(TV)Media Influence on Youth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

(TV)Media Influence on Youth - Essay Example B. Lower the self-esteem of preteens resulting to lowering self -confidence about their bodies. III. Watching many programs consumes much time for academic work and physical exercises A. Result to poor academic performance. B. Contribute to development of obesity and unhealthy weight gain due to lack of physical exercises. IV. We need to promote watching beneficial programs and encourage parental participation in children activities. A. Censored programs are important source of knowledge and entertainment for preteens. B. Parental involvement in child upbringing protects preteen from being negatively influenced by Television. Media plays an important role by shaping our social, religious, economic and political aspects. In this era of rapid technological advancement, information is flowing at unprecedented rate and though there are many forms of accessing information, television remains one of the most common and influential to all people in the society. Young people especially prete ens and adolescents form a major segment of TV audience and according to Comstock and Paik (1991, p51), television programs have major influence on their behaviors. In United States, the public is concerned over the frequent depiction of violent and sexually explicit programs and the harm that the programs present to the youth. This development comes after many studies have established that such programs adversely affect children on short term and long-term basis (Anderson & Bushman, 2002, p234). This paper expounds on the negative influences of television on preteens and adolescents. According to Comstock and Paik (1991, p59), television programs with violent content enhance immediate and long-term development of aggression and violent behavior on preteens and young adults. The intensity of these behaviors depend on the severity of the violent programs, with Rosenthal (1986, p 143) noting that preteens who watch extremely violent programs have higher likelihood of developing severe forms of aggression. Empirical studies have established that short-term exposure to violent programs increases the likelihood of preteens developing physical and verbal abuse behavior, aggressive emotions and violent thoughts. Many research studies attribute aggression by adults later in life to the effects of frequently exposing children to violent content in the television and other forms of electronic media. These behaviors are manifested in the high prevalence of violent crimes such as aggravated assaults, homicide, physical assaults, domestic and spousal violence in addition to rape among others (Freedman, 2002, p37). Behavioral scientists have developed several theories to explain how exposure to violent or sexually explicit content affects the behavior of the viewer. According to Comstock and Paik (1991, p61), violent programs in the television initiates a short-term effect that increases the existing aggressive cognitions in children and young adults. This results to an inc rease in psychological arousal that triggers an automatic reaction to emulate the observed behavior. Therefore, exposure to violent content produces long lasting effect on the young persons, through several learning processes that lead to acquisition of long-term aggressive behavior. The long-term behaviors include development of aggression supporting beliefs, abnormal response to violent behavior such as; tolerating violence, aggression in social

Who Rules America Corporate America, Weber & Marx Essay

Who Rules America Corporate America, Weber & Marx - Essay Example The natural rights theorists aim was to show that man was born in a state of nature, and given the right to do as he/she wished, but this was sacrificed to the governance of the land, i.e. that the rational man would give up the state of freedom, for the security and safety of law, governance and sovereignty, but retain the right to obtain and accrue whatever property they wish as long as it is within the rule of law. This is the basis of the US, with its promotion of life, liberty and freedom. A key concept of the American way is that it is the land of equal opportunity and one can reaps the benefits for what they work for. In the US Corporate America and the values of capitalism have the ultimate power, where the equalities in economics are validated with the notion of equal opportunity for all individuals1. This pretty much follows the protestant work ethic, which theorists such as Weber supported; however in response to huge inequalities theorists such as Marx arose who argued th at to have economic inequality is an abuse of the power that the capitalist oligarchy holds. The following section will examine the theories of Weber and Marx The theory of Weber condones the exploitation of the workforce and the inevitable inequalities of economic power. This treatment and mechanization of the workforce may in the short term seem the best way to increase productivity at the minimum price. This is very much the rational approach to human interaction and the increasing of productivity, management and governance of individuals. If there is no objectivity then there can be no maximization of work productivity at the minimum cost. This follows the view of management and governance of individuals, whether it be in the workplace or the governance of the country, where each of the workers need to be treated objectively and equally. Weber also stresses the importance of inequality within the social structure for the workers. Therefore Weber's theory is more than the interaction between the management and the working class. Weber's theory has four parts of society which are; traditional and cultural history and rules; affectual - emotional shaping influences of society; wertrational - value orientated rationality; zweckrational - goal orientated rationality. Therefore the focus of Weber's theory is that society and management can be determined by these four spheres of social classification. The key notion that Weber developed in order to balance out the inherent inequalities is that of the rationalizing of society and law; hence if the values of the society and the goal's of the individual can be rationalized and de-mystified then equality and justice can be instituted to achieve the best system for the society and the individual to obtain these goals. Weber sees it as an important factor that has shaped society and important to understanding the development of societal structure and management. Therefore to truly develop a system that is fair and just and can transcend the barriers of inequality a rational discussion of society needs to occur in order to determine justice and the rights of mankind; however the inequality in the power that Corporate America holds over the labor market is inevitable and just.2 The model of Marxism, on the other hand, states that it does not regard the individual as having any human rights, instead it is for the state to set the needs of the individuals, i.e., it is not the good of the individual that the state upholds but the good and the needs of the state. Marx considered law, justice, freedom and democracy as ideas and concepts that are determined by historical and