Cartoon Violence, Has it gone too Far Essay

According to Moore, children need violent entertainment so that they are better able to express feelings they were taught to hide and convert those feelings into problem solving and social skills (79). I can personally relate to Moore’s statement because I have grown up with a little brother. Cartoons such as Looney Tunes, Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo and Power Rangers had a big impact on mine and my brother’s relationship. For example, I can remember after watching Power Rangers we would make up a game and pretended to protect the city, us being the super heroes that defeated the bad guy and saved the day! The violence created and presented in the cartoons that we watched enabled us to find a common interest between one another. I can’t help but think that those cartoons have also had the same effect on millions of other children around the

* Forty-six percent of all television violence identified by the study took place in children's cartoons. Children's programs were least likely to depict the long-term consequences of violence (5%) and they portray violence in a humorous fashion 67% of the time. (14)

The information obtained from these cartoons causes children to not just become aggressive in their childhood years but also the years that follow. It has been proven that “…violence in media can be a contributing factor to criminal acts and aggression toward others.” (NoBullying.com, 2014). According to an older study published in 2002, children who watch violence on television are more likely to commit serious crimes as adults. Columbia University Professor Jeffery Johnson reported that children who watched harsh TV shows were 60% more likely to take part in assaults and fights as they got older (Hermes, 2014). “Research on violent television and films…reveals unequivocal evidence that media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive and violent behavior in both immediate and long-term contexts” (Anderson, Berkowits, & Donnerstein, 2003). Accompanying the aggressive behavior, is the inability to interact in social environments. This

Television is the mainstream of our culture. Violence on television has been a topic of conflict since before 1950. There have been repeated debates on how to protect children from the harmful effects of violence on television. Television is one form of modern media that influences the everyday lives of people. Televised violence has a major effect on how children perceive the world and how they behave. "American television has become the most violent in the world. It is for this reason why researchers have focused their attention toward television violence" (Cantor & Hoffner 424-4-25). Children enjoy watching television and now with the increased technology of cable and movie

The portrayal of violence on television is shown in cartoons, comedies, horrors, dramas, and many other genre television shows. Some cartoons as well as other television shows, endlessly display violence--that youth often view as a form of entertainment. However, the actions and behavior conveyed on the television do not make youth commit violent acts. It induces them to believe that violence is just the standard way of living life. On the television, the lawbreaker gets away with the crime and does not face disciplinary actions, and therefore they are not held responsible for the repercussions of their wrongdoings (Menhard 11).

Common sense seems to dictate that, because the media today primarily focuses on portraying acts of aggression and violence, it has been seen that young children often mirror and imitate such actions. In the book Contemporary & Classic Arguments, Psychologist Melanie Moore and comic author Gerard Jones write an article titled, “Violent Media is Good for Kids” and examine this relationship between violent media and its effects on children. They state, “For the past three years she and I have been studying the ways in which children use violent stories to meet their emotional and developmental needs- and the ways in which adults can help them use those stories healthily.”(Jones pg.78) The essence of Moore and Gerald’s argument is that kids need this type of entertainment to maintain a healthier lifestyle. Not only does it make children vigorous but it also helps them develop: emotionally, intellectually, socially, and

Everyone is influenced and shaped by society. Society affects our perceptions, our consciousness, and our actions. A majority of the influence, especially on the younger demographic comes through the media; specifically through television. It is important to examine how violence in the media develops a pervasive cultural environment that cultivates a heightened state of insecurity, exaggerated perceptions of risk and danger, and a fear-driven propensity for hard-line political solutions to social problems. The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the impact of television and media violence, as well as the human cost of violent media, and the overall effects on society from watching TV.

In his essay “Violent Media is Good for Kids”, comic book writer Gerard Jones argues that there are some benefits of exposing your children to a violent content. Back in the day, children have access to different media entertainments, which mostly were violent. Violent issues can rise from the community, poverty and so fourth. Jones thinks that violent media helps children’s attitude and perceptions in their life in a good way. Jones says,” children use violent stories to meet their emotional and developmental needs”(10).

Violent Media: Young Minds being Affected In today's society the media is very influential on children. Children at a young age are learning so many different things, for instance violence. When children are watching very mature content they learn about violence and become very aggressive.

Whether it’s a story on the news or a drama at the theatre, violence has become a social norm in the media. Today, companies have significantly relied on the use of violence to ensure that their audiences are still motivated to watch. According to the Media Education Foundation, the level of violence on prime time television has increased 167% since 1998. Although there is a widespread belief that watching fictional violence causes people to become violent, the rise of violence on TV compared to real-world crime statistics over the past 20 years tells a different story.

The majority of violence results from social injustice prevalent in our society. Among the significant contributors are poverty, racism, unemployment, and substance abuse. There is also an issue of a proliferation of guns, inadequate or abusive parenting practices, real-life adult models of violent problem-solving behavior, as well as frequent exposure to violence through the media. Consequently, these facts lead to further conjecture such as; has the media desensitized

Saturday morning cartoons contain twenty to twenty-five violent acts per hour (Stranger & Gridina, 1999). Pediatricians warn that media violence can be especially damaging to children under age eight because they cannot readily tell the difference between real life and fantasy. Many violent acts are perpetrated by the "good guys," whom kids have been taught to emulate. Even though kids are taught by their parents that it's not right to hit, television says it's OK to bite, hit, or kick if you're the good guy. This can lead to confusion when kids try to understand the difference between right and wrong. And even the "bad guys" on TV aren't always held responsible or punished for their actions (Nemours, 1995-2009). “These violent behaviors are learned,” said Dr. Slutkin (Herbert, 2010, p. 1). “They are largely formed by modeling, the almost unconscious copying of one another (Herbert, 2010, p. 1). And then they are maintained by the social pressure of peers (Herbert, 2010, p. 1). It becomes normal to reach for a gun (Herbert, 2010, p. 1). TV is full of programs and commercials that depict behaviors such as sex and substance abuse as cool, fun, and exciting. Studies have shown that teens who watch lots of sexual content on TV are more likely to initiate intercourse or participate in other sexual activities earlier than peers who don’t watch sexually explicit

Today’s society is heavily influenced by television. The violence disrupts a child’s learning process and can alter the moral beliefs that an older person has. Children view more violence on Saturday mornings than any other time. The cartoons aimed at little children influence youngsters to mimic violent acts because their parents do not fully explain the effects of the stunts. It is pathetic that in such a technology based society, such a simple thing as television can have a negative effect on people.

Children view violence in different ways when they watch it on television, whether it is cartoons or a type of drama and action programming. After children have watched these television shows, they may have interpreted the meaning into a negative behavior. It could influence them by becoming aggressive, afraid of the world that surrounds them, or it may lead to confusion. When it is said that children may become confused because their parents teach that violence is wrong. When they view someone in a “superhero” position participating in violence, they may see that as it is all right for the simple fact the good person does the action. According to the American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, “the impact of TV violence may be immediately evident in the child's behavior or may surface years later (AACAP, 2011).”

In the book Critique of Violence ,author Walter describes Violence as "The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, male development, or deprivation .The violence that is portrayed in the media has been debated for decades ,and it has rose a question about how does it influence the youth?. From movies to video games society has been accustom to seeing violence in their everyday entertainment. Since children are easy to be influence by their environment, it is safe to say that violence in the media can and will contribute to violent behavior.