Does viewing violence on television lead to a more violent society?.
Television is the main entertainment of millions of people in the world, having a central place in each house. Many controversial issues about this electrical appliance cropped up since its invention and one of the most significant ones is violence shown in the screen. As a result of this fact the following question was formulated: does viewing violence on TV lead to a more violent society? .
It is said that watching violence behaviour on TV is positive because spectators get rid of their own violent impulses through viewing and, in that way, lessen the probability of performing hostile acts. The audience may be witnessing violent acts in a "safe" way, without suffering physical damage.
On the other hand some people believe that this "controlled" danger encourages a passive enjoyment that might be negative for the audience. People become content with second-hand experience, sitting comfortably in their couches watching others actions. They choose to spend a sunny day in semi-darkness, rather than go out into the world itself.
Another serious drawback is that a number of cases have been reported of kids or adolescents duplicating a violent act previously seen on television. Many cases related to this issue were in the newspapers recently. Terrible stories such as the one in England where two boys kidnapped a small girl in a supermarket and then killed her saying that they did so emulating a "Chucky" film, make people think about the negative effects of violence on tv.
The answer to this negative behaviour may be in the first years, or months, of these children. It may be an irrefutable fact that using the TV as a pacifier to keep children quiet by putting them in front of it and turning it on is damaging for them. It does not matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violence as long as they are quiet and do not bother.