【英文 Essay】How do you think that young people are influenced by what they see on television and in film.

    In most families in the modern world, television is most important source of entertainment and information. It would be true to say that, since in many countries, both parents have to work in order to provide decent lifestyles for their families, young people end up spending several hours in front of the 'goggle box' (电视机). Though it is undeniable that there are some good benefits from watching television, it is mostly a negative influence for the young. Television projects a sense of unreality (非现实) to its young viewers; it promotes violence and other negative influences.

    There have been several instances where reality was distorted (扭歪的) and young viewers were influenced by television programmes. There was a recent case where in the United States, a 12-year-old boy practiced what he had seen on wrestling programmes on a young four-year-old girl; she was killed as a result. There have been incidences where little boys have jumped out of the windows of high-rise apartments in their attempts to fly like Superman. After watching their heroes and heroines perform incredible stunts with so much ease, the young children are misled into trying out the stunts for themselves; often leading to disastrous (灾难性的) consequences.

    If this makes us conclude the only little children are affected by television, we are wrong. There are teenagers too who have been influenced by television. They have gone to school with guns and shot dead or injured their schoolmates and teachers. There have been too many acts of violence that have been influenced by television for us to dismiss them as coincidences or isolated incidents. Young people around the world are being influenced by television to carry out acts of unbelievable violence. There is undeniable (不可否认) evidence to show that constant exposure to violence numbs (使麻木) people's feelings towards it, thereby resulting in them committing acts of violence themselves.

    Violence is not the only threat to the young; permissiveness (容许的) is another. One has only to watch 'soap operas' to conclude that love has no special meaning anymore. Everyone seems to be obsessed with relationships that leads to nothing but sex; as if that was the only thing that mattered in a boy-girl relationship. This degradation (堕落) of the most beautiful phenomenon in the world to something cheap and thrill-seeking (寻求刺激) is distorting young people's views on what relationships are really about. After seeing so many movies and TV programmes where love is portrayed as something cheap and ordinary, it is likely that subconsciously (潜意识地) , young people are led to want to see the same in their lives. Whereas older generations had only 'Cinderella' and other fairy tales that distort the notion of love and marriage, now we have countless meaningless fairy tales romance stories on television.

    In spite of all the negative aspects of influence of television on young minds, one good conclusion can be drown. It is clear that television is a powerful influence on young minds. Since this is so, it means that it is the use of television that is detrimental (有害的) , and not television itself. In itself, television just a medium. What use is made of it is entirely dependant on us. We can easily use television as a source of good influence. All we have to do is screen or broadcast programmes that would have a positive influence on viewers.

(Source: Smart Essay Study For O Level - Colin Cheong)