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 The A. C. Nielsen Company issued a report in 2006 on the growing popularity of television in America: Nielsen Media Research Reports Television’s Popularity Is Still Growing. They concluded that the average American watches 4.5 hours of TV everyday. That means in a course of a 70 year lifespan a person would have devoted 13 uninterrupted years of watching TV. Consider the billions of dollars advertisers spend to influence your behavior toward their brands. Do you think those 30 to 60 second spots have any effect? They do. Imagine the impact on behavior of 4.5 hours of television a day!
 Another study done by The National Television Violence Study is the largest study of its kind to date. It found:
- 2/3 of all programs contain violence.
- 6 violent acts per hour of television programming.
- Violence was found to be more prevalent in children’s programming than in any other type of programming, showing nearly 14 violent acts per hour.
- The average child witnesses 10,000 acts of violence per year, of which researchers estimate 500 are likely to give rise to imitation and desensitization to violence.
- The number of prime-time programs with violence has increased from 53% to 67% over a three year span during the study.
This study doesn't include the time spent in front of video games; another huge increment of time devoted to violent content and images. Is it any wonder that an increasing number of people choose violent behavior to solve their problems or advance their interests?
Another study, The Kaiser Family Foundation’s (KFF) “Sex on TV” Report, focused on the amount of sexually explicit content on TV and its impact. It discovered the following:
- Several empirical studies in the 1990s showed a strong correlation between sexual content viewed on TV by adolescents and increase in sexual activity. More studies since 2000 showed that young people who viewed programs which were sexually permissive took on the attitudes and behaviors exhibited on TV (i.e. Friends, Ally McBeal, Dawsons Creek).
- Casual sex became more acceptable to viewers.
- Female viewers expected to have sex at a sooner stage within their relationships.
- KFF study shows that 70% of TV shows have sexual content, an increase from 56% in 1998. Amongst these shows, there was an average of 5 scenes per hour involving sex. That totaled 757 hours of pure sexual content in 2005.
- 2002 KFF survey found that nearly ¾ of teens believe that sexual content on TV influences the behavior of their peers “somewhat” or “a lot”.
 As much as we are concerned about the impact of media on youth with regard to, let's say, the choice to begin smoking, we must also become sensitized to the media effects on youth with regard to the choice to become sexually active and the negative social impact of that behavior. There is Hope (There is?)
Despite the dire circumstances, we are not without hope. In fact the resiliency of America is also in display. Probably no other nation in history could have strayed as far from its founding as has America and still maintain an ability to bounce back. America, thanks be to God, can still bounce back.
The evidence is encouraging. A recent Gallop/Fox News poll showed that 92% of Americans believe in God. That is the good news.
The bad news, is that the confusion of values has taken its toll on the people of faith as well. Confusion over values has caused the light of "self-evident truths" to become not nearly so evident; even for people who affirm a faith in God. The dynamic power of our convictions, as a result, has been refracted into a million different directions.
A recent study, conducted by the Culture & Media Institute illustrates the problem:
87% of Americans believe in God 52% say the Bible is God’s authoritative word. BUT,
Only 36% believe they should live by God’s principles. 45% prefer to combine God’s teachings with their own values. 65% will excuse sex outside of marriage. 33% say they would cheat the government for unemployment benefits. 25% believe the use of illegal drugs by adults is acceptable. 25% would cheat a restaurant that left items off a bill.
Clearly, we need a fresh view of values. The refracted light must be regathered. Today, people of faith and good conscience must take up the important task of deciding whether or not we can, in the 21st century, establish a consensus on values that could be freely embraced by our society-at-large. Only then, with a renewed commitment to self-evident truths, will we be able to engage the hope to renew and complete America.
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