Violence In TV Promotes Violence In Children (Essay Sample)

Violent TV Shows Promote Violence Culture in America.
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Violent Television Promotes the Culture of Violence in America.
The United States is the most violent industrial country in the world. More Americans die from violence per capita in the United States than in any country in Western Europe, Japan, or Australia. Most of this violence is committed by males, particularly young males. These young men like Adam Lanza, a 20-year-old recluse from Connecticut who brought terror to Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012, have been raised viewing violent content on broadcast television. This content reinforces the violent behavior that these young men have observed among their peers and older males in their communities. Violence on television cultivates the culture of violence in American society, and the Federal Communications Commission should reduce the amount of violence on television to counter this culture.
The FCC should reduce the duration of violent shows on television and even change the timing of broadcasting them. This is because the present exposure of violence through television is at high degree. Studies of violence on American television found that American children are exposed to hundreds of violent scenes on television like The Walking Dead series on AMC during prime-time hours, which is the most common period when parents watch television with their children. Children become socialized through their television habits. They learn what is normal and what is abnormal based on what they see on television. When their parents let them watch certain television shows for instance Criminal Minds on CBS and ShowTime's Dexter, children believe their parents condone the behaviors on television. The constant viewing of violent scenes on television sends children the message that this amount of violence is normal behavior in American society.
Studies have been conducted to review a link between viewing violent content on television and hostility. A study reported by the American Psychological Association measured higher rates of aggression in children after they watched violent scenes on television. The researchers theorized that these children might become more violent as adults because of these increases in their aggression levels.
Studies of adults who viewed violent television shows like The following on Fox showed that these adults were even more likely to commit violence as compared to children. In a study published by the American Psychological Association, the individuals who were studied in the original study on childhood aggression and exposure to television violence were subjected to a follow-up study as adults. The study found that individuals exposed to violent television during early childhood were more likely to have been convicted of violent criminal acts as adults. The study accounted for the possibility that other variables might have caused these violent acts, such as socioeconomic status and parental upbringing.
The FCC should reevaluate and reduce both the time and the amount of violent scenes broadcasted on television because there are tremendous social and financial costs resulting from violence in American society. Violence in American society is responsible for deaths that ravage families, leaving children without parents and parents without children. Violence in American society increases the costs of law enforcement, the criminal justice system, and the penal system. Police must spend more time trying to prevent violent crime by increasing their staff levels. Detectives must spend countless hours investigating homicides. The courts spend exorbitantly on murder prosecutions. The penal system spends even more keeping convicted murders behind bars for years, decades, and even for life.
The FCC should regulate the content on television. This is intended to serve the public interest. The Federal Communications Commission is responsible for regulating the airwaves which have been determined to be the property of the public. Broadcast television and radio are subject to the regulation of the Commission, and stations must receive licenses to broadcast. ...