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Counter the Effects of Media Violence on Children

Counter the Effects of Media Violence on Children

Despite the fact that their own ratings systems found the material appropriate only for adults, the motion picture, music, and video game industries practice “pervasive and aggressive marketing” of violent movies, music, and electronic games to children. – Federal Trade Commission finding regarding child entertainment
The values depicted on TV and movie screens are a far cry from the values you want your children exposed to in their formative years. For example, the average American child will have watched 100,000 acts of televised violence, including 8,000 depictions of murder, by the time he or she finishes the sixth grade. In a typical American home, the TV set is on for over seven hours each day, and the average child spends more time watching that TV than they do in school, or doing any other activity besides sleeping. And, while your children are glued to the tube watching so-called child entertainment, they will see between 1,000 and 2,000 television ads promoting alcohol every year.
It’s difficult to control parental outrage in the midst of that kind of media influence. How do you teach your child the concepts and character traits that translate into better learning habits at school, better behavior at home, and better citizenship in the world? How do you define loyalty to a five-year-old? How to you teach a four-year-old about bravery and respect? And how do you explain love?
These aren’t simple words that can be taught to your child by rote. They’re complex concepts that your child needs to know, understand, and adopt at an early age if they’re to succeed in life.
The key to teaching children sophisticated character traits – such as courage, loyalty, justice, respect, hope, honesty and love – is character-based education. The heart of character-based education is guiding your children toward TV shows, kid movie, and books that reflect positive values. While you may not be able to give your child the words that explain diversity, you can exert and control parental influence by giving him or her any Winnie the Pooh book, which demonstrates that theme in ways a child can easily understand. Pooh Bear also interprets the concept of family and the value of friendship.
Thomas the Tank Engine teaches lessons about cooperation, sharing, and the value of hard work. Your child may not realize that they’re being taught a lesson while reading about or watching Thomas and his friends, but by the end of the book or TV show, they will have learned a complex concept – and been entertained in the process.
For older readers, The Wizard of Oz follows a similar theme. When the Scarecrow complains of his lack of a brain, the Cowardly Lion discusses his lack of bravery, or the Tin Man wishes he had a heart, your child learns what intelligence, bravery, and love are, and why they’re so important. Dorothy tirelessly tries to find her way home, and in doing so surrounds herself with new friends who work together to overcome their weaknesses and harness their strengths. Even though your child is engrossed in the story, the concepts of family, courage, cooperation, home, and love are made clear.
When you look at the values presented in the media, it becomes clear that positive character traits are poorly defined for children. What one child learns about bravery and loyalty from watching two bank robbers in a kid movie is much different than what another child learns about bravery and loyalty through reading about or watching Winnie the Pooh helping a friend out of a jam.
As parents, combating the negative influence of media by filtering the content to which our children are exposed – such as looking at a movie rental review – may not be enough. Even if our children are an exception to the national average – over six hours of daily exposure to the media – it’s safe to assume that their peers have internalized negative media messages and will influence our children. To counteract negative media and peer influences, we must take charge of our children’s character education. That’s not easy, given that our active lives and hectic schedules leave little time for reviewing and selecting appropriate reading and viewing material for our children.
Still, you should do what you can to guide your family toward materials that reinforce values that you hold dear. Evaluate the content of each children’s book, television show, and movie rental review for positive and negative examples of the following ten traits: self-discipline, compassion, responsibility, friendship, work, courage, perseverance, honesty, loyalty, and faith. Also, look for negative behavioral influences, such as violence, profanity, nudity, sexual content, scary elements, and the use of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. Then, make your selections according to the messages that each book, television show, or movie sends your children.

Give A Piece Of The Picture

Give A Piece Of The Picture

Know someone who loves the movies? Most people do. Almost everyone sees a movie or two every couple of months, but movie lovers are something else. They are the ones who go to the theater 2 hours early on opening night just to be one of the first to see a particular film. Extreme cases, like Star Wars fans, will camp in front of the theater for a few days or dress like the characters in the movie. People like that are fun to know because it’s easy to buy them gifts. Some movie mementoes can be high priced items. An 8 inch Han Solo Marquette costs $80.00. There are some inexpensive things you can buy for the movie lover in your life.

Press Kits

Press Kits are elaborate folders of information about a film created to be given to theater owners, movie reviewers, and promoters prior to a film’s release. They often contain cast lists, trivia, and stills or reproduced pictures from the film, and extra little gifts or design features. The press kit for X-Men 2 is designed to unfold like the doors in the danger room of the X-mansion. Some press kits even contain DVDs with trailers for the film and star interviews. The bigger the blockbuster, the more elaborate the press kit. Eventually people who get a plethora of information end up selling their press kits or giving them away. Ask a journalism teacher or friend in media for a press kit for a certain film or purchase it on EBay. To the person who loves that film, it will be a prize.

Stills

It’s a funny concept when you think about it, but people take pictures while actors are making pictures. Movie stills or stills of a particular star, once framed, make a great gift to any fan creating a homage in their spare bed-room. Stills can be acquired through entertainment stores like Hollywood And Vine or any number of online retailers who purchase prints from the company releasing the film. Many stars have websites or management offices where you can write or send away for an autographed still and many signed stills can be bought through charity auctions. With a scene from their favorite movie or person on their wall, your friend will never have to wait in line to see them again.

