Dear Sir/Madam,
I am writing with regards to your article posted asking us to state our opinion on what can we as members of an active community do to reduce crime. The crime rate in a community is not just the government's responsibility, but ours as well. In my opinion, the only way to keep our streets sager is if us teachers, families, law enforcement, government, and non-profit organizations, work as a team.
First of all, according to the Global Peace Index of 2012, out of 158 nations, Colombia is all the way up to the 144th place as per crime rate is concerned. Colombia has one of the highest violent crime rates in the world, and there is certainly a need of action.
I believe that we need to start by educating our children, with the right parental influence, role modeling and leading by example, this way we can steer them towards the right direction keeping our youth away from gangs and drugs. Non-profit organizations and community centers with fun and interesting after-school programs can also help in the task. It has been proven that teachers and education can impact someone's life in a positive way with the proper level of education, the higher the better, to reduce violence and crime. Moreover, the government can start by creating laws and designating responsibilities as part of a crime rate reduction plan, this can involve rehabilitation programs and neighborhood programs in which us as neighbors can learn to protect ourselves, our family, our home and property as well.
Furthermore, by working together, we can get the criminals out of our areas. It is very important to get to know your neighbors typical activities and to keep an eye when they are away, to learn what to do in case of an emergency, also how to identify someone or something suspicious. Criminals usually stay away from neighborhoods with such cohesion. Police officers ca not be everywhere, therefore, it is in our hands to take action pertaining to lowering down the crime rate in any given community.
Sincerely,
Diana Carolina Durango
Argumentative Essay on whether to agree or disagree with the content of Colombian TV programs (reality shows, soap operas, series, contest programs, news...etc)? And why?
November 7th, 2012
Television is undoubtedly one of the most important sources of information in Colombia. In this paper, the arguments towards the inappropriate content of Colombian TV programs will be explored. Sadly, there is a fact that we usually do not take into consideration and is that our children spend most of their free time watching television at home. In this essay I will demonstrate that I agree that some television programs shown during family TV time can harm our children more than doing them any good, and this is why I am in favor of stronger fines to Colombian Television networks that transmit programs that are not suitable for the audience they are rated for, or that are being broadcasted during the wrong hours. On the hand, some people that like reality shows and are in favor of yellow journalism being shown early in the evening think that there is no reason to take these shows of the air since there are other Television networks such as Discovery Kids or the Disney Chanel that focus on educational material for children and prevent them for getting exposed to the wrong and unsuitable programs for their age; which is a win-win situation to both counter parties.
Children here in Colombia have less school hours than kids in other countries, which give them more free time that can lead them to watching TV programs excessively, if they do not have the right parental supervision, and this can majorly impact their behavior. One of the disadvantages that we Colombian parents have compared to parents in other countries has to do with school systems and their schedules. Kids in the United States study all the way up to approximately 3:30 in the afternoon, so they get to spend more time in productive activities that help stimulate their learning and growing process, such us reading, school projects, social development and supervised play time with their classmates. Colombia´s culture is changing; nowadays, we see more working moms with full time jobs, which was a role that back in the days was exclusively for dads. This shift in the way we raise kids, has left our children in the hands of Television. Our society has been known to lean towards scandalous, sensational and exaggerating news that impact the viewer, this is known as yellow press or yellow journalism. Since TV is a social mean of communication that tries to portray reality as much as it can, and considering that we have been brought up in a yellowish society, Television tends to broadcast what spices up our perverted sense of perception of the world. Unfortunately, people have not yet realize that TV is not necessary for someone´s life; for example, one of the things you learn while being in basic training in the military, where you are not allowed to have any contact with any source of news, is that you stop worrying about other’s issues and you begin to focus on your own; this helps you start having a worry free life, full of happiness and certainty and gets you focus on achieving your personal goals instead of worrying about world´s issues that in reality only brings up anxiety, frustration and confusion to your life.
Television is one of the biggest influential source that we are surrounded by and it is a critical part of our society. Regardless of all parents’ allegations through “La Defensoria del Televidente”, it seems that main national television networks such us RCN and Caracol are not doing enough to prevent violent, inappropriate language, nudity or sexual content programs being broadcasted on unsuitable hours, which may cause children exposure to uneducated and destructive content that can cause trauma in the long run. Janeth Carballo Marsiglia, psychologist specialized in personal and family development points out that both RCN and Caracol that are our main Television networks, allow the participants of their reality shows to act inappropriately in order to spice things up, making sexy and attractive scenes just to rise up their rating. Moreover, Jorge Redondo Suarez, regional director of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), says that “Television nowadays is a reference point for children, and certainly interferes directly in what they learn”. There is also a great article published by “Editorial, El liberal” on July 30th of 2012, that states that the “Autoridad Nacional de Television” should take very serious all parent’s allegations, that talk about how sex and violence are not a good combination, and how disappointing it is to let these to influence our society; Consequently, they must try to impose a law that either makes TV networks moderate the content of their programs shown during family prime time or to simply change the schedule that they are being broadcasted at, and nevertheless try to modify the way news are portray to viewers, in order to prevent focusing on violent, bloody and explicit scenes.
