how much of a role does television play in developing the values and morals of children?
101081
I think it has alot to do with it. Children see things and they think it is cool and that is how they should act. It desensitizes them to death, sex, violence, and drugs. That is hard for parents to recover from. It should be controlled, but that is up to the parents to do.
236650
Parents are the most important.  They are definitely lax in disciplining their children today.  My neighbor negotiates with her 5 and 7 year olds over everything.  They don't listen to her at all and they have no chores or homework.  She says they just won't do it.  That's a sad excuse.  But then they can play video games and watch TV anytime they want.  This is poor development.  \n\nTeachers and counselors guide children to become well adjusted.  \n\nNeighbors and friends teach them by their example how to treat others.
460532
I believe it does and it can persuade their attitudes.  My daughter was watching Lizzie McGuire on Disney and I noticed she started picking up some of the mannerisms and attitudes which were not to my liking.  The character Lizzie has no respect for her parents and seems to think she knows more.  The show makes the parents look stupid.  I don't allow her to watch it and I explained to her why.
694173
Our country is the complete opposite of Europe. We are very anti "too much" sexual activity on television, and everyone throws a fit when they feel somthing is too sexual. Instead, we think it's okay to showcase a lot of violence and violent video games that small children see. We have it all wrong. There is nothing wrong with showing love on television, it all has to be done in a correct manner.
38867
I believe tv desensitizes us from what we see in real life.  Often it can lead to accepting things that we might have found morally or lawfully wrong had we not watched the shows we watch IMO.
762721
I agree with Connie K.\n\nI think that violence desensitizes our children.  We never really see the consequences or aftermath of violence on TV or Movies.   We just see the violence and then the good guy always wins.  \n\nBut this is not just limited to violence, it also applies to behaviors and sex.  I think after you see enough promiscuous sex on TV, you think that is the normal way of life and that is how everyone lives.  Same thing with behaviors.  When kids watch shows geared to kids or teens, and the kids and teens are behaving badly with no consequences, I think that they start thinking that it is normal to act that way and to behave that way. \n\nThis is why I think that it is very important to monitor the programs that we all watch and especially our children, more closely.
154469
Absolutely! Look at the kids who grow up in daycares or with babysitters who are all stressed out from watching so many different kids through out the day, that they can't give the proper affection and attention that the child needs. Then look at the ones who are raised 100% by one of the parents (usually the mom) and get the proper affection, attention and discipline. (Positive discipline) The child learns proper manners, ways to handle lifes situations, how to talk to and address people, whats important in life etc.\nAll this of course being based on the parents being loving and properly raising their children.\n\nSo yes without a doubt, children are much better off having a stay at home parent. I believe it is far more important to have less material things and produce a child who will be a great person and example of how we are to be.
88116
Of course, as any good parent is obligated to do morally, and logically. Children are not yet mentally, (and sometimes physically) ready for adult content such as that. Without the proper knowledge and maturity, they can become easily lured into that sort of behavioral and moral decay. Now, I'm not trying to sit here and act like a perfect-moral-how-to-teacher, but it is just something not for kids.
484661
well, that of course depends on what the parents themselves will allow if watching that influences the kids' behavior, because many kids WILL imitate what they see. if the parents want to better control all the ruckus that kids will most likey be demonstrating, then maybe WWE shouldn't be something that should be viewed. of course, WWE is not the only thing that kids might want to imitate.. there is also other shows, video games, daddy's beer induced rage...
1061993
I agree:  While almost any show can be found to have some redeeming value somewhere (as another answerer pointed out about SpongeBob,) I think it is dangerous to just hope that the kids are picking the correct message out of most programs.\n\nBesides, there are SO MANY other things to do!  I look at it more from the point of view that there are too many other things a child (especially a young one) should be doing instead:  playing with toys, reading, playing with friends, just running or biking outside, playing with parents, etc. etc.\n\nWhile I agree that it would be possible for a child to have a very healthy & happy life with no TV whatsoever, I also don't think it necessarily needs to be removed completely, as another writer suggested.  Small doses of TV, large doses of playtime!
161567
Listen, yosemite same and the boys where on all of our televisions when we were kids. I do not think it has much of an impact as long as the children have good parenting. Of course there are always a few genetically enclined kids who are prone to violence. If kids are taught by their parents that what they are watching or playing is not to be acted out in real life then they should be ok. Most parents simple let the kids do anything they like without any kind of supervision.\n\nI say bring back the yosemite sam, bugs bunny wars.\n\nPS the better question is how do political cartoons influence brainless adults. Can you say Jihad.
