TV Violence a Cause of Abnormal Behavior

Television is viewed by millions of people around the world on a daily basis. Every time you turn a television on, you witness explosions from bombings, threats, just violence in general, and that is just from the news channel itself. But television is not just bad, it could be beneficial as well. Media has also been shown to reduce stress, inspire creativity and promote healthy living. But how exactly is television affecting us on a day to day basis? Television affects people because it has been known to promote fear, shows risky behavior that can affect a child's actions, and affect brain development.

Fear is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone or something dangerous is likely to be a threat. People have been afraid of many things since they were a child, but why is that? Fear has been known to be promoted by television. According to Television Opposing Viewpoints, violent programming encourages hostile behavior and leads people to think of the world as threatening and dangerous(Gale, 19). This shows that watching the news for example from a child's point of view makes them believe that the world is scary or even watching a scary movie could make them be afraid of the dark. Although there is nothing bad with having fear, there could be some good things that come from being afraid. Being afraid guides us towards what is important to us and motivates us into doing action. It also triggers reflexes that allows you to know what is right from what is wrong. For example according to Lifehacks.org, it could increase your survival rate like how your ancestors ran away from a tiger as a way to survive because of the fear of being eaten. Fear is what kept them alive but could also lead to risky behavior because being afraid of the outside world leads them to turn to other forms of solution to try to get away from fear.

Risky behavior is said to those who expose themselves or others into harm. It is another thing affecting a child's behavior due to television. Drug abuse is an example of risky behavior that comes with consequences. Advertisements of alcohol abuse are seen every day as well as drug abuse such as smoking. Smoking advertisements were banned due to the fact that cigarette advertising have restricted their coverage of smoking and health in the 1970s according to Pubmed.gov. Even though we don't see smoking advertisements anymore, you could often see people abusing this substance in television programs and movies. Many children who watch television more than five hours see people abusing the substance and makes them believe that smoking could be okay to use. The same goes with liquor, but unlike cigarettes, you see liquor advertisements daily. According to Whyy.org a recent study by the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth found that adolescent presentation to liquor ads on TV expanded by 30 percent from 2001 to 2006. Watching programs with drug abuse as a child make them more likely for them to abuse in their early teens. Smoking at a young age causes it to be more likely to have lung cancer due to the inhaling of the smoke and seeing beer and liquor advertisements on television may promote early age drinking which could later lead to alcohol-related problems. Drug abuse could also cause problems in the brain.

The brain is a complex organ made up of more than a hundred billion nerves. The brain is very important to us and television could be a big factor that affects its development. According to Urbanchildinstitute.org about two-thirds of children age six and under watch television every day, usually for around two hours. Infants exposure to television has been linked to delayed language development and kindergarten readiness skills. Urban child institute also says that TV use at age three has been linked to behavior problems and to long-term effects on social development, classroom engagement, and academic achievement. This states that watching too much television at a really early age could mean children putting in less effort into school which could be bad for them later on in life. Irregular sleeping habits could also affect the brain because it is allowing people to have less sleep and therefore their brain will not functioning correctly during the day. As much as there is bad things that are involved in watching television at a young age, there are also good things that come with watching it so young. Watching television at a young age could encourage active viewing. According to Childmind.org Strategies that actively engage young children during screen time include asking open-ended questions and also knowing to pause play.

In conclusion, television affects people because it has been known to promote fear, shows risky behavior that can affect a child's actions, and affect brain development. Although there are more reasons why television affects people, there are also many reason why watching television could be good for you. Media has been shown to reduce stress, inspire creativity and promote healthy living. Media could also encourage active viewing. More than two-thirds of children watch at least two hours or more of television everyday. This could lead them to the exposure of drugs and alcohol abuse, unwanted fear or aggression, and affect brain development.

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