Television Search Story

television search story

This is what I made to show how I worked throughout my research project.

Works Cited

Child.net. "Teens and Television – TV Shows & Media Influences on Teens." Children, Teen, and Parent Resources – Youth and Kids Topics by Child.net. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. http://www.child.net/articles/television/.


LimiTV. "Health Effects of Excessive TVWatching by Children." Limit TV – Improve Childrens Learning and Health. N.p., 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.limitv.org/health.htm.


Media Awareness Network. "Television's Impact on Kids." Media Awareness Network | Réseau éducation Médias. 2010. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/parents/television/tv_impact_kids.cfm.


"Media Usage in Teens." whsmassmedia.blogspot.com. Web. 17 March 2011. http://whsmassmedia.blogspot.com/2010/09/media-usage-in-teens.html.


Pontius, Ericka. "The Impact of Reality Television on Viewers' Perception of Reality." clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu. N.p., 2003. Web. 23 Mar 2011. http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/409.php.


Ramsland, Katherine. "The Unthinkable — Children Who Kill and What Motivates Them -- The Crime Library — Does Television Have an Effect? — Crime Library on TruTV.com." TruTV.com: Not Reality. Actuality. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/kids2/effect_5.html.

Ransohoff, Julia. "Teens and the Media." Best Doctors in California, Physicians in California. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. http://www.pamf.org/teen/life/bodyimage/media.html#School.


"Reality TV Shows." buzzle.com. Web. 23 March 2011. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reality-tv-shows-better-option-than-any-other-show.html.


"Teen Leisure Habits: TV Still On Top." frankwbaker.com. Web. 28 Mar 2011. http://www.frankwbaker.com/mediause.htm.



"The Effects of Violent Video Games." youthradio.org. Web. 18 Mar 2011. http://www.youthradio.org/topic/video


The LifeScript Editorial Staff. "Study Points to Health Effects of Television on Teens | Lifescript.com." Women's Health Issues | Women's Health Questions & Answers | Women's Health Articles | Lifescript.com. 26 Apr. 2006. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. http://www.lifescript.com/Life/Family/Kids/Study_Points_to_Health_Effects_of_Television_on_Teens.aspx.


Troppe, Sheila H. "84.05.03: Television and Teens." Yale University. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1984/5/84.05.03.x.html#b>.


University of Michigan Health System. "Television (TV) and Children: Your Child." University of Michigan Health System. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm.

Reflection paragraph on sources

Overall, I found sources that were very reliable for my topic. I did not use any blogs, essays, or journal entries. The source I used the most in my project was pamf.org because it showed me all of the effects on teenagers from watching television and it gave a very good description about each effect. The sources I found to be most trustworthy were the ones that ended in “org”, “net”, or “edu” not “com,” which are most of my sources. They were reliable because they had authentic evidence to back their argument up. The source I found to be most biased was yale.edu because the author was talking about their life story as well as having research to back up her argument.

Reflection on process

There were some easy parts to this process, but there were also some difficult parts to this process as well. The easiest part about this process was finding the background, finding pictures for my picture and caption citations, and the beginning of my blog when I first started to talk about my topic. The most difficult part of this process was actually finding reliable research and putting it together. The posts that I found most difficult were the finding paragraphs, and the quote, summary, and source analysis citations. Overall, this project was easy for me to handle. I liked decorating my blog and proving my point through various ways throughout this blog the best out of anything. I liked that I got to talk about a topic like this and prove my point. I disliked actually finding all the research and putting it all together in my paragraphs. I would definitely do this project again because it was a fun, new way to do a research project. I really connected with my topic and I found myself more and more interested in it as I went along with my project. If I had to do this project over again, I would try to find more research on my questions and answer my other questions that I had for this topic. Other than that, I would not change a thing of what I have done in my blog.

Wordle #2

In this wordle, I used twenty-five words that I felt were the most powerful during my research. I made words like teenagers, children, media, television, brain-washed, stop, and reality big because they were the main words that I used the most and felt were most important. As you can tell by the words in my wordle, teens and children watching television is a very bad thing.

Reflection paragraph on findings

During this process, I have sound a myriad amount of research about my topic. I learned the effects on teens and children from watching television, how it will affect them into adulthood, and which type of show has the most negative impact on them. The most important facts that I learned throughout this process were the different types of effects that are put onto teens and children when they watch television. I had no idea that watching too much television can affect your abilities in school. The most surprising fact that I have found throughout this process is that kids can be so violent and mean from watching violent television shows. It actually encourages children to go out and bully other kids, and sometimes even murder them! I still have a few questions about my topic and they are the following: Besides money, why do the media keep these negative shows when they know that it is putting a negative influence on teens and children? Should we ban television? And how would that affect people? These are not my main questions about my topic, but I was curious about them. I feel even stronger about my topic now than I did before. Now that I know more information about it, I believe that this is truly a problem and I want to help solve it.

