Television Standards and its Effect on American Kids

(Children are mesmerized by the television, do you know what they are watching?)

Throughout the past couple of decades, American morals and values have gone down consistently. Profanity, violence, and sexual content are now more accepted than ever amongst Americans. This is due to Americans becoming more immune to these issues as they watch television. American television has changed drastically from the “Leave it to Beaver days” and the same can be said about America’s outlook on social issues and self-morals. Kids today are not being taught what is real and what is fiction on television, which makes them very susceptible to being effected by the poor content being shown on the television. Mary A. Hepburn, author of ‘Television Violence May Cause Youth Violence’ exclaims, “L.R. Huesmann and L.D. Eron, who studied the effects of media violence on 758 youngsters in grades 1 through 3, found that children's behavior was influenced by television” (2). Although there are a few educational programs on television, their air time is minuscule in comparison to that of non-educational programming. The standards of Americans have declined drastically due to television and its acceptance of profanity, violence, and sexual content, along with the correlation to its availability to children. Although there are groups and organizations established to yield what our children are watching on television, their efforts are in vain. Today, there are over 200 channels available by some of the basic cable providers.

That means there are at least 200 chances per half hour to view something potentially dangerous to a child’s proper growth and development. According to Kidshealth.org, “Kids and teens 8 to 18 years spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a TV screen” (1). Even the eight to fifteen local channels provided on the television seem to have some content that is immoral by some standards. Television is a huge part in kids’ day-to-day lives, and they are easily influenced by the content they view.

Fixing the Problem

Despite the fact that television is overwhelmed by sexually explicit situations, profanity, and violence, some stations have made attempts to fix the nation’s problem. The Public Broadcast Station or simply PBS, has been striving to educate American youngsters for decades. Cladio Sanchez, of ‘Children's TV Helps But Can't Teach Reading Alone: NPR’ comments, “Of the nearly 8 million children entering kindergarten and first grade this school year, up to one-third will arrive with little or no familiarity with the written word. For these kids, even learning the alphabet is a daunting task” (1). Sesame Street and The Reading Rainbow are just two of the educational shows that PBS has offered. Both shows deal with children and their involvement in reading. Sesame Street has odd, yet very relatable and memorable characters who try to plant the seeds of reading. They do this by teaching the basics: by introducing the alphabet and then continuing their efforts by showing words that relate to that the letter previously introduced, the show is slowly but surely setting up the children to learn. Although this method does not reach every child nor does it teach children to read, it does however, start the learning process.

(Sesame Street is most relatable show that is educational)

Solution or Problem:

Being that Sesame Street has been instated to provide learning assistance to the young, it is not always best for children to spend time in front of the television screen at young ages. The University of Michigan Health System, creator of the article ‘Television (TV) and Children: Your Child’ adds, “It may be tempting to put your infant or toddler in front of the television, especially to watch shows created just for children under age two. But the American Academy of Pediatrics says: ‘Don't do it!’ ”(2). Television has become a substitute for parenting. It almost seems as though the newest parenting technique is to let the television do the teaching. However, children need their parents and can retain information more efficiently with physical contact by a human, rather than strictly visual stimulation granted by the television. The University of Michigan Health System elaborates, “Any positive effect of television on infants and toddlers is still open to question, but the benefits of parent-child interactions are proven” (3). Even educational programming has yet to be proven efficient. Although it has not been proven efficient, it is most definitely better for young audiences than other programming with no means to educate.

Violence

As a result of the social acceptance to the poor language, violence, and sexual content allowed to be seen on the television, the Federal Communications Commission has implemented ratings for shows. But that is only a guideline to follow, not to mention that parents are not with their children all day long. Children are free to watch television at will, unsupervised for some period of time throughout the day. Mortimer B. Zuckerman, author of the eye opening essay ‘Television Violence Contributes to Juvenile Crime’ states, “TV Guide looked at 10 channels on one normal 18-hour day and found 1,846 individual acts of violence—and every hour of prime time carries six to eight acts of violence” (2). Violence is seen as funny today, and the gruesome images that are available at our children’s fingertips is incredible. In the past, cartoons similar to Tom and Jerry were pushing the boundaries. The show included a cat chasing a mouse and Tom’s zany attempts to catch his nemesis. Now, there are cartoons such as Dragonball Z.

