Kids, Violence and Media

Abstract

The world has changed dramatically since the baby boomer generation and the generations before them were growing up. Being a child meant the biggest thing one had to worry about was whose time it was at jump rope or hoping a teacher didn’t call on you to do a problem in front of the whole class, or praying that a girl or boy would check yes, I like you on the note you had passed to them. Now kids are faced with drugs, TV, sex, and violence and unassuming adults have handed them all to the kids in the name of progress. With this paper, we will look over some scenarios and possibly bring some ideas to pass, because there has to be a better way for the sake of our children.

Children Media and Violence

An average American youth will witness 200,000 violent episodes on television alone before 18. Children shows are very violent. Forty-six per cent of TV violence occurs in cartoons. That means every time a parent places a child in front of the TV to watch cartoons because they are supposedly innocent, they are implanting ideas in their kid’s heads without the parent knowing. If one thinks of it, how many parents watch what they turn on for their child? Most of the time, they are so busy that they find a kid’s station and turn it on , then continue on with what they have to do.

Children are exposed to violence in their schools, neighborhood, and homes and let’s not forget television. Overheard was a conversation with an adult cousin from Mississippi and one young teenager from Los Angeles. The teen stated that. “every day I have to run home from school because the Latino gangs chase me.” The evening news is full of teen violence, war stories, terrorist attacks, bodies, and bombed buildings. Just like the 60’s during the Civil Rights Movement in the South, even religious places are not exempt from violence against them. Churches have been burnt down,...