731202
i do believe there's much too much sex on tv. i know i sound like a prude, but it's a fact. sex sells. and that's all the television programs are concerned with - making money. i believe it is completely a parent's responsibility to educate their children as to what is right and wrong. parents are at duty to monitor what their children are getting into and to set limits so that young children will not grow up thinking that everything on tv is "ok". we cannot blame television alone or even strongly blame it for high teen pregnancy rates because the fact of the matter is that those youths most prone to promiscuity and sexual tendencies(not to mention violence and drug use) are those raised in households  with less family support and guidance (more often then not). the same is for the obesity problem rising in this country - we can take ads out and change the menus in our children's schools, but it is really up to the parents to explain to their children what is healthy or not, and instill in them, as early as possible, healthy habits that they can carry into their adulthood. by blaming the media, we are basically saying that our children are solely raised by it (the media) and this is simply not the case. every child has a guardian of some sort raising them, and it is the obligation of every guardian to raise their children with morals and ethics proper for healthy growth in society.
1063771
1995. Because many parent objected (and still object) to the content of daily primetime television show and commercial content - the violence, sexual innuendo and outright sex, etc.\n\n"The Parents Television Council was founded in 1995 to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media."\nhttp://www.parentstv.org/PTC/aboutus/main.asp
1085413
No Gods\nOnce, flipping through a book on child psychology, I came across a chapter about adolescent rebellion. It suggested that in the first phase of a child's youthful rebellion against her parents, she may attempt to distinguish herself from them by accusing them of not living up to their own values. For example, if they taught her that kindness and consideration are important, she will accuse them of not being compassionate enough. In this case the child has not yet defined herself or her own values; she still accepts the values and ideas that her parents passed on to her, and she is only able to assert her identity inside of that framework. It is only later, when she questions the very beliefs and morals that were presented to her as gospel, that she can become a free-standing individual. \n\nI often think that we have not gotten beyond that first stage of rebellion. We criticize the actions of those in the mainstream and the effects of their society upon people and animals, we attack the ignorance and cruelty of their system, but we rarely stop to question the nature of what we all accept as "morality." Could it be that this "morality," by which we think we can judge their actions, is itself something that should be criticized? When we claim that the exploitation of animals is "morally wrong," what does that mean? Are we perhaps just accepting their values and turning these values against them, rather than creating moral standards of our own? Maybe right now you're saying to yourself "what do you mean, create moral standards of our own? Something is either morally right or it isn't-morality isn't something you can make up, it's not a matter of mere opinion." Right there, you're accepting one of the most basic tenets of the society that raised you: that right and wrong are not individual valuations, but fundamental laws of the world. This idea, a holdover from a deceased Christianity, is at the center of our civilization. If you are going to question the establishment, you should question it first! There is no such thing as good or evil. There is no universal right or wrong. There is only you... and the values you choose for yourself. \n\nWHERE DOES THE IDEA OF "MORAL LAW" COME FROM? \n\nOnce upon a time, almost everyone believed in the existence of God. This God ruled over the world, He had absolute power over everything in it; and He had set down laws which all human beings had to obey. If they did not, they would suffer the most terrible of punishments at His hands. Naturally, most people obeyed the laws as well as they could, their fear of eternal suffering being stronger than their desire for anything forbidden. Because everyone lived according to the same laws, they could agree upon what "morality" was: it was the set of values decreed by God's laws. Thus, good and evil, right and wrong, were decided by the authority of God, which everyone accepted out of fear. One day, people began to wake up and realize that there was no such thing as God after all. There was no scientific evidence to demonstrate his existence, and few people could see any point in having faith in the irrational any longer. God pretty much disappeared from the world; nobody feared him or his punishments anymore. But a strange thing happened. Though these people had the courage to question God's existence, and even deny it to the ones who still believed in it, they didn't dare to question the morality that His laws had mandated. Perhaps it just didn't occur to them; everyone had been raised to hold the same beliefs about what was moral, and had come to speak about right and wrong in the same way, so maybe they just assumed it was obvious what was good and what was evil whether God was there to enforce it or not. Or perhaps people had become to used to living under these laws that they were afraid to even consider the possibility that the laws didn&#
111241
TV is a bunch of plastic, metal, and glass - it does not effect children.\n\nThe PROGRAMMING that PARENTS ALLOW their children to watch can and does affect kids.  Some programs can educate and inform and have a good effect.  Others (the majority of what's on) can be harmful because it is not intended for kids, and so is inappropriate; or, some is targeted at kids, but is simply a mindless, time-wasting, marketing ploy (e.g. pokemon, yu-gi-oh, etc.).\n\nPARENTS have to invest the time and energy to supervise and limit what their kids are watching, and to watch with them and discuss it - so they understand that it is make-believe and so they get what you want them to get out of it.
1147856
Glad you asked, although it is probably too late to help someone if they are already a teen. SO, it is the responsibility of everyone in our society to instill values in children from birth. Monkey see, Monkey do ; parents need to be good role models, turn off the television and spend time with their families !\nThat is exactly how you help teen-aged boys ! ...... AND girls !\nGood luck.
275809
Morality is not taught as much as it used to be by the general public.(eg. prison populations) Teaching or having morals is an option we are given. Being the people God wants us to be is also an option. Regardless of what moral values a person has they can still become a child in God and God will do the rest. God will not hold the entire human race responsible for the actions of non-believers. Just the actions of each individual.