(Two main characters fighting to the death)

Although completely fictional, this show is very violent. Zuckerman continues to say, “By the age of 18, according to one estimate, a youngster will have seen 200,000 acts of violence on TV, including 40,000 murders” (2). The images and scenes that once horrified a previous generation’s youngsters now is found as entertainment by today’s young eyes.

Teaching

Many believe that children are not easily influenced nor do they learn violent behavior from the television. I ask these people, who is raising your child when you are at work or not in the room? The answer is the television. The facts show that children spend more time than ever in front of the television screen. The University of Michigan Health System describes, “68% of 8- to 18-year-olds have a TV in their bedroom” (1). Americans from 2-11 years of age tend to view on average 30 hours of television a week.

Example:

Given in a theoretical situation, that a child’s parents work a typical “9 to 5” job, and the child attends school from 8 A.M until 3 P.M., the child only has about four and a half hours to spend on a given day with their parent once the parent arrives home from work and before the child goes to sleep at 10 o‘clock for their bedtime. Of this four and a half hours the child’s time will most likely be cut in half, given an hour is consumed by homework, and then an hour to hour and a half is given to eating dinner and preparing it. Dinner of course is a great bonding time for parents to catch up with their child, right? Not in America, where 63% of households usually have the television on throughout the consumption of a meal (University of Michigan Health System). Now we are down to about two hours of “quality” time that a parent can spend with their child. If one multiplies those two hours a day by seven days a week, that equals fourteen hours. That figure is just under half of the time that a child spends in front of the television.

Innocence

Not only is time devoted to television consumption causing the youth of today to become overweight, due to a lack of exercise, but it also allows them to be susceptible to shows that are not made for them. Innocence is a virtue that is only being found in a scarce amount of children today. Children and teens are no longer “clueless.” Instead, they seem to know an abundance of information that is suitable for people much older and mature. Is television sending the wrong messages or teaching your children ideas and values that you disagree with?

Affects on the Mind

Furthermore, the evidence that violence affecting children greatly over shadows that of which contradicts this idea. Stated by Hepburn, “Centerwall's careful statistical analysis indicated, nevertheless, that when the negative effects of TV were removed, quantitative evidence showed ‘there would be 10,000 fewer homicides, 70,000 fewer rapes, and 700,000 fewer injurious assaults’” (2). Young boys seem to be more easily influenced by violent scenes than young girls, and a large amount of television shows directed towards young boys include violence. These shows seem to depict the “good guys” as having to protect and serve, with violence most often being the common method used to resolve the issue at hand. According to Hepburn, “The study revealed that those who watched above average hours of TV violence before adolescence committed a 49 percent higher rate of serious acts of violence than did boys who had viewed below average quantities of violence” (3). Hence, the declining moral stability of America. Who will stand by the facts and stop this self-implosion of American culture on its youth?

The Real World

By watching “reality TV,” children and teenagers are diluting their mental receptors that indicate what is right and wrong. Writer of ‘Young Viewers Are Drawn to Reality TV’, Suzanne Martin, expresses, “About half of tweens (53%) and teens (43%) like to watch reality television so they can talk to their friends about it” (3). This information shows that about four out of every eight kids watch these shows just to talk about them with their peers. It does not include the amount of them that watch the shows for their own appeal. Never the less, all the viewers are seeing the same images. One of the most famous reality shows is The Real World. In this show, each episode usually shows at least one “hook up” (or sexual content), countless uses of profanity, and the occasional verbal or physical fight. These are scenes that are not necessary for young audiences to view, yet the FCC has only rated this show “TV-14.” That means they have deemed this particular show acceptable for fourteen year olds to watch. I for one, being in my last year of my teen ages, find much of the show very explicit and difficult to view. In hopes for conflict MTV casts people from different backgrounds.When the station advertises that on the next episode there will be a fight or conflict, the station usually is blessed with a higher amount of people tuning in. The statistics of this show have shed light on two things for me; one being that The Real World is rated far too low for television and two that my generation is being portrayed as having low morals no personal values.

(Time 0:00 - 2:25)

In one conflict scene, I recorded four uncensored uses of profanity, while there were a staggering 25 expletives bleeped out . Out of the 25 bleeped uses all but two were easily inferable uses of profanity. The fight scene lasted a total of two minutes and twenty-five seconds. MTV, the endorser and owner of this show does, however, throw in the occasional “goody two shoes.” This person, however, is usually seen very little on the show, for they are not as outrageous as the other hellions associated with the show. Children are becoming more and more consumed by adult content, making them lose out on their innocence.

