Entry 2 2-10-05

I read about childhood aggression last week. The story was called “The Play’s the thing. This did not really have any thing historical in it; it did however point me in the direction I have decided to take my paper. I want to look at aggression in children throughout history. I was thinking that I could perhaps focus on what role media would play in this. Before there was TV and video games there was radio and live shows. I do not know a lot about the types of programs they played on the radio. I think I would like to look more into whether they played different shows each night or was more like one long story. I also want to look into how many stations the average radio got and if they played different things on each of the different stations. I know some that programs were like soap operas we have today. They story I read in the children’s reader was saying that children and the media were not blame for how kids turned out, it was the fault of parents who did not give their kids an alternate means to release the pent up stress and frustration of being a child. In my paper I think I’m going to take the same side. I personally do not think that media can be blamed. On some level, I think, parents have to stand up and take some responsibility for their kids. If kids are explained what they are seeing in terms they can understand and given an outlet for how they feel, then parents shouldn’t have to worry that kids will pick up bad habits.
I would also like to look at whether there was appropriate entertainment for each age or whether they just lumped all kids’ entertainment together. Today, we have the “V-chip” this advancement in television lets parents know what is appropriate for their kids. For example at the top of the screen will appear a sign that says rated “G” this let parents know that is made for the general audience. I know that radio programs would not have had this but I wonder if they have radio programs for a younger audience and a different one for older kids. I know they made books for all ages. I am also going to look into what the general themes were in books and radio around these times.