Is Tv Helpful or Harmful?

757 Words4 Pages
TV’s Effect: Helpful or Harmful? Media is often deemed the scapegoat for all of humanity’s problems; whether it’s obesity, a paucity of morals, people having fallow minds, and most of all, violence. Violence is defined as a behavior using physical force that is meant to hurt, injure, or kill someone or something. Over the years there have been numerous studies about how television can effect a person’s personality and levels of aggression. The studies set out to demonstrate how “awful” violence on television is to the human mind, yet there are some who assert that some of the shows with violence have good morals behind them. Television can have a positive role in children’s education and teaching moral values; however it can also have a very negative impact by encouraging violence. “...Media can have positive influences on children’s development” (McLellan 2), by offering educational TV shows that also have important life lessons and themes. These channels that actually encourage non-violence and pose catholic morals to children are those such as: NickJr., DisneyJr., PBSKids, and BabyFirst. One of BabyFirst’s belief is that “electronic media can enrich the connection between parents and their baby and give them new opportunities for exploring and playing together” (About Baby First 1), and also to provide age appropriate shows for babies and toddler; which makes it a positive television influence on children. This proves that “if used properly, television is an extremely powerful teaching with the potential of enhancing every aspect of the curriculum” (Walker 3). Some companies state that while there may be violence in some their crime-fighting TV shows, they have many morals behind them. For example, Bucky O’Hare is “a space rabbit who… teaches social consciousness and responsibility” (Lazar 6), GI Joe “fights against evil [and] teaches social consciousness
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