According to JoEllen Fisherkeller almost every household in America has
at least one television set while others have at least two or more. She also points out that many Americans seem to spend most of their time watching television instead of using computers or reading a book (596). Television is also the most devoted source of mass media to children. There have been many research studies done to examine the effects that television has on children. My paper proves that the majority of television shows have a negative impact on children. One such negative impact is sex. Many television shows have too many sexual situations written into the plot. Youngsters at a young age should not be watching this type of material. Their time would be better spent reading and doing schoolwork. While most studies feel there are negative effects, there was one that felt television had positive effects on children.
Dale Kunkel and Cope Kirstie, researched the effects of sex on television
shows, while Miriam Bar-on talk's about turning off the television set because children
should be spending more time doing work, and lastly Cees Koolstra and Tom Van der
Voort discussed the effects of television on children's reading. Although all these authors
agreed that television has negative effects on children they all have their own opinions as
Dale Kunkel and Cope Kirstie feel that sex in television can be harmful to
children due to the fact that it provides a window to many parts of the world. Although
most television shows have sex related scenes, they rarely show the effects, risks and
responsibilities associated with sexual behavior. I feel that if a television show is going to
display sexual messages to young children they should also show the side affects to the
According to Kunkel and Kirstie (1999), "long before many parents
begin to discuss sex with their children, answers to such questions as to 'when...