The Effects of Media on Child Abuse and Neglect

1758 Words8 Pages
Abstract Mass media is the path to communicating information to the public. The influence in which large corporations and media business owners have over what the public hears, sees or reads and how they should feel about it, is true power. Thanks to mass media, today’s society no longer view’s children as a piece of property to be sold, slave labor or a weaker individual that can easily be mistreated or sexually manipulated for their own personal gain. Mass media has done more than change society’s outlook on child abuse and neglect but has also been a huge impact on funding efforts, awareness of abuse and the success of prevention programs. The Effects of Media on Child Abuse and Neglect He who controls the media controls the minds of the people. Mass media or mainstream media is a huge industry which stretches worldwide. Mass media is simply the means of how we communicate to the general population through advertising and marketing. The influence that mass media has over our culture, beliefs, strengthening or changing our values or thoughts on a vast number of ideas and concepts is considered true power. Even negative advertising is still advertising. In order for society’s views to be changed about child abuse and neglect, information has to be distributed. For people to change from looking upon a child as a piece of property to laws protecting them, mass media has been an essential tool of communicating to the world the pain and suffering of abused children. Whether it is a story of an infant being thrown across the room by a mother’s boyfriend or a doctor sexually abusing several Boy Scouts, the abused children are placed in our living rooms and in the forefront of the public’s mind by media outlets such as television broadcasts, newspapers, and the internet. The media is continually playing a vital role in telling
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