Television was invented as a means of providing entertainment and began with shows such as "Leave it to Beaver" and Lassie." Throughout the years though, television has evolved into perhaps one of the most graphic displays of violence. So the question then arises: Does television influence society's attitude towards violent behavior? In order to fully answer this question, we must first understand what violence is. Violence is the use of one's powers to inflict mental or physical injury upon another. Television violence affects children of all ages, of both genders, at all socio-economic levels and all levels of intelligence. The National Association for the Education of Young Children reports that violence in the media has increased since 1980 and is continuing to increase. Thousands of studies have pointed to a relationship between media violence and real life crime. Years of research show that exposure to television violence causes children to behave more aggressively, both immediately and in their adult years. Through gruesome, explicit, and often unrealistic portrayals of death and violence, the impressionable clay of our children's minds are molded into vicious statues incapable of comprehending the gap between what is real and what is injurious. The Mediascope National Television Violence Study proves that there are three main effects that TV violence has on children: learning aggressive attitudes and behaviors, becoming desensitized to real world violence and developing a fear of being victimized by violence. Children who often view violence on television may lose the capability to deal, protest, and become distressed by real acts of violence. They become less bothered by violence and see nothing wrong with committing a crime. There have been other studies which also demonstrate the effects of violence on youth. For example, a study by AACAP found that as a result of TV violence, a ch...