"Showing next Saturday on CBS, 'Blood for Money,' a true life story of a crazed man who takes two small children hostage." It seems every time you turn on the TV there are guns going off, car wheels screeching and fists flying. For many years, there have been complaints about the excessive violence shown on TV. Should we get the government to step in and regulate this violence? Despite my own belief in the free market and freedom of speech, I think TV violence is out of hand, and the government should do something to regulate it.

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First of all, the government should crack down on TV violence because the violence on TV is too excessive. Although we live in a violent world, and violence has been a part of theatre and entertainment for years, the huge amount of violence on TV presents a distorted view of reality. Personally, I have never seen a real murder or even heard a gun fired other than when I was hunting, but I can turn on the TV and in one night see five to ten of these at least. In addition to the excessive amount of violence, the graphic way the shows portray the violence is also inappropriate. One example of this graphic violence comes from the first Indiana Jones movie where the German gestapo officer's face exploded as the camera focused on it (although movies like this were in theatres at first, they now are a regulars on cable TV). This type of graphic depiction of mutilation is not needed. The excessive violence is also blatantly manipulative. Death, fear of death, and violence are always going to attract our attention--it is the lowest common denominator. By putting violence on TV, networks use the worst means to draw viewers to their shows.

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Secondly, the government should limit TV violence because the government is the best institution to do the regulating. The government can make and enforce regulations with the weight of law behind it. For instance, a network that shows too graphic a killing with blood spattered everywhere might be fined one hundred thousand dollars. This might make them think twice about the violence they show. In addition, the government is best equipped to do the job because they already regulate TV. The FCC (Federal Communications Commission) already limits the amount of obscenity and nudity that can be shown. It would be easy for them to add on violence to their list. Lastly, the government is needed because the TV indrustry is unable to regulate themselves. Some believe that the current warning messages are enough, but excessive violence is still being shown. The ax-murderers, gangsters, rapists and serial killers still fill the TV screen, and many times parents aren't there to prevent their children from watching it. The government is needed to get this trash off the screen.

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Finally, and most importantly, we must get the government to limit TV violence for the sake of our society, especially our children. Children are influenced by what they see on TV, and all the violence on TV is making them more violent. For instance, I've seen kids just after they have watched the teenage mutant ninja turtles, and they kick and chop at each other as they try to fight like the ninja turtles. Some kids even set fire to a house killing one person as they imitated what they had seen on Beavis and Butthead. Too much TV violence also teaches kids that violence is a way to solve conflict rather than other more positive ways like communication and compromise. Little Johnny learns from TV that shooting or hitting someone is the quickest and easiest way to get what he wants. Most of all, we need do something to stop the spread of the teenage epidemic of violence. On the evening news we hear about gangs that drive by and shoot each other, students who pull guns on teachers, and young men who rape and kill young girls. Seeing this same type of violence on TV must inspire and even confirm their behavior. For the sake of our youth and our future, we must put a stop to the abusive violence on TV.

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