Persuasive Essay, Research Paper

I over heard a conversation last night in a lounge, between two teenage girls, that really disturbed me. The two were complaining about the unsettling nature of a program they saw on the local public access channel. I was intrigued by the nature of their conversation. It seems that both of the girls felt as though the show was too graphic in nature and gave too much freedom to the producers of that show. How can that be? The idea of “too much freedom” implies that some of their freedom should be taken away. The two students were expressing themselves in a creative and nondestructive way, which should be embraced, not ridiculed. The local access channel has the right to broadcast anything they deem worthwhile.

Our local access channel should not only be allowed to show what they want, but are granted that right under our nation’s constitution. Two hundred years ago several men gathered together and laid down a few things, some inalienable rights, that they felt each person was entitled to. Of these things, they emphasized the importance of the freedom of speech. What’s that? We are free to speak? Damn right! Good ol’ Ben and Tommy knew what they were doing in that hot Pennsylvanian basement. Now, like it was then, numerous worldly influences surround us daily, leaving our lives open to the opinion of others. Advertisements, public speeches, and even broadcast television all can be taken as an insult to a person’s integrity and code of morals. Our founding fathers were looking ahead to the problems that might occur from a nation living in contrast to the controlling monarchy in which they were running from. They were setting a firm and explicit platform for future newspapers, novelists, comedians, television stations; virtually all of the communication professions worldwide.

Along with the communicational foundations that our country was founded upon, our local access channel is protected by something that we each possess and practice daily; the right to click. If I don’t approve of a certain show on television, I, along with each and every other viewer, have the right not to watch it. It is my right, and further more, responsibility to set my own standards in my household for what is to be watched and what isn’t. If I don’t like football, and feel it is barbaric and too violent for TV, I turn the channel. Or better yet, turn of the TV. “What about the children who can’t make that choice,” you might ask. Watch TV with your kid. Heaven forbid that you pay attention to your child. Get involved. See what it is that they like to do. Stop complaining about how bad things are. Become more active, and fix the problem for yourself, individually. You are accountable, and not the rest of society, for what is being watched in your household. It is selfish and nearly criminal to make up my mind for me by editing what is being aired.

Television is a great tool. Some of us can paint, and others can run fast or jump high. But others are best at showing their innovative talents on the TV screen. It is essential to allow these kids to continue running whatever format they like, so that their personalities can shine through the menacing grip of conformity.