Adults can put television into perspective, but young children are not so clear about where reality ends and fantasy begins. In addition, with the advent of satellite television there is no censorship for violence and brutality in television. A child armed with a remote could watch gory murders and programmes with sexual content not suitable for such young minds. Children are very impressionable and it is important to control what their minds are exposed to. Television characters are often exaggerated stereotypes that can distort children s expectations of people in day to day life.
Parents have to act as censors for television programmes, books and more recently video games.
People have blamed the television for children flinging themselves off roofs and risking their necks doing foolhardy stunts in an attempt to emulate superheroes and athletic models in advertisements. Some people are of the opinion that brutality on television could be the direct cause for juvenile crime. Children are given the idea that violence is a means to power because villains are often portrayed as being more glamorous than the heroes. After all, Tom and Jerry are constantly bashing each other and it is actually funny. Think about the message that is going out to the children.