Changing Behaviors Of Children From Violent Media

Violent media exposure of children or adults to violent media is a cause of aggression and violent behavior has been one of the most intensely debated issues in criminal justice and the broader populace. Concern have come and gone that media such as comic books, as well as television and movies, would lead to waves of rebelliousness, violence, and moral degradation. Sherry

It is a matter of great importance how much of media content children are exposed to and what exactly they are viewing on media. The issue of violence is not a new phenomenon among children and keeps increasing with time and change in technology and information technology. The causes of violence in children are seen to be multifactorial and exposure of children to media violence is said to be an important factor when it comes to the etiology of behaviors that are violent among children.

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

Violent media; a strikingly relevant phenomenon millions are becoming captivated by. It’s everywhere you go, on your phone, the TV or on the computer. As much as people try to avoid it, they soon realize it’s ineluctable. Gerard Jones, a comic-book author, released a brief report, “Violent Media Is Good for Kids” that argued violent media is not only beneficial to children but also inspiring. He goes on to support his claim by sampling his own personal experiences. However, not all forms of violent media are necessarily helpful. Some are more preferable while others can harm them. To an extent, violent media can help children by helping them release built up emotions, learn lessons regarding the real world, as well as create something for themselves.

Violent Media is Good for Kids, by Gerald Jones; a persuasive article written by a comic book author that analyzes how exposing children to violent media has positive effects in shaping a person. This article was written as a counter-argument to the negative response media received after a horrific mass shooting that took place at a high school. Jones defends violent media by telling of his own personal experience with it, thus glorifying it in the process. Jones argues in his article that violent media is a helpful resource for children and it does not necessarily harm them. Jones’ argument was effective and very convincing. He defends his stance by continuously stating the positives that violent media has had not only on him, but his own son as well.

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

(1).The problem is that in the last four decades, the government and the public health amassed an impressive body of evidence identifying the impact of media violence on children. Since 1969, when President [Lyndon] Johnson formed the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence, the body of data has effectively grown and grown and it leads to an unambiguous and virtually unanimous conclusion: media violence contributes to

In the media there is a great deal of violence and nobody can really deny that. However, the effects media has on children and young adults have been debated for years. In this paper I will be discussing the effects of media violence, the other factors, and the possible solutions to alleviate this global issue.

Many people still have several questions they want answered, such as, is media violence actually affecting children or are children already prone to violence drawn to media violence? Some experts have shown short and long-term negative effects occur in children from watching violent media; however another group of experts have shown that media violence is only one of many risk factors leading to aggression developed in children. These two groups need to continue more research and go beyond that to find true solutions. Nevertheless, no sources were found to say that media violence has no influence on the increase in modern culture’s violent actions. The key to discovering the true correlation between violence in children and media violence is to continue research until a solution is

In the article titled Violence Media Is Good for Kids Jones stated that “When we try to protect our children from their own feelings and fantasies, we shelter them not against violence but against power and selfhood” (Jones 184). This quote embodies how many teenagers have felt throughout time. In addtion, violence has been surrounding us for many years however people seem to blame the influx of violence on media. Further,

Media violence is one of the most debated public issues society faces today. Television screens are loaded with the glamorization of weapon carrying. Violence constitute as amusing and trivialized. Needless portrayals of interpersonal violence spread across the television screens like wild fire. Televisions spew the disturbing events such as children being assaulted, husbands inflicting domestic abuse on their wives and children succumbing to abuse by their parents. Scenes of betrayal, anguish, infiltrate the television screen. Unfortunately, a child becomes subjected to media violence. Everything a child sees or hears in the media affects them in some way or another. The precise effects of media violence on children are

Television, music, video games, and other form of media are all things that are fun and sometimes educational for kids, but can be a bad influence on children, depending on the content. These all should be used to teach children how to solve problems and expand their mind, rather than teaching them to kill people and portraying someone negatively. The images and stories shown to children and teenagers make it difficult

          Due to violence on television, children become less sensitive to that pain and suffering of others or to become more aggressive to others. It also makes children more fearful to the world around them. (Abelard 1) Viewing habits of children observed for many decades deduced that violence on TV is associated with aggressive behavior, more than poverty, race, or parental behavior. It also reported that a TV show contains about 20 acts of violence an hour.

As evidence has shown, children view many violent scenes while watching television, movies, or playing video games, but the question still remains: What psychological effect does violence in the media have on children? Research over the past 10 years has consistently shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real-life aggression (Strasburger 129). Violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the various programs. Of course, not all children who watch television, or movies, or play video games develop aggressive behavior. However, there is a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior. A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, examined how children's television viewing practices are related to aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that children who reported watching greater amounts of television per day had higher levels of violent behavior than children who reported lesser amounts of television viewing (Singer 1041). Witnessing violence is an important determining factor in violent behavior. The media serves as a means for children to witness violence. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, children imitate behavior that they see on television, especially if the person performing the behavior is attractive or if the

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.