I watched Nickelodeon on Sunday morning from 10am- 12pm. The shows I watched were The Fairly Odd Parents (two episodes), Danny Phantom, and My Life as a Teenage Robot. The Fairly Odd Parents program was very violent; however the other two programs I viewed were not as violent at all. The Fairly Odd Parents had around ten violent acts where Danny Phantom and Teenage Robot had two. My definition of violence can be any where from fire to holding people against their will to slavery to deliberate acts of cruelty or aggression such as blackmailing, fighting, threatening, cheating, and harming people. From my study in the two hour block of television 50% of the programs had numerous violent acts. What I believe about violence on television goes right along with that. I believe half of the children’s shows are violent, and on the other hand half are non-violent and portray a good healthy message for children to learn.

Through out my little brother’s life, I have seen first hand, how television can change a person’s behavior. I believe television can influence children’s lives for better or worse depending on the programs they watch. My bother watched a lot of television and he became very violent. He would pretend shoot people and became very interested in guns, bombs, and people dying. No day went by without him jumping around the corner yelling and screaming something to scare the rest of my family. He has matured a little since then, but he is still interested in guns, and shooting. Television has also influenced him to swear, video games had a big impact on that. He is turned from television to video games which are even worse because you actually control the shooting and the violence. He is now in ROTC at Gilbert High School, which is the on campus military class. He has learned to control his thoughts about violence and when and where to use them.

I believe children see violence on the television and since it is shown there, they think it is ok for them to imitate it. My description of a theory that might explain why children may or may not be influenced by television violence follows along with my belief. When children are growing they learn by imitating their parents and others around them. If television is the only source of entertainment, children will mimic what they see, and it could turn into their reality. Children will take what they see on television and use it in their own lives. If parents aren’t around to monitor what is being watched or at least explaining to their children what is happening and how it is wrong, then the children of the future will become more and more violent.

Picture from: http://www.k12.hi.us/~mcant218/MediaIssues/television.html