The world's most powerful teacher has been sitting on most living room floors across the United States for nearly sixty-five years. A classic American icon, the television can be found in 96% of homes in the country (Kalin). They can cost little but they serve three main purposes; to entertain, inform, and educate. However, the television began to have a new purpose in the early 1990's that still continues today; corrupting children. Television violence occurs in 25% of the programs on television, not including cable. In one hour of prime time television alone, the average person will see five to six violent acts, and twenty to twenty-five acts of violence on Saturday morning cartoons. As a result, television is teaching children that using violence to get what they want is normal and expected in today's society. If a child views and actor or actress getting punched and not reacting to it, the child will believe that violence does not hurt. Television violence is becoming a bigger issue in this country. The success of the entertainment industry has created quite a controversy over television violence and whether or not it has an effect on children (Mudore).
             With the average American spending 22.7 hours in front of the television every week, children will watch more than a fair dose of violent programming. Why do children like the violence that they see on television? Since media violence is much more vicious than that which children normally experience, real-life aggression is boring to children. The violence on television is able to be more exciting and entertaining than the violence that is normally viewed in real life. Instead of seeing two grown men talk through their problems, they can see one start a fistfight with the other. However, children do not always realize this is not the way problems are handled in real life. They come to expect it, and when they don't see enough acted out aggression, the world b...