Why do we let television control our lives?

I first started thinking about this topic when one day I was wondering "Why is Miley Cyrus so famous"? Because in my opinion, she is talentless. I started thinking about why certain people get hooked on certain television shows? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I thought that there had to be a reason behind all of this. Then I wondered what effect television advertising has on us as viewers. I basically came to the broad topic of "How does television affect children?" and stuck with that. I am very interested with how Disney Channel became so successful with their t.v. shows for children. I thought about what influence television has on children, and how is it bad/good for them? After thinking about this for a while, I made an appointment with a library specialist, and she helped me find MANY articles, books, and websites related to my question. I checked out a few books and she also e-mailed me some of the academic journals and articles that we found online. I also found an article about why certain genders watch certain shows, while others don't. I wondered, is it boys or girls that are more easily influenced by what they see on t.v.? Why do boys like certain shows, and girls perfer other ones? I didn't realize that our rough draft was due next week until I came to class today, so I am going to start deeply looking through all of my sources tomorrow to being writing the first few pages of my paper. I'm excited to find out the meaning behind what broadcasters chose to put on television. How do they target a certain age group so well? What are the tricks and gimmics that they use to do this? Why are we so easily persuaded by what is shown to us on t.v.? I feel like I am going to learn a lot from writing this paper, which is something that has never happened before. Usually the papers that I had to write in high school were about topics that I didn't care to learn about. I am seriously interested in the psychology behind what television does to us. I know for a fact that humans are very easily persuaded by the mass media in America. But why? Why can we be so naive sometimes?



I haven't really done that much research on my topic yet...But I have skimmed through my sources and remembered a few things I read. I remember reading that children always seem to watch television at certain times during the day. This might influence what broadcasters chose to show on t.v. at that time. Most kids like to watch t.v. as soon as they home from school. So they can't help but to become naturally absorbed in the shows and commercials that are on at that time. This reminds me of when I was a kid, maybe around the age of 6 or 7. I used to wake up extra early for school becuase I know that Scooby Doo was always on at that time. I never missed an episode, I was hooked. The same thing happened after dinner time. I knew that Dexter's Laboratory and Ed, Edd, and Eddy were always on. So of course at these times, I would always watch the same commercials too. I was influenced by the certain toys, games, and food that was advertised during that time period. That led to me begging my parents to buy me what I saw on t.v. Television had a huge influence on my personality and likes/dislikes without me even realizing it. This is true for most children, I believe. One more thing I realized is that my brother and I didn't like the same shows. He was into Power Rangers and Speed Racer, and I was into Scooby Doo and the Power Puff Girls. These are all very gender-stereotyped shows.




"Children of both genders and all ages, races, religions, classes, and geographical regions of the world watch television on a regular basis, enjoy it tremendously, and learn more about the world from it than from any other socializing agent"(1).

This quote makes me think that okay, maybe television isn't ALL bad. It is true that we do learn a lot from the news that they chose to show on tv. However, I believe that a lot of the facts that they tell on on t.v. can be misleading.

"Television thus becomes a "peek hole" to roles beyond their everyday reach...)(55).

This statement is suggesting that children watch t.v. because they are curious about things that they don't normally encounter. I remember doing this when I was a kid too.


"Television characters are the focus of indentification, imitation, and idolization"(57).

I remember when I was little, I use to idolize Shaggy on Scooby Doo. I though he was awesome because he got to solve mysteries, fight crime, and he had a sweet dog. A child's life can revolve around their favorite character, and it can become an everyday obsession. That probably isn't a good thing.

"A series of studies found that children raised in communities without television rated higher on tests of creativity in comparison with children of similar backround and life circumstances that were raised with it"(62).

I believe that in some way, television can destroy your creativity. This is because we seem to act/dress/talk like the way we see it done on television.