Posters

The ultimate sign of allegiance to a film is to have a 40 x 27 likeness of the poster hanging above your dresser. Some people love film so much they decorate their whole house in movie posters. Famous movies generate lots of posters for stores to sell. These posters tend to be a standard 36 x 24 size and fit easily into a poster frame. For a better gift, go to the theater or video retailer and ask for their display when they are finished with it. They tend to give those away to the first customer to ask. Theater posters are much larger, usually 40 x 27, and require a special frame which you can get at a craft store or online. They are larger than life and a true collectable masterpiece for any film enthusiast.

The whole point of any gift is to show people you love and support them. With these great memorabilia presents your friendship will stay the main attraction.

Hollywood – From Its Very Beginning To What It Is Today

Hollywood – From Its Very Beginning To What It Is Today

History
On January 22, 1947, the first commercial TV station west of the Mississippi River, KTLA, began operating in Hollywood. In December of that year, the first Hollywood movie production was made for TV, The Public Prosecutor. In addition, in the 1950s, music recording studios and offices began moving into Hollywood. Other businesses, however, continued to migrate to different parts of Los Angeles, primarily to Burbank, California. A lot of the movie industry remained in the area, although the district’s outward appearance changed.
The famous Capitol Records building on Vine Street just north of Hollywood Boulevard was built in 1956. It is a recording studio not open to the public, but its unique circular design looks like a stack of old 45rpm vinyl records.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame was created in 1958 and the first star was placed in 1960 as a tribute to artists working in the entertainment industry. Honorees receive a star based on career and lifetime achievements in motion pictures, live theatre, radio, television, and/or music, as well as their charitable and civic contributions.
Progress
In 1985, the Hollywood Boulevard commercial and entertainment district was officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places protecting important buildings and seeing to it that the significance of Hollywood’s past would always be a part of its future.
In June 1999, the long-awaited Hollywood extension of the Metro Red Line subway opened, running from Downtown Los Angeles to the Valley, with stops on Hollywood Boulevard at Western Avenue, at Vine Street and at Highland Avenue.
The Kodak Theatre, which opened in 2001 on Hollywood Boulevard at Highland Avenue, where the historic Hollywood Hotel once stood, has become the new home of the Oscars.
In 2002, a number of Hollywood citizens began a campaign for the district to secede from Los Angeles and become its own incorporated city. Secession supporters argued that the leaders of Los Angeles were ignoring the needs of their community. In June, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors placed secession referendums for both Hollywood and the Valley on the ballots for a “citywide election.” To pass, they required the approval of a majority of voters from all over Los Angeles. In the November election, the referendums failed to receive the required percentage of votes by a wide margin.
Modern day Hollywood is a diverse, vital, and active community striving to preserve the elegant buildings from its past.

27. General Festivities and Entertainment at Christmas

27. General Festivities and Entertainment at Christmas

Christmas is described as a festive season therefore we should all engage
in activities during the season that provide entertainment, merriment and which
give pleasure. Because Christmas is about celebration, many types of festivities
can be found to suit all preferences to make the season a joyful one.
A readily available option is watching Christmas movies. This can be done
from the comfort of home or by spending a few hours out at the theater. A
wonderful option now available for obtaining movies is to rent them via the
Internet. It’s an option that allows you to get any movie you want to see –
whether traditional, popular or a remake of an original title. There’s also
fairly easy access to obscure movie titles, as well as movies with holiday or
Christmas themes.
Although Christmas movies embody the spirit of the season, you can also
take time out during Christmas to enjoy new releases that may or may not have a
holiday theme. Christmas is a good time to catch notable new releases because
they are timed to be shown in theaters before the end of the year to be
considered for prestigious Oscar nominations.
Performances of Christmas plays that depict the Nativity scene are also
another popular entertainment during Christmas. Although these performances are
done year after year, they never grow old because of creative difference in
interpreting the story, and also in how each role is acted by different actors
every year.
The dramatization of the Nativity demonstrates the meaning of Christmas and can
also simplify the meaning of Christmas for children. Participation in the
Nativity is also an important activity for children in drama groups at schools
and church groups.
Along with depicting the meaning of Christmas, the Nativity play also portrays
moral lessons that can serve as an inspiration for the way to become a more
spiritual person and to live a better life. Watching or taking part in the
Nativity play at Christmas time can therefore affect your attitude and outlook
on life.
Musical entertainment at Christmas can come from pausing during shopping to
listen to a choral group at the mall or downtown. It can also be entertaining to
simply hum along to a Christmas carol or song being played on the radio. Carols
as a tradition at Christmas is said to originate in England and France in the
Middle Ages. At the time, carols were dances accompanied by singing. The
tradition that Anglo-Saxons preferred was to have small choirs gather on the
village green and sing carols and Christmas songs to passersby. Over time, the
meaning of the word changed to refer to only certain types of songs.
The tradition of carols is also believed to evolve from the angels, shepherds
and Wise Men who bowed down to sing praises and to worship Baby Jesus.
For those who are really lovers of the arts, professional groups like
Orchestras, Symphonies, Conservatories and Choirs also offer splendid concerts
during Christmas. They will also sing Christmas carols and songs. But the
harmony of their voices accompanied by a full compliment of instruments provides
a richer and more melodious rendition of the carols that is unlikely to be heard
anywhere else.
Probably the most popular festivities at Christmas are parties, which seem to
happen everywhere all the time at Christmas. There are parties at work, home,
with friends and class parties at school. Even social hubs such as bars may have
special nights with different food and lower-priced drinks during Christmas.
It seems there is no end to the festivities during Christmas. It’s always
important however to have a good time, to remember the unfortunate and to reach
out to them and to have fun but in a responsible manner.