Communication Essay, Research Paper

People have always had the need to share their stories. From cave drawings to the drums,

smoke signals to the telegram, telephone to the radio, television to the computer, people have

found many ways to entertain and communicate. Communication has brought information to

people about values, trends, and cultural norms. Whether it is oral tradition, dances, parties,

plays, or letters, communication has played a big role in keeping historical records. Television

reflects people. With television a person can chart a social history of the past 60 years with shows

such as The Ed Sullivan Show, I Love Lucy, M*A*S*H, Dick Van Dyke, and Seinfeld. One of

the most powerful instruments of social transformation this century was the television. Every

time a person turned on the set, there was another extraordinary event being presented, live.

Events in history like the civil rights struggles; the JFK shooting; the Martin Luther King Speech;

the LA riots were all beamed into houses around the nation. As entertainment and

communication evolved so did network television and the media the medium of television.

People in Wyoming looked at the same thing as people in New York night after night, giving the

nation a sense of unity. Watching the Daily News, 20/20, 60 Minutes, Dateline, and 48 Hours

helped to keep people educated and informed about the world around them. Other shows such as

The Price is Right, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and Home Improvement are watched for

entertainment and relaxation. Children can have basic principles reinforced by watching shows

such as Sesame Street, which teaches them their ABC s, how to count, read and think. For all

ages it provides a means for escape from everyday life and reality. However, there s another

side. As a matter of fact, the overall effect television has on children is more negative than

positive. Television reinforces children s increasingly short attention span. It makes people

believe that they should have an opinion about everything; it encourages superficiality. Television

also takes away time that could be spent with family and friends. Overall, the effect television has

on children is more negative than positive.

Television suggests that violence is an acceptable mean of solving problems. Children see

violence on Johnny Bravo, Johnny Quest, Megatron, GiJoe The American Hero, and

Transformers: which they teach them it s ok to use violence to solve problems and that violence is

even fun; the shows always have the main characters coming out on top. Children enjoy watching

cartoons such as these because they are action packed, exciting, and satisfy their primitive

animal instincts to strikeout. All of the problems that are encountered by the characters are

solved by a punch, kick, or blow to the head; they are solved by a big machine with all different

types of guns blowing up and dissolving certain objects or people. Children get desensitized to

the true horrors of violence. On shows like Willie Coyote, they are shown unrealistic views of

trauma and pain . This can lead to them thinking the use of violence is ok and that there are no

consequences for their actions; criminality is normalized. When they learn to use violence in

solving problems it will windup creating more problems for them. While it is true that kids see a

lot of violence, it isn t true that they act it out. Children get the message that there is little regard

for human life.

After watching a few shows of Adams Family, Hang Time, Xena: Princess Warrior,

Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, and Highlander, children are glamorized by the bazar, the

nuts, and the exceptional. Shows such as Guinness Book of World Records have people that can

pierce themselves with hundreds of sharp objects and show little, if any pain at all; they have

people who can fold themselves into a small box and remain in there for 8 minutes with little

oxygen. A normal person could never accomplish feats as great as these and children begin to

believe it is rational behavior. They see a hero with great strength and agility battling huge

creatures and wish they to could do the same. On Saved by the Bell kids see popular teens with

few problems, other then whom to go to the dance with, achieving good grades by ways that are

unacceptable in a real school system. Children are influenced by this and want to become

popular well liked. Kids believe that if they are to be noticed they should do things that are seen

as weird or extraordinary.

Another negative effect television has on children is that it encourages consumerism.

Television accelerates the imagery of desire through advertising; advertising encourages people to

buy such products as home furnishings, clothes, toys, food, and many other items. Programs like

Dynasty promote consumerism by glamorizing their possessions cars, clothes, jewelry. Children

are constantly bombarded with the message that having great expensive possessions will give

them a feeling of acceptance as seen in the show Beverly Hills 90210. Many shows also portray

greed as good. Having nice possessions means fitting in with society and keeping up with the

changing world. The American Dream has become distorted. People believe that the American

Dream is achieved by acquiring the biggest, the most up-to-date things. Being materialistic

becomes addictive, empowers selfishness, and allows people to care more about acquiring a new

expensive Ferrari than about their family, friends, and people around them.

Shows like WWF, WCW Monday Nitro, Silk Stockings, and Love Line trivialize sexuality.

Daytime soaps like Days of Our Lives use sexual seduction to get a person to like them; other

shows such as Pacific Blues use sexual seduction to lure an unsuspecting suspect into a trap.

Children see such examples as these and get the message that using their bodies to get what they

want is acceptable. Many shows like V.I.P. are full of sexual suggestions and innuendoes.

Drams such as Baywatch use voluptuous models in skimpy clothes to represent lifeguards. Sex

appeal is used to help sell products and also to boost many shows ratings. News broadcasts blast

daily sexual harassment suits. Daytime talk shows like Lezza have people on talking about their

sexual experiences with their multiple partners. Sex symbols are looked up to and admired.

Television teaches kids to lust and follow their sexual instincts; it stimulates them. Television

exaggerates the role sex plays in human affairs; sex is seen as a routine not as it should be

seen one of the most intimate of human acts.

Television distorts the difference between right and wrong. On the cartoon Bevis and

Butthead it shows two guys who go around stealing others possessions, are disrespectful to

others, and ditch school every day. On another cartoon such as South Park the whole focus of it

is on four children that go around the town beating up on each other, calling out obscenities to

people of authority, and are racist. Children get the message that it is all right for them to steal

and cheat as long as they benefit from what they do. They observe that it must be acceptable to

use figurative language and disrespect others. The news broadcasts show live pictures of the US

bombing people in other countries to settle disputes. Shows such as the Simpsons allow the

characters to cheat and be deceitful. Kids tend to perceive these actions as the right thing to do if

they don t hurt anyone else too severely in the midst of it all. Children today don t experience

consistent standards between what is genuinely right and wrong. Television gives daily direction

to society.

The history of mankind has shown that all forms of communication have an immense

impact on people. There is no reason to doubt, intelligently, the predominant of all forms have

been television.