Is The Television To Blame For Violence In Society?

Many people have argued against the use of television due to the increasingly violent shows and films that are being presented, in conjunction with the lack of proper parent censorship. Today, parents seem to use television as the free form of babysitting and do not properly screen the items on television. In many instances, films given a PG-13 or R rating for violence are shown in theaters full of children well under the age of five who are allowed to watch violent shows without screening or adherence to public rating systems. The increased availability of violent television programs and the lack of parental responsibility in screening them have paved the way for the argument that television is to blame for violence in society.

Television has become increasingly violent. Television shows use new effects, combined with improved visceral images to make television more shocking. Over the last few years there has been an increase in programs designed only for their “shock value” and the physical and visceral reaction they cause in viewers. No longer are violent murders merely alluded to with the camera panning down to the blood draining in the shower. Now each and every detail of a murder is meant to gore the audience members.

This violence in and of itself can be said to be in part to blame for violence in society, due only to the fact that many of the most violent programs explain the methods, drugs, and tools used to pull of illegal or immoral procedures. They provide the viewers with every bit of instruction they might require. They also cause a numbness in viewers toward death and violence by passively including it in many scenes repeatedly.

However, younger children who are raised properly, in accordance with public film and television ratings, can be prevented from seeing such images at a younger age, and not allowed to view them until they are emotionally mature enough to process the information. A large problem with allowing younger and younger children to see more and more violent items is that they are emotionally immature and unable to process what is happening. This leads them to feel indifferent toward violence as they grow up.

With better parental responsibility, adherence to ratings, and improved censorship to violence for younger children, television can be removed as the typical scape goat for the violence in modern society. Everyone has a role to play in this. And together, the violence can be deprived on its current power.