Debate: Television Violence and Child Development
Due Date: _________________________
Name: __________________________________________ ID# _______________________
Course: __________________________________ Course/Section # __________________
Your instructor will assign one of the positions to you, and perhaps assign a particular age group for you to focus on. Your research and your paper should cover both sides of the debate.
Research:
This topic continues to be controversial. As you research the effects of television violence on children try to separate facts and opinions. Look for controlled research studies. Try to determine whether someone'
s argument is based on opinion, correlational data, or experimental data. Also, when reading about an experiment, pay attention to the age of the children involved.
Write a Reaction Paper:
Write a 4-6 page paper on your findings. Your paper should include an introduction, a summary of the main points in the debate of the effects of television violence on child development, and a concluding summary paragraph.
The paper:
Meet with the other student(s) on your side of the argument Share your ideas and determine your strongest arguments. Decide who will give the presentation and make some notes.
Class Debate:
Each side will be given 5 minutes to present their side of the argument. Those arguing that television violence does not encourage children to be more aggressive will present their side first. There will be a 3 minute break after the two sides have presented their cases. During this 3 minute break the rest of the class will write individual a one page reaction papers describing their own position on the issue. The two groups will spend the 3 minutes outlining their rebuttal statements. Each group will have 3 minutes to give a rebuttal statement, with the those arguing television violence does not encourage aggression in children presenting first.
Class Vote:
When the debate has ended the class will vote on their position: Television violence (1) does foster an increase in aggressive behavior in children or (2) does not foster an increase in aggressive behavior in children.