I'd like to first start off with the cultivation theory (also keep in mind the social learning theory, it is of the same nature). For those unfamiliar with this theory it states, the more media one consumes the more likely he or she will perceive the world as scary place. Now to be totally honest my views about violence in the media and its affects on people were pretty firm. I never agreed with this idea whatsoever. Because I myself watch a ton of violent programs and listen to probably the most controversial music today, it was hard for me to accept that this media was supposedly inflicting harm upon others physically and mentally, when in no harmful way did it affect me. I always felt that people who were "unintentionally" affected by the media and act out violently because of certain programs or music just needed a bas

is for their stupidity or in other words a cheap excuse. I just believe that if a child is persuaded into burning the family couch resulting in the death of his little sister because he saw it on a past episode of Bevis and Butthead, then I feel that child is unstable. Its not the content of the media we need to examine its the child that needs to be picked apart and dissected. I have yet to experience a personal situation like this in my life the only cases I can relate to are the ones put on display on TV and in the papers. Everyone has their own individual thoughts and mind frames, some choose to be leaders, while others choose to be followers, who do you think is more likely to be persuaded by the media? But I would like to say that after studying both the cultivation and social learning theories in class, I have been able to open up and accept that "some" media content can and has had a negative affect on "some" people. The most interesting thing that I never really thought about until after the discussion of these theories was learning that people are more likely to copy actions that receive positive reinforcement than negative. I totally agree with this statement, and feel that nowadays in relation to my life clothes, money, and cars get the most positive feedback from the public.

Last but not least I'd like to talk about the cognitive dissonance theory. This theory states cognitive dissonance as a distressing mental state in which people feel they find themselves doing things that don't fit with what they know, or having opinions that do not fit with other opinions they hold. I made a strong connection with this theory right off the bat. I always catch myself going against my own will, for the simple fact that I say to myself this will be the last time. But most of the time I change my views or opinions about an idea or I go ahead and do something that I did not feel like doing because of others. My friends can have a strong impact on some things I do, mainly because I don't want to hear them piss and moan, so instead of saying no I say, "ok but only this time," or "yeah alright but after this I'm done." I really found the chart we created in class alth

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1477
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)