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Explicit Media Content is Taking Over

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Ninety six percent of American homes have a television set and this number continues to grow, creating a world in which children of all ages have frequent access to TV[Nie13]. This means kids can possibly spend countless hours each week home from school watching television while their parents are still at work. Unfortunately, television has become a babysitter across the globe. Whether parents approve it or not, kids are watching content on television that may be too mature for them. Should this explicit content be available for everyone to have access to, or should there be some filters in place? Some researchers believe it is fine for children to watch all types of media, regardless of the level of maturity, while others disagree. Television shows today are becoming increasingly more explicit and a wide range of topics are being exposed to children watching TV. Regardless of whether sex, drugs and alcohol are shown in a program directly, or just in an advertisement, it has the same effect on children. Kids of all ages should not necessarily be watching programs designed for adults. The lessons and views reflected in shows made for a more mature audience can have an impression on young people. Many times this introduction to new topics and ideas can also cause them to mirror the behavior they have viewed. Research has shown that when kids play violent video games, they tend to be more violent (Samaniego 5-21). This is true with their physical actions, as well as the thoughts in their head. This is because it is natural for kids to pick up on the things they see and hear. This is how children learn. So when a child plays violent games all day, he is more likely to have violent thoughts in his head or carry out acts of violence when confronted with a situation he is uncertain how to handle. The same reasoning applies to the introduction of sex, drugs and alcohol. If a young kid is constantly watching sex scenes, and playing games with sexual content, he is more likely to be sexual at a younger age than a child who has never been exposed to sex. Likewise, when watching someone smoke a cigarette on television, a child might ask their parents about what a cigarette is and also develop curiosity around the topic of smoking. The wide range of explicit, mature content that appears on television such as sex scenes, tobacco usage, and drug intake, are factors that play an integral part of how a child develops and also what he finds to be acceptable as he matures into an adult. The more children see and hear a certain behavior taking place, the more it becomes a "normal  or acceptable way of life in their world. When browsing through the different television channels, it is v

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