Media and Ethics


JOURNAL ENTRY:  CASE STUDY 3.2:  THE RESTRICTED VIEWING FAMILY
	This case study is about a small boy who’s parents have decided to 
	have a "restricted viewing family."  When the boy goes over to 
	playmates houses he sees television shows that are not allowed in 
	his house.  The boy feels guilty because he knows he is doing 
	something his parents do not want him doing. Obviously the 
	suppression of television viewing is developing some negative 
	traits in this situation.  Not only has he learned to lie very 
	well, but when a person walks around feeling guilty all the time 
	it can lead to depression.  I think that if the parents do not want 
	those television show played in their house, that is fine.  But 
	since they can’t always control/monitor his activities outside the 
	house than they might as well let him know that he doesn’t have to 
	hide it if he does watch television somewhere else that at home.  
	Then they can talk to him about what he is watching and what they 
	think is wrong with it.  This way maybe the next time he sees the 
	program he can see what his parents are talking about.  Or maybe the 
	child may find an interesting show that his parents just don’t know 
	about.

JOURNAL ENTRY:  ELIZABETH KOLBERT:  
"Study Reports TV Is Considerably More Violent Despite Outcry"
	This article discussed a report that said that violence has basically 
	increased in all other time periods of television except during prime
	time (8-11pm).  But the networks say that the report is not fair 
	because they draw most of their viewers during prime time.  Well, the 
	people who are hurt the most by television violence are younger 
	children,  and they are usually in bed by prime time (8-11pm).  Not 
	only that, parents are more likely to be home by prime time than 
	earlier on in the day.  This means the amount of unattended children 
	is much lower.  Basically what I am getting at is during the times 
	when children are more likely to watch television, because they are 
	more likely to be awake and/or unattended, is the time when 
	television is more violent.  It just doesn’t make sense.
 

Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 9.