final persuasive essay

The television as a technological innovation is duly recognized by humankind . Television continues to be a potent tool in man 's endeavors for information and entertainment . Good television programming can teach children essential societal values and offer educational instruction . Parents watching television with their children can take the chance to interact with their kids using the media as a springboard into more personal discussions about family values and beliefs . In this way , television is a beneficial tool for cultural and personal development . Unfortunately , televisions ' funding comes from advertising , and advertising often

does not follow the same values as parents and society might like . Advertising , especially advertising that targets children and adolescents , must be regulated

Like many capital businesses , advertising has taken advantage of this technological innovation to serve its own interests . Advertising money has been fueling the broadcast and television industry . Because of the nature of this relationship between advertising dollars and television viewers , television has evolved to attempt to attract an ever widening audience . After all , the advertisers pay the stations to run their ads in relations to the audience who spends the money on the products that are advertised . It is here that advertising can go awry . The business and profit angle blurs the need to provide responsible programming However , if advertisers , community groups and legislators do not step up the campaign to eliminate irresponsible and even harmful advertising towards young people , the entire society will suffer

It is estimated that a child watches 40 ,000 commercials per year Companies spend more than 12 billion per year on advertising specifically targeted for children and the youth . Advertising cannot expect young viewers to interpret their commercial claims . Thus , the community must step in to advocate responsible advertising to young people . Some of these viewers are so young that they do not even understand what a television really is . Children as young as two years old will spend two hours a day in front of a television even though most pediatricians urge parents to not let their toddlers watch television at all (Feig , 2003

Psychologist Brian Wilcox , Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center on Children , Families and the Law at the University of Nebraska notes that Because younger children do not understand persuasive intent in advertising , they are easy targets for commercial persuasion (Wilenze , 2004 . These youngsters have no idea that they are becoming targets for persuasive messages but only recognize that they want the product that is being advertised , often with animated characters or popular figures

One problem with these messages concerns the problem of obesity among young children . Most reports note that up to 16 of children aged 5 to 19 are overweight . In a survey of adults about childhood obesity nearly 75 agreed that the governments should either restrict or prohibit fast food and less health food advertising during children 's television shows (Evans et al . 2002 . This would be a good move because some of the most common products widely marketed to children are...