Debate

Television violence

from excitement to sober reality:

Miran Perera

Television in Sri Lanka today is perhaps the most influential in setting the agenda for progress towards democracy and the establishment of a prosperous civil society. This influence if anything has become even more enhanced with the advent of the 21st century - the information age.

Sri Lankan society in particular is at a stage of development where they need a dynamic and vibrant vision through the TV to provide the necessary impetus for progress and to ensure that those in power do not betray the legitimate expectations of the people. One of the greatest challenges facing Sri Lanka today is the struggle to eradicate violence and crime.

The TV perhaps do contribute towards, although in a small way to, prevailing violence and crime.

It will remain unless Sri Lankans vigorously develop and enhance the workings of a truly peaceful participatory, representative governments to promote the rule of law and peace and foster the cultivation of a free and responsible media.

Sri Lanka or any other country with these complex and changing socio political environments call on the media specially television to play an important role in order to consolidate the positive outcomes of these changes.

From the TV professionals the society expects a major contribution in giving the right message in order to move society in the right direction.

Undoubtedly it is a challenging task for the electronic media.

Much attention has already been focused on television and its part in the ethno political conflict of Sri Lanka.

Television can emphasise the benefits that peace can bring, raise the legitimacy of groups or leaders working for peace. Television can transform images of the past enemy. But TV can also serve as destructive agents in a peace process. As usual television can choose to negatively report on the risks and dangers associated with compromise.

There is no hiding from the fact that crime is on the increase. Many simply put it down to the unbearable cost of living and inflation. People cannot earn a decent living so they turn to crime. But more pertinently the roots lie in the inability of law enforcement agencies to enforce the law.

The television need to be the representative of the public.

That has been rarely happening to date reflects on the degree to which this section of the television has been abused by political parties for the furtherance of their narrow interests. To make matters worse governments have been violating in practice what they have been lyrically and eloquently proclaiming in words as regards media freedom specially television.

Slowly but surely a painful process of self education when telecasting programmes of violence and crimes over TV should beat work.

For one thing the flagrantly partisan use of TV programs with violence and crime for competitive purposes has taken television establishments nowhere. In fact television abuse through violence programs has played a prime role in bringing down the morality and peaceful preferences of the viewers be it adults or children. Violence does excite yet sober reality must prevail.

The Sri Lankan public has always proved perceptive and clear headed when bludgeoned with partisan news and views but violence and crime induced TV programs demand more of their attention.

Today the television industry is going through tremendous changes. The technological environment related to television is changing in such rapidity sometimes it makes it difficult to keep a track on it. Inspired by billions of conflicting desires of human beings the innovations in television technology is leading the change in media.

The impact of the ever changing television technology as we know is posing enormous challenges to television managers from all fronts.

Today for most in the television scene how to hold the audience with them has become a bread and butter problem. Whether to dish out violence and crime filled programs or to revert to other alternatives to keep and entertain many audiences.

It depends on their power to retain the audience that will determine their future. Unlike in the past where they dealt with a passive audience with one way communication today they are confronted with a more dynamic fragmented audience with wide variety of tastes and preferences and also with greater mobility.

The programme conveyance capacity and the transmission capacities have changed remarkably due to digitilisation and fibre optic networks.

In Sri Lanka like in most developing countries however television complains about being muzzled and gagged and are more often than not the result of their own imaginings.

It is instructive that the thoughts and ideas on violence in television from excitement to sober reality have survived and withstood the test of time and expressed by courageous people.

Yet in our own day in spite of the vast opportunities for televisions to exercise their freedom many have chosen to emasculate themselves.

Hence the more fruitful debate is not so much about freedom from censorship but rather about the need to break loose from the yoke of self imposed servility.

Television needs to emerge as the podium for the encounter of ideas and opinions of nonviolence and peace as well as the catalyst for the emancipation of the mind.

The challenge to television media freedom does not of course come entirely from those holding political power. Those holding economic power may and do subject television to the dictates of their personal ambitions and self centred interest.

The agendas and priorities of the television barons are not necessarily predicated upon the interest of the general public.

It is a duty of the electronic media to have the moral courage and conviction to resist the manipulation of the television by vested and selfish interests who have no regard for non violence, peace, truth, fairness or the common good.

Television media freedom should not be used to give free rein to the venting of sectarian sentiments violence, crime, the manipulation of racial prejudices and the fabrication of lies.

The model envisaged is that of a free television media that is committed to our societal ideals and the enduring values of Sri Lankan traditions. Excessive violence on TV programmes would undoubtedly bring excitement. But sadly the quicker we realise its consequences will bring all sobriety.

Therefore, non violence is best adhered by television for the greater benefit of all and for a peaceful future.

Less we watch TV the better!

Jayashantha Jayawardhana

Hardly a day passes sans our witnessing some form of violence on television either on a news programme or in an action thriller; consequently, we have got so used to it that the majority of us tend to regard it as just another aspect of our day-to-day life.

As a result, we often tend to underestimate the deleterious impact such chronic exposure to violence, whether it is real or unreal, can possibly have on our mindset or that of our children. Believe it or not, the researchers have discovered that the more violence we witness, the harder and more insensitive we tend to grow towards it, and more ruthless we may eventually become.

Let me elucidate this with a simple example. Most of us, except ofcourse those who are vegetarians, eat chicken. But, how few of us can kill a chicken even though we rear them in the households for flesh? Now just think about a poultry farm, where broilers are killed in thousands per day; do you think a person employed in such a farm can have any qualms about killing a single rooster or even ten for that matter by wringing their necks or cutting their throats with a sharp knife?