The Most Desperate Housewives

Sexual content is also a major factor of audience interest today. According to the Parents Television Council, “ABC's Desperate Housewives is the most popular broadcast-network television show with kids aged 9-12 according to Nielsen stats” (1). This statistic is amusing to me because the show is well-known for its racy dialog and sexy situations not suitable for children of this age group. One of the show’s biggest stars Eva Longoria plays the part of a woman who is applauded for her infidelity with her gardener. Is this really what a child should be viewing at anytime during the day, but more specifically during prime time? The University of Michigan Health System illuminates, “Watching sex on TV increases the chances a teen will have sex, and may cause teens to start having sex at younger ages. Even viewing shows with characters talking about sex increases the likelihood of sexual initiation” (8). The consumption of sexual content by our youth is making them believe that it is normal and mature to dress, act, and be “sexy,” while being innocent and childlike is seen as not “cool.” Children try to “grow up“ before they have the chance to actually grow.

(This is on ABC at 9:00 p.m. and rated PG)

The V-Chip

(The V-Chip is the newest in TV buffering, and gives parents control to limits what their children view)

Steps have been taken to prevent youth from watching programs that are unsuitable for them. The V-Chip is a highly popular tool that could be the answer to the problems on a small scale. The V-Chip is a technological chip that acts as a buffer for what is allowed to be viewed on one’s television at any given time. The chip would only be able to work at one’s home, however, a child could potentially see shows that are unacceptable by their parents’ standards at the home of a friend. The chip is a very easy weapon against the standards of today’s television programming, and needs only a password to be turned off whenever an adult wants to view something they blocked from their children. Along with releasing the power the V-Chip has, one can also adjust it at anytime. As one’s child grows and becomes more mature and able to understand content, the content standard can be changed as well. The V-Chip is a start, but it is not that answer to our nation’s problem. We as a nation need to change entirely, so that the installment of the V-Chip is not necessary.

Final Thoughts

For whatever reason, kids are able to view things they are not mature enough to view. This in turn makes them immune to these images and situations. Our society as a whole is going to fall apart at its very seams, by children becoming delinquents and believing sexual content is acceptable at young ages. Crime rates are rising among youth and we need to have stronger standards for what is shown on television and when it is being shown. About 80 percent of America believes there is too much violence on television (Zuckerman). Children are not being taught the difference between fiction and reality by their parents, while television blurs the line horribly. The television is influencing the youth of today to go in the wrong direction. Dave Grossman, author of ‘Violence in the Media Contributes to Juvenile Crime’ proclaims, “The average child gets more one-on-one communication from TV than from all her parents and teachers combined. The ultimate achievement for our children is to get their picture on TV” (2). This “one on one” chat might be the factor in their lives that keeps them on the straight track to succeeding.

Works Cited

Grossman, Dave. "Violence in the Media Contributes to Juvenile Crime." Opposing Viewpoints: Juvenile Crime. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Ohio University. 04 Nov. 2009.

Hepburn, Mary A. "Television Violence May Cause Youth Violence." Current Controversies: Youth Violence. Ed. Henny H. Kim. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1998. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Ohio University. 04 Nov. 2009.

"How TV Affects Your Child." KidsHealth - the Web's most visited site about children's health. 2009. Web. 27 Oct. 2009.

Martin, Suzanne. "Young Viewers Are Drawn to Reality TV." At Issue: Reality TV. Ed. Ronnie D. Lankford. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Ohio University. 28 Oct. 2009

Sanchez, Cladio. "Children's TV Helps But Can't Teach Reading Alone : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. 28 Aug. 2009. Web. 04 Nov. 2009.

"Sex, Violence, and Profanity in the Media Fact Sheet, TV Statistics - Parents Television Council." Parents Television Council - Because Our Children Are Watching. 2008. Web. 25 Oct. 2009.

"Television (TV) and Children: Your Child:." University of Michigan Health System. July 2009. Web. 04 Nov. 2009.

Zuckerman, Mortimer B. "Television Violence Contributes to Juvenile Crime." Opposing Viewpoints: Juvenile Crime. Ed. A.E. Sadler. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Ohio University. 28 Oct. 2009