Free Essay on Ethical Issues in the Story

The ethical issue in the story is the immorality in the society that is enhanced by the media. Sex and anything in that line is a sacred act and ought to be respected and given the privacy it needs. Whereas it is not wrong to openly talk about it for informing purposes, it should not be visualized and broadcasted shamelessly on social media. In this story, this is clearly a problem because the research conducted claims that approximately 83.5% of the images found on the internet are pornographic. What makes the matter worse is that such pornographic media are accessible to young children below age. For instance, the image of a young child glued to a computers screen should be worrying enough how the young are losing touch with moral values at a very tender age.

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In Beavis and Butthead case, the ethical issue is media stimulated violence. The five-year-old Aaron has no good cognitive sense just as yet to distinguish between whats right from wrong. In watching such a violent movie, parental guidance would have come in handy to shed more light on the poor kid the difference between acting and real life. However, it is clear that this was not the case and as a result the kid ended up setting fire to his familys trailer killing his two-year-old sister. Children are highly influenced by what they see and hear in their formative years and they end up practicing the same. That is why raising children is not just everyones job and requires a dedicated parent/guardian.

Most Relevant Approach

The most relevant approach to the situation at hand is virtue ethics. This pays attention to the principles of right and wrong, what is considered socially acceptable or not. Pornography for example is a vice and socially unacceptable and need to be eradicated before it is deeply rooted and integrated in our society. Moreover, a wrong is a wrong even when everyone is doing it. Just the same way a right remains a right despite its unpopularity. With this in mind, despite the popularity associated with porn and related media, it is still a social wrong.

The approach of consequentialism would be the most relevant approach in the second case. The course of action here was watching the violent filled MTVs Beavis and Butthead and the resulting consequence was an arsonist act killing a little one. Had the parents kept the young Aaron Messner from watching such violent media, the untimely death of his sister would have been avoided all the same. This was a direct consequence of the influence that media has on children and why it is important to filter what the children are exposed to.

Solution

The most viable solution to curbing this problem is by banning all pornographic content aired on public broadcasts. This should include heavy fining of the responsible authority of such. For shows containing sexual scenes, a disclaimer and parental guidance should be advised at the beginning of the same.

For the second case, the solution here lies on the hands of the parents/guardians. Since it is impossible to wipe out entirely all the violence in movies and media in general, the parent should take it as a personal responsibility to monitor what the child is being fed by the media.