College Essay (BU)

I just found my college entrance essay! Totally amusing, especially how cynical I was for a 17 year-old, but I must say I agree with myself and in fact, the state of the TV programming and "news" is much worse 13 years later. This is it, unedited:

As the decade of the nineties has progressed, the American public has consistantly grown obsessed with malice, dishonor and deceit. A little boy growing up in this generation will not eagerly watch the television and dream of flying for NASA or becoming an all-star athlete. Today's little boy is more familiar with VanDamme and Stallone movies than Disney cartoons and if he plans to follow the footsteps of any of his heroes, he will have to wonder how many divorces he will have by the age of 40. Monsters who haunt a little girl's dreams at night aren't fictional anymore, but actual figures and images of whom today's children are constantly warned about--strangers, kidnappers, abductors, rapists, molestors. Most adult awareness has also warped into constant suspicion these days, as many people would have more faith in the Psychic Friends Network than in any politician.

The justification for this lack of trust lies not in the reality of today's world, but in portrayals of reality. Even in strictly news magazines, headlines tend to reek of scandal and covers tend to bear bloody photographs. Television networks are littered with talk shows and many programs considered "journalism" report inaccrate rumors, pollute the public much like tabloids, and accuse and exagerate so excessively that they make the McCarthy trials seem mild. Although the media tends to portray everyday life as a soap opera, they can't be blamed when they are merely appeasing the public's insatiable appetite for violence and scandal.

It would seem the most that can be done for this problem is to encourage awareness in both children and adults. To attack this modern mentality of distrusting and discrediting everything, society would have to begin an almost revolutionary change in what children are exposed to. It is not sheltering that we need to install, but just the opposite. Children need to understand and believe in reality instead of developing confusion and ignorance from false images they are blatently shown all their life. The excessive amount of television viewed by Americans validates the conclusion that what is viewed can filter one's perception of the world to the point of sheer ignorance. Although programs that focus on gossip (such as those titled "My Mother Slept with My Ex-Brother-in-Law's Gay Lover") contribute to common misconceptions, it would not be practical to suggest that the programs be prohibited or ignored.

A feasible approach would be making education of current issues a requirement for children in school and incorporate factual news programs or periodicals as part of homework. Also, news programs should try creative styles of broadcasting or advertising to create an image different from the boring or undesirable reputation a typical couch potato may associate with the news. As a potential journalist, I feel the media is obligated to portray reality accurately, for journalists are the most responsible for creating or at least contributing to public knowledge (and opinion).