What really happens here is that the more chickens he or she witnesses getting killed, the more callous he or she grows towards it. Here, at some point, they may convince themselves that killing chicken is barely a sin. Once they get used to it they come to a conclusion, that killing a chicken is as simple as brushing their teeth or washing their faces in the morning.

Our Value System

Most certainly, it is our value system that keeps us from inflicting harm on others even when we are sure that they deserve it; one of the key determinants of our value system is our religion whether it is Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, or Islamic. So it is the teachings of our religious leaders that have been shaping our value system for generations.

But the effect of such moral values taught to us by our religions may be diluted when we observe that many people do not respect or follow such values any longer. At this point, it is quite natural for us to conclude that we must follow suit.

George Eliot, in her masterpiece novel, Middlemarch says once, "Sane people did what their neighbours did..." The immortal Leo Tolstoy remarks in his novel "Anna Karenin", hailed by some critics as the world's greatest novel, "There are no conditions of life to which a man cannot get accustomed, especially if he sees them accepted by everyone about him..." When one begins to regard immorality and wickedness as the order of the day, it is small wonder that he will redefine his value system according to his new-found philosophy.

I am certain my dear fellow readers are now beginning to wonder, 'what the hell has this dull philosophical doggerel got to do with our children's constant exposure to violence on TV?' Then, let me explain it further on.

When children constantly witness violence they may easily come to the sordid conclusion that fighting and taking revenge are good commendable heroic acts and will try to imitate their heroes, upon which the religious and moral values such as love, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, and sympathy will be simply thrown to the wind!

Energy drainer

Talane Miedaner, a famous life coach reveals in her illuminating book, 'Coach Yourself to Success' that television is a very nasty energy drainer and advises people to limit the time they spend watching TV. She says it so saps our energy that we do not feel fit to do anything but to sleep after watching television.

I believe in her advice as I have experienced it myself. The longer I watch TV, the more I prefer sleep to study when I have switched it off. So, children who are highly addicted to television may easily neglect their studies, simply because they find it difficult to study after watching TV for a couple of hours.

But it will be counter-productive for parents to impose restrictions on the time their children spend on TV, the more the latter feel imposed upon, the more they try to disobey parental advice and savour the forbidden pleasures. I say so because I used to do just the same when I was a kid.

So, in my opinion, the best thing the parents can do is to introduce to them more favourable hobbies like reading. It is important that we look at it in children's point of view rather than ours.

Also, we must remember that criticism and punishment, the commonest measures taken by the parents trying to stop their children from watching TV, can hardly deliver an effective result.

Further, it will not be of any use to send children to bed because the parents do not want their children to watch that particular programme while they themselves prefer to stay and watch it. Such an action will only serve to arouse children's curiosity and to make them feel deprived. Domestic autocracy, as it always does, will lead to nothing.

Parents must set the example themselves and tactfully and gently guide their children to follow it.

I would like to suggest that the parents use self-discipline to limit the time they spend on various TV programmes, that they guide their children to do the same and that they keep it forever in their minds that the less they watch TV, the better!

'Spend more quality time with kids'

Anwarul Aynaaz Zaneefer

Children need not have to watch an adult movie on television or "grown-up" only channels to grasp the concept of violence. They learn it anyway watching their favourite cartoons on the kids' channels!

The other day, my older son, who will be seven later this year, was deeply engrossed in his world of drawing. While admiring his artistic creations, my eyes caught the attention of a specific one; this particular picture enthralled me. To me, it depicted something like a NASA Space Shuttle landing safely on Earth.

However, driven by curiosity, I asked my son to tell me the beautiful story he had just put on paper. I was flabbergasted when I heard his interpretation.

The picture which looked like a Space Shuttle was indeed a 'Missile', which according to my son was launched from outer space and that the aliens were waging a war against the Earth. I thought his imagination was running helter-skelter.

Gathering some patience, I calmly questioned him as to how he got the concept of the aliens destroying or attacking the earth. I just gaped, when he, in his childish innocence, said, "I watched it on Cartoon Network."

As parents, we have to play the role of a 'Teacher', especially the mother, whom the child spends most of the day with'.

If you think your child is watching too much television (even if it's a kids' cartoon programme) or watching channels which you think are not suitable for his age, try to divert his attention somewhere else, like; reading, writing, drawing/painting, (which did work quite marvellously, with my four "Fond Of The Television" children).

Exposing children to all kinds of violence on television, be it the war, the killings/shootings taking places in schools in other countries, violent protests on the streets and even the children's cartoons with the wrong message, can subsequently carry a negative impact on the growing young minds. With this type of adverse effect, they will lack the social skills to interact with their peers. Some children learn to mimic improper and violent actions of some cartoon characters and develop unhealthy attitudes like being arrogant and aggressive.

Our duty is to teach the children positive attitudes in life from their tender age, instil good habits and good behaviour into them, and mould them to be good human beings in their later years.

Nonetheless, we should set restrictions and guide them to watch appropriate television programmes and channels. Being too harsh or punishing them severely for watching inappropriate programmes, will only aggravate the situation. We should also bear in mind that under such circumstances, always try different options to fix the problem; not mix and mess it.

It is our responsibility to spend 'quality' time with our loved ones, bonding and sharing special moments with them, so that 'quantity' time in front of the television is reduced. We should also learn to relax with our children (away from the TV room), take them outdoors sometimes and have time to give ears to their voices however much, insignificant it may sound. And, I, as a mother, learnt a lesson as well, from my son's drawing. I learnt to value his opinion.