GMAT Essays (AWA)

Compared to a decade ago, media industry grew from a few hundred million dollar industry to a huge empire with hundreds of billions invested from cable companies to hedge funds. The number of channels available to watch grew ten fold. In the preceding statement the author claims that the responsibility of regulating the content presented to children is in the hands of entertainment media and not parents. This statement presents a controversial topic and the debate has been going on for several years. There are some people who strongly support that entertainment industry must be held accountable for the content presented, while there are others who think that it is the responsibility of the parents to make sure that their children watch media content that is more age appropriate. Though entertainment media should be held responsible for what they produce, I strongly think that it should ultimately be the parents who should be controlling what their kids watch.

There are two primary reasons why I disagree with the opinion presented above. The media industry is a private organization which keeps the stock holders interests before anything else. It is not a non-profit organization, but an entity driven by profits and sales. There have been several instances where third party independent bodies voiced their opinion to make sure the media is age appropriate. One study conducted by the Institute of Media Entertainment Research surveyed 300 movies and 100 television shows that were rated and found several violations of the rating system. An alarming rate of 60 percent of the media consisted of graphic scenes and explicit content that was not suited for children.

Another example is a recent MTV show that was produced originally in UK. It passed all the censorship certifications and was released. But it created quite a stir among the public. Parents realized that the reality show casted minors in sexually explicit scenes. This according to the regulatory body, is a violation of Children's Media Act. This example bolsters my case that parents should eventually be more responsible for controlling the content watched by their children.

In sum. though the topic at hand has merit, the author takes a stance on the wrong side which is weakened by the examples mentioned above. There should be more independent bodies to oversee the media content produced, but at the end parents should be more responsible and they should make sure the content is appropriate. There should be forums, blogs and other internet sites to provide independent reviews of the shows and other parent to share information thus helping them choose.