Children and T.V.: Violence or Wrong Perception?

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Main Problems
Conclusion
Works Cited

Introduction

With the development of television, mass media has started to play a dominant role in construction of personal identity of children. Recent years, many researchers (Valkenburg 34) admit the crisis of childhood affected by wrong media identities. Pokemon is one of the most popular shows for children. In spite of its long history and positive image, it has many scenes of violence and aggressive behavior. Thesis In general, children’s programs are not violent but negative and unclear images of the main heroes involve violent scenes and wrong behavior patterns.

Main Problems

Violence in Pokemon has a very negative and even dangerous impact on forming identities and ideals. Unfortunately, violence becomes a common thing creating false ideals and behavior patterns in the mind of young viewers. The researchers found that preschoolers: “are unlikely to be able to put the violence in context, since they are likely to miss any subtlety conveyed mitigating information concerning motivation and consequences” (Josephson, 1995). Children build their identities based on hero’s actions trying to imitate and copy them. “But what is a Pokemon, you ask. ‘Pokemon are incredible creatures that share the world with humans” (Pokemon n.d.). The problem is that many children do not understand the difference between violent and non-violent actions, imagine and real just borrowing behavior patterns and enlarging their vocabulary.

In Pokemon, bad heroes are not always cruel and violence while good heroes are not always kind and sympathetic characters. Taking into account psychological studies, it is possible to say that children do not identify themselves with good heroes only, but can choose a bad one as the most attractive prototype (a thief, a robber, a killer). In this case, cartoon violence becomes a driven force for many children to be aggressive. A violent and aggressive hero has the same impact on children as the good one forming aggressive behaviors patterns and violent stereotypes. Pokemon shows are not so violent as other programs, nevertheless small children need additional instructions to be made in order to understand what is going on the screen. So, these facts show that parents should be actively involved in the process of cognition and foresee negative effects of shows’ context. “Each Pokemon has its own special fighting abilities…. Some grow, or evolve, into even more powerful creatures…. Carry your pokemon with you, and you’re ready for anything! You’ve got the power in your hands, so use it!’” (Pokemon n.d.). Being active recipients children copy what they see and hear from the screen misinterpreted many events and actions (for instance, in Pokemon many scenes should explained to young viewers).

Media violence should be censored and controlled by parents in order to diminish negative influence of cruel and aggressive scenes on their offsprings. “Occult role-playing games teach the same dangerous lessons. They also add a sense of personal power and authority through personal identification with godlike superheroes” (Pokemon n.d.). A common behavior of children is built on their identities based on cartoon images and messages. In many cases, children cannot interpret aggressive scenes they watch just borrowing behavior patterns and identity of their favorites.

Some critics state that television has a positive educational impact on children helping them to socialize and build communication with their peers. Not all television programs are bad for children (Valkenburg 73). Educational programs allow parents to develop their child and increase his interest in knowledge gathering and communication. TV shows is an important communication tool that shapes views, identifies tastes, priorities and control circulation of ideas of millions of children around the world. It is possible to refute this argument, because parents cannot control all programs and movies viewed by their children. The influence of television on children is so strong because it controls the circulation of ideas about gender roles and identities, and children borrow their identities from the media (Valkenburg 87). Movies for children are not so violent as other programs nevertheless small children need additional instructions to be made in order to understand what is going on the screen. For instance, one child says: “I’ll just use my psychic powers.” Already, the world of fantasy had colored his real world” (Pokemon n.d). So, these facts show that parents should be actively involved in the process of cognition and foresee negative effects of movie’s context.

Conclusion

In sum, being active recipients children copy what they see and hear in the Pokemon shows misinterpreted many events and actions (for instance, many scenes should explained to young viewers). Television may be received ‘at home’ but ‘home’ itself is both constructed through, and constructs, other realities, and television is implicated in all of them. In this case, media violence becomes a driven force for many children to be aggressive. Violent and aggressive media heroes have the same impact on children as the good one forming aggressive behavior patterns and violent stereotypes. Such TV shows as Pokemon send unclear messages to children and misrepresent the world around them and the main values and ideals. This magic power of false human images has a very negative and even dangerous impact on psychological state of children.

Works Cited

Josephson Wendy L. Television Violence: A Review of the Effects on Children of Different Ages. 1995. Web.

Valkenburg, P. M. Children’s Responses to the Screen: A Media Psychological Approach. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2004.

Pokemon. N.d. Web.

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Children and T.V.: Violence or Wrong Perception?

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