Findings Paragraphs #3

There are many types of television shows, but reality television has the worst effect on the youth today. Some types of reality television shows are Jersey Shore, America’s Next Top Model, American Idol, The Real World, Parental Controls, and so many more. (Reality TV Shows) These shows are bad for adolescents today because they show “real people” who have perfect bodies, faces, personalities, and relationships. Teenagers actually believe that these people are what reality is and they will try anything and everything in their power to be like them, no matter what the consequences are. According to Laurie Hibberd, reality shows cost on average $400,000 rather than $2 million for a dramatic series. The only reason why the media keeps reality television is because it is the cheapest show to make. They do not care whether or not it affects kids today. (The Impact of Reality Television on Viewers' Perception of Reality) “The advent of cable and MTV has also altered their habits.” (Television and Teens) This quote from the article Television and Teens explains that MTV (a reality television station) has changed teenagers’ lives in a bad way. Just because the media is selfish and does not want to get rid of these bad shows, does not mean that teenagers and kids should be watching these vulgar shows. We need to educate the youth today about the effects of watching reality television and to show them that these shows are bad for them.

"Reality TV Shows." buzzle.com. Web. 23 March 2011. http://www.buzzle.com/articles/reality-tv-shows-better-option-than-any-other-show.html.

Pontius, Ericka. "The Impact of Reality Television on Viewers' Perception of Reality." clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu. N.p., 2003. Web. 23 Mar 2011.
http://clearinghouse.missouriwestern.edu/manuscripts/409.php.

Troppe, Sheila H. "84.05.03: Television and Teens." Yale University. 2011. Web. 17 Mar. 2011. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1984/5/84.05.03.x.html#b>.

Findings Paragraph #2

Television has a major effect on the youth today as they go into adulthood. Watching too much television can cause diseases, a lack in education, and obesity. One of the effects television has on the youth today is that it can cause diseases, such as ADHD. Researcher Professor Werner Halperin suggested that the brisk changes of sounds and images on television may engulf the neurological system of an adolescent can cause attention, personality problems, and ADHD. These diseases will carry on with them throughout their life. (Health Effects of Excessive TV Watching by Children) Another effect that television causes children into adulthood is a lack in education. It is proven that television's effect on education in the youth today are long term. With the youth always watching television, their grades decrease and some decrease so much that they will not even graduate from high school. Students will not have education to go onto college and get a degree in a field. It is proven that watching more television in childhood increases the dropout rate and that can also prevent teens from getting a degree. (Television (TV) and Children: Your Child) Last but certainly not least, another effect is obesity. As I explained in my other paragraph, watching television can cause obesity problems and if kids are not active, they are more likely to become obese as an adult. It is much harder to lose that weight as an adult rather than losing it when you are an adolescent. 65% of Americans are obese and television has impacted them in some way to become obese. (Media Usage in Teens) These effects are long term and they will impact the youth today into adulthood.

LimiTV. "Health Effects of Excessive TVWatching by Children." Limit TV – Improve Childrens Learning and Health. N.p., 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.limitv.org/health.htm.

University of Michigan Health System. "Television (TV) and Children: Your Child." University of Michigan Health System. 2011. Web. 28 Mar. 2011. http://www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.htm.

"Media Usage in Teens." whsmassmedia.blogspot.com. Web. 17 March 2011. http://whsmassmedia.blogspot.com/2010/09/media-usage-in-teens.html.

Finding Paragraphs #1

According to researchers, 90% of teenagers between the ages of 13-17 watch television as soon as they get home from school. This percent is higher than any other activity that is available. (Teen Leisure Habits: TV Still On Top) Television has many affects on youth, and most of them are negative. Those affects are obesity, lacking in school, stereotypes, violence, watching advertisements and commercials, and sexual activity. Obesity is a problem because when kids are watching television, they usually are eating food and they do not realize that they are eating so much. It is proven that if you watch more than two hours of television a day, you have a higher chance of being obese as an adult. Television has an affect on school work as well. The youth today who watch television have lower vocabularies and have lower test scores. People usually shown on television are not realistic and they are stereotyped against. Kids and teenagers today believe that the skinny and beautiful people on television are actually how people are and that is not true. Violence plays a big role on youth today. A study has shown that if four year old's watch violent television, they have a greater chance of becoming bullies in middle school and high school. Advertisements and commercials are targeted towards children, and it works because children of the ages 12 and under convince their parents to spend $500 million a year. (Teens and the Media) Sexual activity has also increased since teenagers are watching television. Professionals encourage parents of teens to be involved in their teens lives because it is proven that if they do, the rate of sexual activity in teens decrease. This means less teen pregnancies and diseases. Television has a very bad impact on youth today and it needs to be fixed. (Study Points to Health Effects of Television on Teens)

"Teen Leisure Habits: TV Still On Top." frankwbaker.com. Web. 28 Mar 2011. http://www.frankwbaker.com/mediause.htm.

Ransohoff, Julia. "Teens and the Media." Best Doctors in California, Physicians in California. 2011. Web. 14 Mar. 2011. http://www.pamf.org/teen/life/bodyimage/media.html#School.

The LifeScript Editorial Staff. "Study Points to Health Effects of Television on Teens | Lifescript.com." Women's Health Issues | Women's Health Questions & Answers | Women's Health Articles | Lifescript.com. 26 Apr. 2006. Web. 21 Mar. 2011. http://www.lifescript.com/Life/Family/Kids/Study_Points_to_Health_Effects_of_Television_on_Teens.aspx.