Television and its impact on the audience in Society

Running Head : Television and its Impact on the Audience in Society

Television and its Impact on the Audience in Society (Author 's Name (Institution 's Name

Television Its Impact : An Introduction

Television has the capability to produce both positive and negative effects , and many studies have looked at the impact of television on society , especially on children and adolescents (Dietz et al , 1991 Johnson et al , 2002 . An individual child 's developmental level is a crucial factor in establishing whether the medium will have positive or negative effects . Not all television programs

are horrific however data showing the negative effects of exposure to violence , sexuality and offensive language are convincing (American Academy of Pediatrics 2001 . In spite of everything , there is a need to support constant research into the negative and positive effects of media on children and adolescents

The amount of time younger North American children at present spend watching television has not decreased significantly (American Academy of Pediatrics , 1995 . A large number of children begin watching television at an earlier age and in greater amounts than what experts recommend (Certain et al , 2002 . Evidence suggests that television 's influence on children and adolescents is related to how much time they spend watching television (Luke , 1988 . Consequently , with prolonged viewing , the world shown on television becomes the real world (Dietz et al , 1991 Johnson et al , 2002

Television viewing frequently limits children 's time for fundamental activities such as playing , reading , learning to talk , spending time with peers and family , storytelling , participating in regular exercise and developing other necessary physical , mental and social skills (Canadian Paediatric Society , 2002 . Over and above the amount of time spent in front of the television , other factors that influence the medium 's effect on children include the child 's developmental level individual susceptibility and whether children watch television alone or with their parents

Case Studies of TV Programs Its Consequences

According to the study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs , the most violent show shown in 1999 was CBS ' Walker , Texas Ranger . This show "took the top spot for overall violence with a rate of 112 acts per show , over two-thirds of them (82 ) serious . Almost every episode of this long-running Chuck Norris cop show includes several martial arts fight scenes and some gunplay " says the report "The fall season 's first episode was particularly violent . It opened with a combination gun battle /fight scene that ran approximately ten minutes , resulting in several characters being shot and beaten . This episode also presented a mixture of violent scenes , including police raids to catch the bad guys as well as another major gun battle

Many shows for instance `Law And ' and `Dark Shadows ' use violence evidently and in an proper context , however finish up showcasing the violence decontextualized in the promos . This is a serious problem for several reasons . First , the viewers get a wrong impression of the show They may think there is a lot of action and then become disillusioned...