When the television show Dexter was blamed for the murder of a ten year old boy, panic arose about the show that ‘glamorizes murder’. Lumby and Fine argue in Why TV is good for kids: Raising Children in the 21st Century, that there is too much moral panic about the effects of watching television on children. They suggest that watching television can be a positive experience, and can equip children with the skills needed to function in the 21st Century. Even though Dexter is a show appropriate for a mature audience, the skills needed to read it and define it as fiction, rather than to take it into reality need to be taught at a young age. Children need to learn digital literacy skills so that they can tell the difference between fact and fiction and make judgements according to their values and attitudes.
Moral Panics regarding violence on television have been based around connections between acts of violence and the portrayal of violence on television that is viewed by children. Two examples of incidents reported in newspapers by journalists blaming violence on television will be discussed. In 2008, in Washington, a boy died in a sandbox after his friends re-enacted a scene from the anime movie Naruto. In the anime series ninjas fight attacking sand that wraps itself around their bodies. His family said it was a tragic accident. The boy’s friends thought his thrusting around in the sandbox was acting but in fact he was trying to get breath. (Surette, 2008) In 2009 Andrew Conley, a 17 year old boy who was an avid Dexter fan strangled his 10 year old younger brother. He told the police who interrogated him, he had been studying serial killers and “I don't know if you've heard of it, but it's called 'Dexter', and it's on Showtime. And I feel like him because he's a serial killer of bad people…but I just feel like him.” (Mendelsohn, 2008) There is no denying that there are links between watching violence and violent behaviour (Nabi and Sullivan 2001, Lumby and Fine 2006) in children, however other factors need to taken into consideration.
Lumby and Fine pro
posed that television is not the only influencing factor of how and why people act. ( Lumby and Fine 2006, p.7) They wrote, “ the problem with moral panics is that they distract people from the real issues and real solutions by suggesting that things like drug abuse, violence or child neglect are the result of a single monolithic external cause like television, Muslims or rap music.” (Lumby and Fine 2006, p. ) In the case of Andrew Conley, he suffered
considerable neglect throughout his childhood and it has been suggested that his family generally ignored him.” (Mendelsohn, 2008). Dr. Edward Connor, one of four doctors who evaluated Andrew Conley , wrote in his psychological assessment that Conley, "struggl(ed) with various severe psychiatric symptoms throughout his latency and young adolescent years.” (Conner in Mendelsohn, 2008) In contrast, Michael C Hall, who plays Dexter, said that it is a challenge to make a serial killer sympathetic to audiences. Hall said what attracted him to Dexter’s character was the moral ambiguity and the challenge of “breathing life into someone who claims to be without the capacity for authentic human emotion.” (Hall in Singh, 2010) Maybe Conley related to this character as he said he didn’t feel emot
ion.
On one Monday night of viewing on Free Access Television in Brisbane Australia, within the 8.30- 9.30pm and 9.30 to 10.30pm time slots these shows will be aired: The Mentalist, CSI Miami, Law and Order SVU, Burn Notice, Sherlock Holmes,
Body of Proof, Breaking Bad: Kafkaesque, , and Supernatural. (eBroadcast 2011, guide for Monday 14 November 2011) There aren’t many other sorts of shows offered within these time slots, except Man Vs Wild, Targeting Bin Laden (includes violent themes), or Degrassi High. This shows that crime investigation shows saturate the market and it can be assumed that many people enjoy watching them. The crime shows listed have M ratings but are still shown at times when teenagers would be watching television. All of these programs depict violent act. If television viewing alone lead to acts of violence, with this high volume of violence being shown regularly on Australian television wouldn’t there be much higher rates of copycat crime?
From an early age, parents should watch television with their children and discuss the show in terms of what is real and what isn’t. Children need to be taught how to separate reality from fiction. (Brooks, 2008, p.10) Children need to discuss values, morals and attitudes with their parents while watching television shows. Even the character of Dexter shows a moral system, as he will only kill people who have got away with murder themselves.
Television can be of general benefit to children. It can expand their world view far beyond their realm of experience and knowledge. If selected carefully viewing can be a constructive way to spend time. (Gunter and McAleer, 1997) While younger children acquire basic skills older children can become critical viewers, using television to construct identities for themselves and distinguishing them from other children. (Kondo 2007) Classroom curriculum about television or film, from very early years needs to teach children how to critically think. It should engage students at all levels, thinking, enquiring, problem solving, creating, producing, reflecting, appraising, evaluating (Cohen, p.5) and editing. Digital Literacy is about teaching children about the language that is used in representations of reality, whether they are real or virtual, right or wrong. Multimedia literacies, such as film and television include layering of different communication tools such as spoken word, background sounds, imagery and movement.
Television will always have influence on children’s behaviour yet, we need to remember that television viewing happens within a context. If children are taught how to critically reflect about the nature of television from a young age, they will have the skills when they are older to differentiate between fact and fiction or positive and negative experiences on and off the screen.
References:
Brooks, K. (2008) Consuming Innocence: popular culture and out children, UQP, St Lucia, Qld. Australia.
Cohen, D. (Childhood Obesity, poor attention spans, low literacy levels and ..., , retrieved 20 September 2011 athttp://www.acsso.org.au/natconf07/cohen.pdf
Gunter, Barrie & McAleer, J. (1997) Children and Television, Second Edition, Routledge, London, United Kingdom.
Lumby, C. and Fine, D.(2006) Why TV is good for Kids: Raising 21st Century Children, Pan MacMillan, Sydney, Australia.
Kondo, K. And Steemers, J. (2007) Can television be good for children? , Report for Safe Kids TV, The Communication and Media Research Institute, University of Westminster, United Kingdom.
Mendelsohn, M. (2008) Teen Kills Brother, Loves TV show Dexter, Life Imitating Art, ABC 20/20 March 18 2011, retrieved September 20 2011 at http://abcnews.go.com/2020/teen-kills-brother-loves-dexter-life-imitating-art/story?id=13161191#.TrxYC3LO0u0
Nabi, and Sullivan, (2001) Does Television Viewing Relate to Engagement in Protective Action Against Crime? : A Cultivation Analysis From a Theory of Reasoned Action Perspective Communication Research December 2001 28: 802-825
Singh, A. (2010) Dexter Star Michael C Hall Diagnosed with Cancer, The Telegraph 14 January 2010, retrieved 28 September 2011 at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/6989229/Dexter-star-Michael-C-Hall-diagnosed-with-cancer.html
State of Queensland, Department of Education and Training, (2004) Multiliteracies and communications media, New Basics Project. Retrieved on 20 September 2011at http://education.qld.gov.au/corporate/newbasics/html/curric-org/comm.html
Surette, T (2008) Boy dies after friends imitate Naruto, tv.com Australia, http://www.tv.com/news/boy-dies-after-friends-imitate-naruto-11008/
Images : Dexter - http://www.fanpop.com/spots/dexter/imagesMichael C Hall and Andrew Conley from Daily Mail Reporter (2010) Dexter made me kill my brother, Teenager jailed for murdering boy 10, claims he was inspired by hit tv show, Mail Online, 15 October 2010. retrieved 10 November at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1320982/Dexter-kill-brother-Teenager-jailed-murdering-boy-10-claimed-inspired-hit-TV-show.html
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