My essay on media violence January 6, 2007 Sex, profanity, and violence on television today. Academic Project report 2006-2007 Cullen Holten With suggestive material becoming more and more popular among shows on TV, more and more problems have begun to rise from this and it has become a serious problem among children. A common query among many of our citizens is the question of there being too much suggestive material on TV. Many people feel the same way about this problem today. Despite the fact that there is a lot of suggestive material on TV, all that you want of it can be blocked through simple processes built internally and externally of the TV. A first example of this is that chips such as the V-chip can easily lock out channels. Doing this is quite simple with the technologies today, such as handy, simplified television remotes. Also, service providers can cancel channels for no extra cost, and in fact may even lower the price of your service. Some service providers make it so that people can block channels directly from their TV, making it a very, very simple process. Also, service providers have certain “package” deals where they will automatically block out channels that may not be appropriate for younger viewers. Channels can also be time-locked through service providers, which is quite a simple process to do, and chips built into the TV. The chip can block channels during certain hours of the day, because some channels change a lot over the course of the hday. A final aspect of blocking channels through the TV or service providers is the fact that someone can set passwords for certain channels and times. There can be many passwords for each person who uses the TV. TV ratings and TV Guide can help people find out which shows are appropriate and which ones are not. A good example of this is that TV shows are rated, just like video games and movies. This can help people figure out which things are appropriate to watch. Another reference that helps people to figure out the ratings and times that shows are on is TV Guide magazine. The magazine contains the times and channels that shows are aired, as well as the rating given to each show. A third aspect of the situation is the fact that warning may be at the beginning of the show to warn viewers about the mature references in the show. One of the messages reads as follows: “Viewer Discression is advised.” A fourth and final way is that, in a newsletter, service providers will warn you which shows and channels may not be appropriate for younger viewers. Although there are ways of blocking and canceling channels that display suggestive material on TV, many people do not chose to block it with the services built into their TV. A recent survey taken in 2005 shows that only 15% of parents have used the V-Chip, which is required by law in any TV over 13 inches after 2000. Despite this, many parents have not bought a new TV since then. A second approach of this is the fact that many parents do not understand the ratings. For example, many parents believe that TV-Y7 means that it is directed to children under 7 years of age, whereas it is really directed towards children over 7 years of age. A final dilemma is that many people will often confuse the ratings between music, video games, movies and TV. Just under one half of people commonly confuse them and think that they should all have the same rating system. Even with ratings and blocking channels, studies show that teens and children who watch suggestive shows are prominent to showing signs of behavior problems. A proof of this is that teens and children who watch these kinds of things feel that, if it is “needed” then it is ok to mock them and do the same. Another factoring variable is that adolescents who view this are more likely to display that material in everyday life. With more and more of this type of material on television, pregnancy rates and gang violence among teens has increased dramatically. A third and final aspect of this is the fact that, in young adults that have been exposed to this type of material, unprotected sex has become much more practiced among them. Evidence of television violence effecting children comes from facts that have been proven. One example of this is the fact that children who watch violence is that they are less sensitive to suffering and violence in the world around them. One, later in life, may not feel for the starving and abused, and may in fact commit to these things. Another thing negative about this is that children may witness acts of violence against innocent people and children on TV, and may become prone to being fearful of the world around them. Seeing children and innocent men brutally beaten and killed on TV may cause the child to retaliate, and become over-conscious of the world as it is today. One other serious problem is that with children witnessing more and more brutal acts of violence, it becomes built in as part of their life and they think about it or perhaps may even commit to these violent acts after witnessing them many times. A fourth aspect of this problem is the idea that children have been proven to mock suggestive material that they view on TV. With many school shootings and bombings, this fact has been well proven. One final problem with this is the fact that gang violence among adolescents has increased along with the amount of violence on TV. The percentages of teens that know someone, or in fact are themselves. Certain shows have made a bad name for certain channels on TV. Such a show includes the show South Park. South Park contains reference to sexual material, violence, sex, profanity, and many, many other things. The show is watched by many minors and pre-teens, even though such shows are much to suggestive and inappropriate for children of their age. Another view of the problem with TV shows is “The Sopranos”, a show that has had six successful seasons, and is going on to a seventh. The show is intended for mature audiences due to the graphic and suggestive content such as violence, frontal nudity, drug use, and frequent strong language. The show depicts teenage violence, teen drug use, teen drinking and teen partying, giving teens the idea that that kind of thing is ok. One final suggestive show is “Sex and the City”. This is a show with sex, profanity, and partying. In this show, women swing from guy to guy, which causes women to think that this is the way life is, and some mock it, as well as guys. Sex and the city, aired for six seasons and nominated for over 50 academy awards, winning 7 of them, an impressive feat in the world of film. The awards it won include, Best TV series, best costume design, and outstanding film award. The costumes range from ridiculous to average, whereas the woman owns countless cloths and pairs of shoes. Many television networks claim that they are only airing that kind of material to meet the demands of the people. One statement backing that up is the fact that the highly suggestive shows generally tend to have the highest ratings. This statement proves that this generally increases the demand those statements. A second proof of this is the fact that, uncertain shows with things that have never been tried before, are picked up by networks, particularly HBO, and the people instantly become hooked, and the shows ratings skyrocket. Another excuse that the television networks are making is that they need to play those kinds of shows or the network will lose speed, and may even go out of business. This has been proven to not be true, and in fact those kinds of shows only rake in about 15% of annual revenue. Some people argue that organizations like the PTC (Parents Television Counsel) over react to the problem, and only add to the difficulty of running a balanced. One example of this is when they conducted a test to see how much sex and profanity was shown on TV, and ranked that cable TV should have better sensors and discretion about what they air. Although there were more shows, the amount of overall profanity displayed was less than that of network TV. Also, PTC did not mention that there were more gardening, children, cooking and many more shows like that on cable TV. A second example of this is that the PTC does not have justified evidence of many facts that they claim to be true. Such an unjustified fact is that they said that if movie characters stopped smoking, smoking amongst the population would be reduced by half, which is more of an opinion, and has not been scientifically proven. However much violence on TV there is, it is easy to find a program that suits his or her individual needs. In our times, there are so many programs that it seems that there is one for every single person out there. If you like shows that involve animals, you would probably adore channels like Animal Planet. Another example of this is that many people only have television, network of cable, to watch the news. The most popular program on the air right now is the news. As it was said above news is the main reason why so many people have a TV set at home. Although news does occasionally display or have reference to inappropriate content, it also displays the what is appropriate and what is not appropriate Sex, violence, and profanity on TV has become a major issue in today’s society. Some would even argue that some networks should be cancelled if they did not clean up their act. Many people ponder about this problem, and wonder if it will ever be solved. Sources http://www.courttv.com/parental_guidelines/ http://www.tvguidelines.org/brochure.pdf http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/facts/mediafacts.asp http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/reports/stateindustrylanguage/main.asp http://www.fcc.gov/eb/oip/RateBlock.html