray away from the "old

fashion values? We are voluntary beings by nature: we chose what we

do and what we make ourselves. For example, you take two brothers

from an identical lousy environment missing father, overworked

mother, no money, rotten inner city neighborhood.

One brother joins a gang and has committed his first murder

within a couple of years. On the other hand the second brother hides

out from the gangs at the public library and learns to read out of

boredom. Since he learns how to read he manages to stay in school and

takes a fast-food job while attending night college classes. Comparing

two specific phenomena in isolation tells us nothing.

How can you isolate one specific set of television images from the

effects of the other available images? Further, how do you go inside the

skulls of the people doing acts of violence and find out the actual causes,

when even asking won't give you a sure answer of why?

Studies linking TV violence with real violence try to reduce

human behavior to stimulus and effect. It may work with rat

psychology, but it doesn't work with human psychology. We are not

robots which are programmed.

We learn, chose what we focus upon, change our minds, ignore

what we like or believe, focus on what we like and believe. If someone is

prone to violence, then they will probably seek and obtain violent

images and if it isn't broadcast on TV, it will be sought and obtained

otherwise.

If there is any valid criticism of TV, it's the same one that can be

brought against drugs: both can be distractions designed to dull the

pain of living in a stupid, painful, and hope destroying society. TV, not

religion, is today's tranquilizer of the masses. If you want to change

TV, change the desire of the viewing public from distraction to

intellectual stimulation.

Or you can just change the channel.