Villains+are+now+heroes?+Whats+up+with+that?

=Villains are now heroes? What’s up with that?= Student Number: n8590664 Student Name: Nathan Baker Tutor: Colleen Niland = = = Present Artefact: = The artefact that I have chosen to present for this analysis is an image of the popular Underbelly cast. Underbelly is a channel Nine Network production on free to air television depicting the institutionalised or organised crime syndicates in Australia (Underbelly. 2008). The Underbelly Franchise has been airing or broadcasting to the Australian public in an annually miniseries commencing in 2008 and is still currently being broadcast as Underbelly: Badness (Underbelly. 2012). However adverts for the next season have already been released. = Public Health Issue Central to Analysis: = The most significant public health issue related to publication of criminal activity is the promotion of illegal, malicious or violent activity or the undertaking of dangerous or illicit behaviours. This raises the question of whether the promotion of violence through the media has incited aggressive or dangerous behaviour amongst the contemporary Australian youth. Perhaps this could be associated with the sensationalisation and sanitization of crime in the media as suggested by Kunkel (2007). This question will help examine and determine the correlations between societal and cultural norms in relation to the media’s influence. It is necessary to prevent or restrict the availability of media controlled assets or programming that contains criminal activity, malicious, violent or illegal content as kids and teens aged 8 to 18 spend nearly 4 hours a day in front of a television screen and an additional 2 hours on the computer (outside of schoolwork) and playing video games (Downshen. 2011). This can also lead to long term physical and mental health problems that will adversely affect the lack imperative primary health care and rehabilitation facilities currently available. = Literature Review: = The prevalence of violence in the media is becoming a leading problem for pre-teenage and teenage aggressive or dangerous behaviour. Whilst in 1950 only 10% of American homes had televisions, over 99% of homes have televisions in 2010 (Miller. 2010). 71% of children and teenagers aged 8 to 18 years old have a television in their bedroom and 54% of the same demographic have a DVD/VCR player (University of Michigan Health Systems. 2010). Children are continuously bombarded with violence as they view about 28 hours of television a week (Miller. 2010). This continuation will lead children to view approximately 200,000 violent acts by the time they are 18 years old (Miller. 2010). This reflects on how 60% of approximately 10,000 television shows programs sampled for the National Television Violence Study contained violent material (Kunkel. 2007). Furthermore the prevalence of violence and dangerous behaviour is represented as there have been increases in the juvenile prison population which in 2003-04 had 3023 people per 100,000 to 2006-07 which had 3532 per 100,000 (Australian Institute of Criminology. 2010) as seen in table 1.1.

There correlates to the increase in criminal activity and adult imprisonment rates commencing 2008 at 167 individuals imprisoned per 100,000 and peaking in 2009 with 175 people per 100,000 imprisoned (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011). Perhaps most noticeably this relates to how 47% of violent television programs show the victim going unharmed; especially in cartoons (No Television Violence. n.d.). This directly relates as immediate pain and suffering by victims of violence is included in less than half of all violent scenes (Kunkel. 2007). Furthermore this relates to how 73% of individuals who commit crimes in cartoons and children’s shows go unpunished in violent scenes (No Television Violence. n.d.). The Australian Bureau Statistics has also stated that in the 2009 – 2010 period, 19% of crimes where public order offences, 19% of offences where intended to cause injury, theft accounted for 17% of offences committed and finally 13% of crimes where related to illicit drug offences. =Cultural Social Analysis:= **Consumption of Television Programming:** Miller (2010) suggests that 99% of American homes have a television enabling children to be bombarded by approximately 200,000 violent acts by the time they are 18 years old. Perhaps of more concern 71% of children and teenagers between the ages of 8 and 18 have a television in their bedrooms; and this demographic will spend an average of 1.5 hours more per day watching television than those children without (University of Michigan Health Systems. 2010). Furthermore about two thirds of households have the television on during dinner (University of Michigan Health Systems. 2010). This correlates with how 51% of households have the television on ‘most’ of the time (University of Michigan Health Systems. 2010). **Sensationalisation of Criminals:** The glamorisation or sensationalisation of violence is often performed by attractive role models who are often justified for acting aggressively and who suffer no remorse, criticism, or penalty for their violent behaviour (Kunkel. 2007). So far this year Nine has enjoyed a 3% increase in its total audience and a 9% increase in its key demographic group of 25 to 54 years olds due to high rating television sagas like Underbelly (Nedropa & Browne. 2008). Since the original series Underbelly: Badness plays like crime porn for porn’s sake – all posturing with no intellectual purpose beyond glamorising a low-rent crim, lionising the cop who caught him and salivating over the gore (Joyce. 2012). **Crime Reality:** The reality of criminals in Australian is that the median age of male perpetrators in 2011 was 33.5 years old (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011). However female perpetrators had a median age of 34.8 years old (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011). Furthermore approximately two thirds of all prisoners were aged between 20 and 39 years old (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011). Although it should be noted that in 2011 males comprise 93% (27,078) of the total prisoner population, with the remainder; only 7% (2,028) of the prison population of Australia being females (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011). In 2011 the recorded country of birth for 79% (23,082) of all prisoners (sentenced or unsentenced) was Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011). Second to this was Vietnam, representing 3% (772) of the prison population followed closely by New Zealand, representing 3% (771) also (Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2011). **Recommendations:** The American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) recommends that kids under 2 years old not watch any television and that those older than 2 watch no more than 1 or 2 hours a day of quality programming (Downshen. 2011). This reflects on how the first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development (Downshen. 2011). Therefore persistent viewing of violence on television is linked to an increased likelihood of behaving aggressively in the long term (The Australian Psychological Society Ltd. 2000). Television and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development (Downshen. 2011). Furthermore children cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality (Downshen. 2011). = Analysis of Artefact and Your Own Learning Reflections: = For me, the Underbelly Franchises original cast image reflects on my research and comprehension of the topic promoted throughout the drum presentations. I found that it represented a sensationalised interpretation of the truly horrific events and actions of individuals within the Australian society. Past the superficial and the program endeavoured to challenge the stereotypical view of the antagonist. Rather Underbelly glorifies the stereotypical image or depiction of both crime and criminals in Australia. Therefore the ramifications for innocent children inadvertently or obviously viewing or witnessing these stereotypical depictions of antagonistic characters has therefore been manipulated from the orthodox persuasion challenging the traditional perception of villains. Prior to this assignment I did acknowledge that the promotion of graphic or violent images through the media did affect the behaviour of children. However I was unaware of the implications and to the degree of how prolific the problem was within the Australian community. This was further elaborated on by the literature reviewed as well as empirical evidence suggesting that children’s exposure to violence, even if televised, may lead to aggressive or reckless behaviour. Ultimately this reflected on how the media can manipulate societal or cultural norms intentionally or inadvertently. This demonstrated how and why as a future educator I must explain, demonstrate and endeavour to deconstruct the motives and actions of the media with my students. It is imperative for me to do this do allow for cultural and societal awareness regarding the creation and promotion of appealing norms. Although not fully in the current Queensland curriculum, studies of the media does appeal and excite me for the future, in particular 2015 when I graduate from being a pre-service teacher at the Queensland College of Teacher (QCoT) and become a fully certified senior English and Health Education teacher. However for the meantime I as well as other educators must be content with the current curriculum. = References: =

