EXCERPTS ON VIOLENCE ON TV FROM AROUND THE WORLD

From : TV and Film Violence
"Researchers followed 329 subjects over 15 years. They found that those who as children were exposed to violent TV shows were much more likely to later be convicted of crime. Researchers said that, "Media violence can affect any child from any family," regardless of social class or parenting."


From: Violence and TV Ratings

"It's well known that TV violence holds an attraction for most viewers and this attraction translates into ratings and profits. Because of this most media executives have been reluctant to admit that media violence is in any way responsible for violence in our society.

If it weren't for the ratings and profits involved, producers would undoubtedly be much more willing to acknowledge the harm in TV and film violence and do something about it.

Instead, we have such things as the American Medical Association finding that shows that in homes with premium cable channels, or a VCR or DVD..."

Many TV and film producers have elected to "take a higher road" and not rely on gratuitous violence to capture and hold an audience. This route typically results in more accolades for their work and more personal respect from the creative community.

But the higher road is often the more difficult one. It takes talent to engage an audience through the strength of your storytelling and production expertise."

END OF ARTICLES

Violence on Television: Can it be stopped?

By: Nicholas Chase

Let me begin by stating that I have worked in the broadcast television industry for over thirty years, in a variety of roles including studio cameraman, producer / director of music videos, broadcast senior systems design and integration engineer, and senior broadcast television project(s) manager.

In my ten-year role as a senior post-production maintenance engineer, it was partially my job to screen hundreds of television programs and motion picture films to test and assess quality of the technical aspects of the program, video audio and FCC-mandated transmission standards adherence.

Photo by Aaron Escobar

I was unfortunately subjected to many dark, evil and basically sick horror films, or so called situation comedies with poor moral values displayed. Now that I am a parent, with two children,I have always been hypersensitive to the movies and TV programs our children watch.
An unfortunate effect of all of this negative programming being produced in the first place is marketing.

The innate curiosity and viewing appetite of the general public is for mystery, murder, sex, violence, and depravity to be somehow only satisfied through the watching of this material.

The program producers feel that they are merely satisfying a need for these programs, as the so called ‘wholesome family entertainment’ programs have their place, but cannot be the only source of revenue for the production industry.

I have had extensive conversations with some of the top production and movie studio executives and production staff over my extensive career, and the general consensus is that this programming will continue as long as advertisers and the general public are engaged in making these productions successful.

Photo by woodleywonderworks

For me, the question of entertainment in general requires that I be either edified, and educated by the material, by example The Discovery Channel, PBS and others, maybe laugh or cry during a particular wholesome program, but never want to be a captive-witness to suffering or harm to another human, animal or life-form.

I certainly do not want to be forced to ask for my money back, after discovering the promotional materials left out the part about the violence, sexual-content or foul language that is so pervasive in the film and television marketplace. If more moviegoers would perform this simple act of outrage, perhaps the producers of this material would change their focus to the style of movies in the 50’s, where you never actually saw anyone harmed.

My wife and I seldom go to the movies anymore, and not just because of the high ticket prices. High ticket prices are the result, of special-effects-laden productions, where character development is pushed-aside, and the special-effects have become the ‘Stars’ of the film.

There are really only a few movies produced in the last twenty years that I can recall for exhibiting what I would call strong family values. The alternative-lifestyles portrayed in these modern productions have only served to diminish the traditional and biblical precepts for marriage between a man and a woman.

Children growing up today are ridiculed by their peers in school when they have to introduce their two ‘DADS’, or two ‘MOMS’ to their classmates at school events. I have witnessed this first-hand at school functions, and while I cannot rightly and in good conscience sit in judgment for the choices made by these ‘parents’, as an observer of human behavior, their children appear confused and believe that they are ‘different’ through no fault of their own.

A general ‘watering-down’ of moral, social, and kind behavior has been building for many years in my observation. Numerous alternative lifestyles and celebration of offensive actions are portrayed in music, television programs, motion picture films, and much of the literature on the best seller lists of Publishers. An unfortunate aspect of this ‘feeding-tube’ of sub-standard content is acceptance by the viewer that this is normal and acceptable.

My mother is 87 years old, and her generation demonstrated a deep concern for one’s ‘reputation’ in the world, values that have certainly disappeared from our current generation. Respect for authority, kindness, being humble, dressing in a manner that states, ‘I’m proud of my accomplishments in life’, are totally in absent these days. The language I hear being used in public places is so offensive, that I can hardly contain my anger.

The self-respect exhibited by my parent’s generation is gone. The manners, morals and lifestyle of this current generation are bordering on causing a collapse of society not witnessed since the ‘Fall of Rome’. Roman society became depraved, gluttonous, and perverse, forgetting their own history in conquering whole nations of people.

For a man living in 2008, who is currently in his ‘middle-age’, this is so very frustrating. While I remember living in the 1960’s, ‘when do not trust anyone over thirty’ was the battle cry, I observed even then, a gradual shifting of moral and ethical values starting to slip away.

Governmental and parental authority was being questioned, primarily due to a horrendous, ‘undeclared’ war in Vietnam, but also the infiltration and adoption of certain eastern philosophies and precepts as exhibited and promoted by popular musicians of that time.

Photo by daveynin

These new moral codes were embraced by a generation hungry to take charge of their own lives, and even the very country they lived in was affected by these choices. The display of public nudity on billboards, magazine covers, and easy access to pornography and criminal attacks against our children by predators, as well as ‘quickie’ marriages and divorces and the taking of numerous, recreational-drugs whose long-term, mental and physical health effects, were not considered at the time.

Now a generation of damaged people, who were the innocent victims of a society whose moral turpitude caused their exposure to cruel and inhuman, murders, crimes and other accepted violent solutions to their perceived problems.

As a result of the general meltdown of societal values and mutual respect required for a healthy functioning society, criminal behavior has caused our prisons to be filled to over-capacity with individuals who chose to take a path of destruction, having no doubt learned these actions from their peers.

In my opinion, the general decay of respect, kindness, and wholesome lifestyle choices has caused all of the current suffering our world is experiencing. The realization that things may never be as they were before should be a wake-up call to all. We may never again have the true ability to celebrate our freedom as our forefathers intended, "One Nation Under God, With
Liberty and Justice For All".

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

NICHOLAS CHASE is a new but dedicated blogger from the San Francisco Bay Area.

He has four active blogs with significant topics namely :

The Debt Blog, The Diet and Weight Loss Blog, The Guitar Blog,

and The Way To Success Blog.

This is what he says : "My purpose in creating these blogs is to populate them with rich content, and begin adding advertisements gradually."

And he does write well about his daily progress in his blogs - which is quite interesting to me.

Visit his site and take part in his blogging experiences and challenges.

Good luck to you Nicholas and I'm certain you will succeed in your goals.