Children and Television Violence

Essay by JacqulineCollege, Undergraduate March 2004

download word file, 3 pages 3.0

The children of America spend their time on many different activities. One of the most time consuming activities is watching television. Television plays a large role in the social and emotional development of children today. One good quality that television has is that it conveys information and happenings around the world that they may not otherwise know about, but some people have been questioning whether television does more harm than good. Many have been analyzing what affect violence in adult shows as well as children's shows may have on children.

Most parents allow their children to watch so called "kid's shows" without even thinking about what might be contained within them. How many times has a certain hunter been seen hunting a certain "wascally wabbit"? Most people would say "how can a cartoon about a man hunting affect a child?" At first, it may seem that it has no effect, looking closer; it is easy to see that Bugs Bunny has many human traits.

Two of these traits are speaking English and walking upright. Something else that adds to this is that sometimes children cannot make the distinction between fantasy and reality. Quickly a cartoon about a man hunting a rabbit can turn into a story of murder.

Another cartoon character that may harm children is Yosimite Sam. When he becomes angry, he begins to fire his pair of guns into the air and at other characters. This could cause children to act violently to appease their anger. This includes hitting and throwing things. This is an extreme view of the situation, but who is to say that at least part of it is not true?

Children watch violence everyday in their cartoons, but what about shows that they watch in which people star. These shows will more than likely...