Television: A Good or Bad Term Paper

S. (Larson-Duyff, p.412).

As cable television increased the availability of youth-oriented television programming and children spent even more time in front of the T.V., several sociologists made observations similar to those previously published in connection with the amount of advertising absorbed by children in connection with their exposure to violence on the screen (Henslin, p.67). According to them, constant exposure to violence on television, (even if it was mostly fictional), corresponded to increased aggression in person, by virtue of desensitization. It was even suggested that watching the highly caricatured violence represented in cartoons like Bugs Bunny constituted "violence" in terms of its effect on the minds of children.

The most modern incarnation of that concern relates more to computer video games, which may be more plausible because of its extreme realism and the high degree of thematic violence and murderous representations. Several retrospective investigations of actual violence, most notably the Columbine attack of 1999, did identify an interest in violent video games of the perpetrators, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the vast majority of children exposed to ultra-violent video games, let alone television programming, do not emulate increased violence as a result.

In all likelihood, any negative consequences associated with modern television is more than outweighed by the tremendous availability of educational, informative, scientific, historical, and artistic programming now available around the clock. Certain students actually learn more effectively from material presented in televised format than from text books. Channels like the Discovery Channel, the History Channel, as well as myriad other health, science, and technology-related programming now makes quality informational material available that often exceeds in detail academic lessons on the same material. Ultimately, the connection between passive activities and childhood obesity is the most serious problem realistically posed by television, and in that respect, the Internet already probably contributes more to that sociological issue than television.

References

Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Science & Technology Department (1997) the Handy Science Answer Book 2nd Ed. Detroit: Visible Ink

Henslin, J.M. (2002) Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach 4th Ed.

Boston: Allyn & Bacon

Larson-Duyff, R. (2002) American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide 2nd Ed. New York: Wiley

Macionis, J.J. (2003) Sociology 9th Ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall

References

Esposito, V.J. (1964) a Concise History of World War I. New York: Praeger

Nevins, J., Commager, H.S. (1992) a Pocket History of the United States.

New York: Pocket Books

DBQ 16: Why Did We Enter World War I? Document 1.

DBQ 16: Why Did We Enter World War I? Document 2.

DBQ 16: Why Did We Enter World War I? Document 3.…