DEBATE MATERIAL: Televison Is The Leading Cause Of

Violence In Today’s Society

Televisions have been in existence for quite a significant

period that they have become very common. About four decades
ago, only a few people could afford a television. Apparently,
televisions now almost top the list of preferences of any household
in the present society. They have become took that nearly every
human uses to pass the time and also to relax the brain. But do the
movies, shows, and programs that people watch on these human-
made screens bring more harm than good? Is it true that they are the
leading causes of violence in the present society? These are the
questions that this research Television Is The Leading Cause Of
Violence In Today's Society Essay aims to answer. In my opinion,
televisions are the primary perpetrators of violent and aggressive
acts in today's society. As much as they are useful channels of
conveying information and creating awareness, their role in
enhancing violence especially in children cannot be downplayed.
Its youths can best describe society and, therefore, a violent young
population is a representation of a violent

Television programs have both short and long-term effects on

children, but they all end up in a violent young individual. First,
children are excellent imitators and they, therefore, imitate violent
behaviour from television programs, shows, and movies. Violence
on television comes in many forms but the violence that I will focus
on this paper includes rape, murder, property destruction, and
muggings. Statistics from the United Nation's office on crime and
violence reveal that an average child with access to television
watches a minimum of 10,000 violent scenes before finishing
elementary school. Of this, 8,000 are murders. The child then ends
up to have watched an average of 40,000 violent acts by the time he
or she is eighteen years. Of this, 20,000 are murder scenes. Who
can dispute that such a child will not have mimicked a great deal of
these acts? A child essentially learns by watching what other people
do. Many parents may, for example, confess that their children got
to memorize the alphabets by watching TV shows like Big Bird and
Ernie. The television today has a lot of programs that have violence
infused in them, and they cannot be an exception. Children will still
memorize the violent acts and then begin actualizing and trying
them out as they grow. This eventually culminates into a society
characterized by violence. What also happens when a person
watches a pornographic movie and gets the desire to imitate it. The
society becomes coupled with rape cases and other forms of sexual
violence.

Children also begin to see violence as a way of solving

problems instead of an evil act by watching television programs and
shows. This is because most movies, cartoons, and shows happen to
glorify the main characters after being successful in countering a
problem even though through violence. Data from the federal
communications commission of the United States shows that 73%
of the cartoon characters who commit crimes in most cartoons do
not get punished for the crimes but are, instead, celebrated for their
bravery. This affirms to the children who watch these cartoons that
it is okay to commit a crime.
 On the other hand, 43% of the peoples who perpetrate violent
acts in common television programs also go unpunished. Most
children, for example, watch wrestling. Here the person who
succeeds in beating the other is greatly celebrated and even given a
classic belt as a reward. The children then end up setting up such
acts at school in the hope of getting celebrated in the same way
which is the beginning of violence. Some may argue out that such
programs give warnings and advice viewers not to try out what they
watch, but the truth is that children and human beings, in general,
are very curious creatures. Parents and teachers may not be
everywhere with the children to make sure they do not practice
what they watched, and they will try it out of curiosity. The
children end up using force or even fighting to acquire what is
theirs just like they watch in movies. Televisions thereby have a
significant contribution to the increased levels of violence in the
present world.

Children may also try to identify themselves with certain

characters in movies, and the characters may be playing violent
roles. Children do watch televisions for a very long time, and they
follow specific programs for a long time. The federal
communications commission of the US affirms that 90% of the
children in the United States watch for more extended hours than
they spend in their education. This gives the children time to
pinpoint characters, understand them, follow them and eventually
try to be like them. If the characters that they decide to imitate are
good, then it is fine, but when the individual that the child strives to
identify him or herself with is violent, then the child follows suit.
Boys especially try to model the exact character of the person they
identify themselves with in a movie. This provokes one to display
even the aggressive characters of the individual thus preventing
peaceful coexistence with his fellows.

Violence in television programs may also cause a child to

become numb or develop cause a child to become numb or develop
resistance to crime or violent acts. Priming processes may also be
provoked by violence in television shows and movies. When the
child becomes continuously exposed or consistently watches
violent movies, he or begins to see crime and violence as an
ordinary thing because the body develops a resistance mechanism
to counter the violence. In the beginning, the child might be
experiencing negative emotions when violent acts are being shown
on the television, but this eventually fades away as time goes by
because he becomes used to the horrific scenes. This is dangerous
for the child and the society at large because the child may commit
some acts thinking that they are normal and yet they are
detrimental. He or she may not have the same feeling as others in
society, and therefore the relationship between them may be
affected. Priming occurs when activation is being spread in the
neural network of the brain. An external stimulus like a point of a
gun may, for example, be linked inherently to a cognition thus
making behaviour that is connected to it more likely. When
television violence, for instance, primes aggressive concepts, it will
be more likely for aggression to set in.

Desensitization, enactive learning, and observational learning

are long-term effects that television content might have and may
lead to increased violence. Desensitization is a socialization effect.
When a person gets so used to watching the television, he or she
may end up losing his or her social life. Just as the name suggests,
the individual becomes insensitive to the surrounding. Such
behaviour develops negative emotions when the individual is
around people and at times feeling of aggression. Enactive learning
is whereby a child is forced to profess violent behaviour because he
or she wants to achieve the desired goal. This is more like the way a
child is inspired to by a character in a movie who uses violence to
acquire what he or she wants and is glorified for that. In
observational learning, on the other hand, the social behaviour of a
person is provoked by the current state of the person and his or her
emotional and normative state. A person, therefore, imitates
behaviours long after he or she observes them. When a child is
exposed to long, violent scenes in television programs and shows,
he or she begins to see others as hostile. Such thoughts or views
make it more likely for the child to behave aggressively. Children
in practice love movies and programs with violence since they
believe they will teach them how to fight and, thereby, defend
themselves. This is what results in violent individuals and
eventually a violent society.

However, televisions are not entirely to blame for the

violence in today's society. First, violence has existed from time
immemorial even before televisions came into existence. What used
to cause the violence? It has always been there, and it can,
therefore, not be argued that televisions that have just been invented
recently are the leading cause of violence. Also, the television is
only being used as a scapegoat. Yes, TVs might be showing violent
movies or even airing shows that have violent scenes. It is,
however, an innate decision to follow and act according to the
violent shows or uphold morality. Each individual thereby has
control over how he or she will act regardless of the movies,
programs or shows they watch on. Blaming the television for acting
aggressively is somehow irresponsible.

Also, it can be hard to argue that televisions are the leading

cause of violence in the society because TVs, in the real sense,
reflect the society. The television cannot be reflected in the society.
Therefore, the violence that is shown in television programs and
movies is what is already taking place in society and not what will
provoke people to act that way. It is human nature to blame an
external factor other than just admitting and looking for the fault
within ourselves. Also, there is no television show that openly and
out rightly terms a criminal to be a role model. It is, therefore, an
obligation for every viewer to gauge and judge whether a given
character in a movie or television program has good or undesirable
qualities and is, therefore, a good role model or not. Also, all types
of programs are available for all people, yet only a handful gets
influenced to act aggressively. Is that not ironical? It cannot be
entirely the fault of the media that a person gets depressed and gets
involved in rape cases.

The television, therefore, has quite a valuable contribution to

the levels of violence in the present society. Violent scenes shown
on television programs trigger aggressive behaviour, especially in
children. It's, however, not entirely to blame because human beings
have significant control over their actions regardless of what they
watch.