Research Paper on:
The National Press Depiction Of and Impact On Children

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
contemporary lives. An important subcomponent of that media, of course, is the national press. Distinguishing one arm of the media, in fact, is sometimes difficult given the fact  that the national press so often comments on the activities and comments of the other arms of the media and vice versa. One of the more frequent areas of  overlap involves portrayals of our children. These portrayals and cross portrayals could be contended, in fact, to not only portray our children but to shape them. Indeed, this  which has been explored not only by contemporary researchers but also by earlier philosophers and historians. During the mid 1900s, for example, French social historian Michel Foucault contended that  social order is shaped more by the small scale aspects of social interaction than it is by larger scale aspects. Media portrayals of our children could be considered one  of these aspects. The national press presents a picture our children which is disturbing to say the least. Instead of  concentrating on a balanced picture of our society we are exposed in most cases to the extremes. The emphasis on violence and social degradation which is consuming certain segments  of our society could be considered to in some ways actually escalate that violence and social degradation. Foucault asserts that an individuals particular social group, not aspects such as  race and gender, controlling the social order which is established. The media, however, has changed that social group. A child is now a member of whatever social group  he or she chooses to tune into on the silver screen. The consequences can be quite serious. Very often in modern day