Analysis Of Mary Ann Watson's Article 'Ethics In Entertainment Television'

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Toni Brown
English Composition 1103
Room M 139 B
Louis Finkelman
February 9, 2014
Whose fault is it really?
“Cover your eyes. This is the bad part.” That was always my mother’s solution to keeping us from seeing the unsavory things displayed on our television screen. Try as she might, she couldn’t protect me from everything. In today’s social society, accessing any kind of visual imaging is relatively effortless. For most of us, our easiest medium for being exposed to these things is our televisions.
It’s that very fact that concerns people like Mary Ann Watson. In her article “Ethics in Entertainment Television”, Watson argues the affects of graphic and violent television programming on our culture. She makes the claim
Though I agree with Watson that the creators of popular television should hold some accountability for what they send out in the universe, I don’t believe it’s solely their responsibility. As with anything else, it begins in the home. Watson says in her article “Ideas have power. Words and Images have consequences” and she’s absolutely right. However, when guiding a child into being a functioning member of society it is the parent’s responsibility to make sure that the child understands these consequences. It is not the job of creators of television entertainment to teach our kids about what is right and wrong. As parents, monitoring what our children are viewing on television becomes an added hassle in a sea of more important responsibilities. Yet, when we are to absorbed in other facets of life that puts the unfair responsibility of raising our kids in someone else’s hands. It is easy to play the blame game when you drop the ball as a parent. Accountability, in this instance however, is
Kyla Boyse, a registered nurse at the University of Michigan, gave some tips on how parents can limit the affects violent television has on their children. She advised that parents get involved by watching TV with your kids. Boyse says to do this “so if the programming turns violent, you can discuss what happened to put it into context you want your kids to learn” (Boyse and Bushman).

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The American Academy of Pediatrics also offers some advice in this regard. They believe that media education can make a child “less susceptible to the bad effects of watching violent TV” (Bar-on and Rich). By educating the children about what goes on in their TV we put them at an advantage of being able to decipher what is good to watch and what’s not so good.
Though Watson made some good points in “Ethics in Entertainment Television”, the fact of the matter is we can’t place all the blame on the creators of our TV programming for the problems in our culture. We, as parents, have to be held just as accountable if not more so. Television does have a profound effect on our culture but as parents we are our children’s first major influence. If we can set our kids up for success by educating them and discussing what they’re watching with them then we’ve successfully conquered the TV