Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Question: The media is corrupting our society. Do you agree???

Answer:
To begin my arguement, i would like to explain the term "media". To put it simply, media is a means of mass communication, through the various mediums such as television, newspapers, radios and so on. Lately, there have been many newspaper reports making claims about the negative impacts that the media, namely the television, has on the society. The age group in which i believe the media has the greatest impacts on is mainly the youths of the society, aging from around 13 to 18. My stand towards this arguement is that i agree to a large extent that the media is corrupting the society, and hence i will be discussing my views in the following paragraphs.

I do not deny that the media do have its uses. Up to date, one of the most efficient way of disseminating critical information to the public is still through the media. One example was the Sars crisis that took place in Singapore a few years ago. To prevent the widespread of the virus, the Government called off school for several days where this information was effectively transmitted to all students through the mass media as with the flourishing economy in Singapore, many are able to gain access to the many forms of media in Singapore. Also, we are also able to make use of media to educate the public regarding issues, as well as allowing the messes to gain awareness should there be an outbreak of disease and so on.

However, the negative impacts brought about by media outweighs its positive impacts. One widely debated effect of the media is the negative influence that media has on the public, namely the significant influence that television has on the youths aging from 13 to 18. The various violent television programs screened in USA exposes the youths in USA towards violent content, where according to studies, youths exposed to violent content at a young age are likely to evolve into violent individuals, who maybe possible criminals when they grow up. This is so as these youths are rather vulnerable to external threats, and being in puberty, they are normally rebellious individuals who have the tendency to want to explore forbidden boundaries. Also, since many parents nowadays are too caught up with their work to pay much attention towards the education and guiding of their children, wide exposure to violent content available in media will exert a negative inflence on these youths, causing them to learn and behave according to what they view as they do not have the ability to differenciate right from wrong at this young age, as well as the ability to filter out unappropriate information they view on media. The intrduction of violence into the pure abd untainted mines of these teens is hence considered a form of corruption of their minds.

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