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2011). Prisoner Characteristics, Australia. Retrieved October 15 2012 from, []

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2010). Recorded Crime – Offenders, 2010 – 11. Retrieved October 15 2012, from, []

Australian Institute of Criminology. (2010). Juvenile offenders. Retrieved October 30 2012 from, [|www.aic.gov.au/statistics/criminaljustice/juviniles.aspx]

Downshen, S. (2011). How TV Affects Your Child. Retrieved October 26 2012 from, []

Joyce, J. (2012). Over Underbelly: prime-time crime porn glamorises dirty deeds. Retrieved October 30 2012, from [|www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/over-underbelly-primetime-crime-porn-glamorises-dirty-deeds-20120812-242yq.html]

Kunkel, D. (2007). The Effects of Television Violence on Television. Retrieved October 26 2012, from, [|www.apa.org/about/gr/pi/advocacy/2008/kunkel-tv.aspx]

Miller, C. (2010). How violence on TV affects children. Retrieved October 26 2012 from, [|www.livestrong.com/article/150989-how-violent-tv-affects-children/]

Nedropa, H., Browne, R (2008). Crime pays in ratings war. Retrieved October 14 2012 from, [|www.smh.com.au/news/tv--radio/crime-pays-in-ratings-war/2008/05/03/1209235224151.html]

No Television Violence. (n.d.). The Effects of Television Violence. Retrieved October 25 2012 from, []

The Australian Psychological Society Ltd. (2000). The Effects of Violent Media on Children. Retrieved October 26 2012 from, [|www.psychology.org.au/assets/files/effects_of_violent_media_on_children.pdf]

Underbelly. (2008). Underbelly. Retrieved October 14 2012 from, [|www.imbd.com/title/tt1119176]

Underbelly. (2012). Underbelly. Retrieved October 15 2012 from, [|www.australiantelevision.net/underbelly/]

University of Michigan Health Systems. (2010). Television and Children. Retrieved October 26 2012 from, [|www.med.umich.edu/yourchild/topics/tv.html]

=Discussion Comments:= An interesting topic to examine with a lot of relevant information to support your investigation and argument. Stating from experience (As a Gen Y myself) I do use a lot of technology in my day-to-day life. I found your reference to Cennamo and Gardner (2008) with regards to work and work ethic differences to be accurate (As I work with other generations). Furthermore your exploration of parenting methodologies and pedagogies referring to Nobe et al. (2008) did highlight aspects of my childhood that have lead to my development as an adult. Specifically the concept of freedom. I'm glad that your utilised McCrindle (2010) when exploring the generational difference between parenting styles and their perceived outcome. Perhaps this reflects on the implications of the modernisation of the media and technology? Would be interesting to examine this in detail. I'm not surprised by how 47% of generations Y's were not participating in physical activity. I barely have time between university, working full time and a social life. It would be curious to introduce the debate whether or not technology is simplifying or complicating life for a given generation such as generation Y.