THE EFFECTS OF TV AND TV VIOLENCE ON AN INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY
             The average American child watches 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence
             before finishing elementary school. That is not surprising considering the average child
             is watching 27 hours of television each week, and in the inner-city children watch up to
             eleven hours per day. Twenty-five percent of prime time shows in the fall of 1992
             contained highly violent material, and the US homicide rate is rising fast- six times faster
             than the population(CQ Researcher, 167). "There has never been a situation like this,"
             says George Gerbner. A Times Mirror poll held in March of 1992 showed 72% of
             Americans think there is definitely excessive violence on TV and a 1990 Gallop poll
             found 63% agree television programs that depict crime and violence actually encourage
             it(CQ Researcher,167-8). Television also causes the viewer to be in a "hypnotic" state so
             they don't respond to anything happening around them. TV blurs an individual's
             perception of reality and TV violence affects society and induces violence and crimes.
             Television creates a blur of reality. "Television is greatly criticized for failing to
             provide a complete, unbiased picture of reality" (Encarta) While one is watching
             television, it dims his awareness to the outside world. "Television is a lot like hypnosis;
             you create a new focus, stop outside focuses, cut down all diversions, stay quiet and still
             and eventually the viewer will be in a hypnotic state" (Mander, 195). That explains why
             the average person is glued to the TV four or more hours per day (Mander, 194). T.V
             images move more quickly than the viewer can react, so one has to chase these images
             with the mind, leaving no way of breaking contact with the television and thus no way to
             comment about the information given. It literally stops the critical mind (Mander, 197). "
             The act of seeking out information wit...