o Television in the Kids Bedroom
     Are there really bad effects from our friend television?
What is wrong with television?
    Very young children learn how to treat each other by watching adults, teachers and the media solve conflicts. Because we are genetically derived human beings, we are descended from ancestors who survived because they were very aware of sex, violence and other animals.  Television producers know this and television is filled with images of sex, violence and frequently animals.
    (note this web site.)
    Unfortunately, television violence is not "real" violence. On television when a good guy uses violence it is almost always successful. Television violence is rarely painful. Good guys rarely are seriously injured by violence. Unlike real life, bad guys never listen to good guys to solve problems without violence. Fighting is the only thing that works. 

    This grossly distorted view of the world matches the views of some children who are raised in homes and/or neighborhoods where "might makes right" -- where they don't know how to negotiate and solve problems by asking what each person wants and find solutions.

    Action movies are harmless and fun if you are clear in your own head that they are pretend. Some children try exceedingly hard to try to grow to be like an action adventure "hero"--a man who uses violence as his first solution to conflict--a man who sees that the world is made up of either "good guys" who are nice to you and "bad guys" who are not nice to you. Like the television hero-- it is good to be bad to a bad guy.  Very violent people might believe that anyone who has money in his wallet is a bad guy because they have something that they need.

    Television alone will not create violence, but because televion often offers role models of men who use violence to handle conflict, it can add to the violence that is growing in a child.

    Compare television's view of success with your own family's view of success
 

Television's view of Success
Your family's view of Success
Making the most money.
Making enough money to support your family
Making money any way you can
Making money honestly.
Being funny and sarcastic
Being kind
Physical beauty
A beautiful soul
Do you want your child to be that influenced by good role models? If so keep televion out of their bedrooms.Television can be a whirlpool of poor values that sucks a child in.
Suggestions for watching television
with your children
1. If someone handles something poorly on television, ask "do we do that in this home?"
2. Point out that the writers are trying to get us to watch television so that we will watch the ads, so they put in things that will interest us. Watching some violence on TV is inevitable, just have a child aware that TV violence is written in for cynical reasons.
3. Don't cheer sports violence. If a hockey fight breaks out and the sportscasters are laughing and excitedly telling why the fight started, you can truthfully say that here are grown men who make $100,000+ a year and are either using bullying to intimidate the other team or are immaturely acting out their own frustration. If you think about it, sports violence is pathetic.
4. So called 'real' shows that show videos of violence or encourage fights between odd people.--"waitresses who have stolen other women's second husbands" are interesting to watch because they show the "oddness" that exists in this country. These are not meant to be role models. Many of the people shown on these shows are extremely pathetic. They may deserve our respect but they are still pathetic.
 Oh another cute animal. He must be trying to get your attention.

Go to next page-- school age
Return to main page