Media's+Impact+on+Growing+Up

=Media's Impact on Growing Up= As we grow up, the violence we see may affect the people we become and our actions. We have seen proof of this in To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, when the violence of racism affects how Scout and Jem grow up. In today’s world much of this violence is seen in the media.

Everyday, at least 40% of children watch the news on television or are impacted by some sort of visual media (according to ebscohost.com). Since most people seem to be intrigued by negative news such as crimes, drugs, or violence, children are getting a bad outlook on their lives and the world around them. When we are growing up, we take all of our surroundings and gobble up anything anyone tells us. When the media shows us this kind of visual aid as kids, we consume it and take it up to adulthood in which we won’t forget our childhood prejudices. Not only do children get these venomous outlooks on the world from news, but also from movies, television, and any other optical media. Movies are more interesting to people when there is most likely violence in it, and the ratings of the movies aren’t stopping any of those kids from watching them. When children see these things from the media, they grow up with them and live with a horrifying life and negative profanities. Saltzman, Joe. "Kids See the Darnedest Things." //Ebsco//. 10 Apr 2009. . []

In order to help protect children from the violence in the media, the government, as well as other organizations, have tried to come up with solutions. In February of 1996, the Telecommunications Act was passed by congress(Television-Rating Codes). This resulted in a rating system that would appear at the beginning of shows to warn people of what the show contained. Although this act was a step forward in protecting kids from media violence, it was still not enough to shield children from the violence. In 1998, a chip that would allow parents to block inappropriate shows, called the v-chip, began appearing in televisions(Television-Rating Codes). This chip proved to greatly help the amount of violence that children were succumbed to. In addition to this, the Federal Communications Commission(FCC), has been "penalizing [stations] for airing...indecent speech or images" (Update:Television Violence). Along with this, the FCC has continued to pressure Congress to "regulate excessive violence"(Update:Television Violence). Even though children are still exposed to violence in the media, the government and the FCC are taking action to end that exposure. "Television-Rating Codes." __Issues & Controversies On File__ .21 Feb. 1997. __Issues & Controversies__. Facts On File News Services. 9 Apr. 2009. . "Update: Television Violence." __Issues & Controversies On File__. 5 Oct. 2007. __Issues & Controversies__. Facts On File News Services. 9 Apr. 2009.[|http://www.2facts.com]. "Children and Media Violence." __National Institute on Media and the Family__. Nov 2006. Media Wise. 9 Apr 2009. []. 

Exposing your children to the media can have both its benefits, and its downfalls. By watching Tv at an early age,your can actually become more mature with their surroundings, by letting them know what is going on around the world. The media, may also help parents teach their kids about certain topics that parents might otherwise find embarrassing, such as sex, drugs etc. As for instance the show “Secret Life of The American Teenager” helps inform kids that, it may not be the best idea to have sex at young ages. Also, letting your toddlers watch TV can help with their motor and intellectual skills, children who watched more than 3 hours of TV a day actually scored higher test scores on their reading and writing. Yet you also hear about kids going into schools and shooting their peers, some for no apparent reason at all. Many people believe that a lot of these kids were influenced to perform such explicit acts of violence simply because they had seen people do it on TV. The media give’s people who use drugs, have sex, and kill people “cool” images. Growing up the only thing kids want is to be accepted and be “cool. So while your kids may get an upper hand by being exposed to the media, they may also be influenced to do innapropiate things. Gillham, Christina. "Kids: To Tv or not Tv." 18 Feb. 2008. __Opposing Viewpoints__. Highlands Ranch High School, Highlands Ranch. 10 Apr. 2009 . http://www.rps.psu.edu/probing/graphics/kidTV.jpg More and more evidence is being presented about the harms of TV, movies, etc. and parents “…are at a loss as to what to do to protect their children.”(Joanne Cantor), but studies have given parents ways to protect their children. About “99%(of children) live in a home with a TV” (www.parentstv.org/ - 131k ). This is a major factor, because this means that almost all children live in a home where they can be exposed to the violence of TV. The ways that studies show how parents can protect children are; “Know what you do and do not want your child to be exposed to. Let your child know what your expectations and rules are on video games, TV programs, music and movies”(Joanne Cantor). Another way is by using lock boxes to prevent children from seeing certain programs or channels. The last way is to talk to them by using direct questions to find out what they see, hear, or play; especially when they aren’t home. Protecting your children from the dangers of TV can be stressful, but these tips may be a help to stopping children/teen violence. "The Media: Is It Good For Your Children? ."www.parentstv.org/ - 131k.

Cantor, Joanne. "Media and Parents: Protecting Children from Harm."parenthood.library.wisc.edu/Cantor/Cantor.html.



====As the media affects a vast part of our lives when we grow up, we must know if we are being poisoned by it at too early an age. We find out most of the information we see on television, in movies, etc. sooner or later, so why not? The media we see in our everyday lives can tell us a lot about what we didn't know or what we were too embarrassed to find out on our own, but it will sometimes affect who we are growing up.====