I will consider the following objections to my thesis and show that, despite apparent merits, the body of evidence falls in support of my conclusion. Firstly, The common expression, “If you do not like it, do not watch it”, is used by some Television viewers to justify commonly misrated programs on TV, such us “Mundos Opuestos, El Patron del Mal, El capo 2, Protagonistas de Novela, El Cartel de los Sapos, La Bruja, Rosario Tijeras… etc”, they are in the opinion that it is the parent’s responsibility to monitor what their children watch and that if they feel offended at any point by what it is being shown on TV they could just change the channel. Yes, it is true that controlling what children watch is solely the parent’s responsibility but it is also true that if RCN and Caracol are our main television networks, it is because a lot of people watch it and therefore they should be monitored in order to prevent a bad influence on all. Secondly, Some also state that if the law makes Television networks ban certain TV programs out; then, what about the viewer’s freedom to watch what they chose to watch; they state that if there is freedom of speech; then, there should be freedom of watching what they really like. Of course freedom is important but we also have to take into account that we as human beings are highly influenced and therefore we need the existence of laws that control our behavior in society. Furthermore, there are others that say that everyone is responsible of their own acts; that Television cannot be blamed for people’s aggressive and immoral actions, but due our culture there is always that unquestionable fact that TV is our biggest influential source in Colombia. Lastly, no matter in which point of view you see the problematic presented in the content being transmitted in Colombian TV Programs there is always going to be an undoubtedly moral issue.
Having said these, it is our moral right to fight for what we think should be done. This is an open invitation to all of you that feel uncomfortable with the type of content that is being shown nowadays on our main television networks; RCN and Caracol to do something about it. If you see how negatively this affects our society, take into account, that If a program losses rating, it will be taken off the air; this is a way that we as viewers can say ENOUGH!
Television is one of the biggest influential source that we are surrounded by and it is a critical part of our society. Regardless of all parents’ allegations through “La Defensoria del Televidente”, it seems that main national television networks such us RCN and Caracol are not doing enough to prevent violent, inappropriate language, nudity or sexual content programs being broadcasted on unsuitable hours, which may cause children exposure to uneducated and destructive content that can cause trauma in the long run. Janeth Carballo Marsiglia, psychologist specialized in personal and family development points out that both RCN and Caracol that are our main Television networks, allow the participants of their reality shows to act inappropriately in order to spice things up, making sexy and attractive scenes just to rise up their rating. Moreover, Jorge Redondo Suarez, regional director of the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), says that “Television nowadays is a reference point for children, and certainly interferes directly in what they learn”. There is also a great article published by “Editorial, El liberal” on July 30th of 2012, that states that the “Autoridad Nacional de Television” should take very serious all parent’s allegations, that talk about how sex and violence are not a good combination, and how disappointing it is to let these to influence our society; Consequently, they must try to impose a law that either makes TV networks moderate the content of their programs shown during family prime time or to simply change the schedule that they are being broadcasted at, and nevertheless try to modify the way news are portray to viewers, in order to prevent focusing on violent, bloody and explicit scenes.
I will consider the following objections to my thesis and show that, despite apparent merits, the body of evidence falls in support of my conclusion. Firstly, The common expression, “If you do not like it, do not watch it”, is used by some Television viewers to justify commonly misrated programs on TV, such us “Mundos Opuestos, El Patron del Mal, El capo 2, Protagonistas de Novela, El Cartel de los Sapos, La Bruja, Rosario Tijeras… etc”, they are in the opinion that it is the parent’s responsibility to monitor what their children watch and that if they feel offended at any point by what it is being shown on TV they could just change the channel. Yes, it is true that controlling what children watch is solely the parent’s responsibility but it is also true that if RCN and Caracol are our main television networks, it is because a lot of people watch it and therefore they should be monitored in order to prevent a bad influence on all. Secondly, Some also state that if the law makes Television networks ban certain TV programs out; then, what about the viewer’s freedom to watch what they chose to watch; they state that if there is freedom of speech; then, there should be freedom of watching what they really like. Of course freedom is important but we also have to take into account that we as human beings are highly influenced and therefore we need the existence of laws that control our behavior in society. Furthermore, there are others that say that everyone is responsible of their own acts; that Television cannot be blamed for people’s aggressive and immoral actions, but due our culture there is always that unquestionable fact that TV is our biggest influential source in Colombia. Lastly, no matter in which point of view you see the problematic presented in the content being transmitted in Colombian TV Programs there is always going to be an undoubtedly moral issue.
Having said these, it is our moral right to fight for what we think should be done. This is an open invitation to all of you that feel uncomfortable with the type of content that is being shown nowadays on our main television networks; RCN and Caracol to do something about it. If you see how negatively this affects our society, take into account, that If a program losses rating, it will be taken off the air; this is a way that we as viewers can say ENOUGH!
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English Advance - Opinion Letter Exercise
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