Krista - Gerbner's ideas provide insight into a discussion my housemates and I had regarding safety and locking our doors. Two girls raised in rural Africa and another who is critical of television argued that we should always leave our doors unlocked so that friends would know they were welcome. The rest of us who have grown up watching lots of television in America argued that the doors should be kept locked--hospitality could be expressed in other ways. We cited examples of girls on our campus being raped and property destroyed for lack of caution. The other three accused us of relying too heavily on graphic TV images to define our world. We compromised by agreeing to lock the doors at night and when no one is home. We heavy viewers may have an exaggerated idea of a mean and scary world, but if so, there still is something real out there that we are exaggerating about.