Mass Media Is An Integral Part Of Everyday Life

The media has the potential to yield many negative effects in the development of a child. Media violence can lead to aggression in children. As mentioned earlier, an average person has viewed approximately 15,000 hours of television by the time they graduate high school. In that time, it is said that almost 18,000 acts of violence including murders, robbery, beating, bombing, and assault will be viewed. With the extent of this data, there is a definite correlation between the media and aggression in youth. The more violence students watch on television or are exposed to from different media sources, the more prone they are to be violent and aggressive as they get older, especially during adulthood. Studies have shown that even small exposure

Throughout the years the use of technology has increased, and expanded. Mass media plays a vital role in society. Mass media can be defined as any means of communication, to an extremely large group of people. Technological advancements have been extremely beneficial for prior generations, the generation we now live in, and will be for the future generations to come. Such as, providing news for the world to hear, entertainment, and much more. Some examples of media would be television, films, newspapers, and the Internet. Unfortunately along with benefits, there are disadvantages concerning gender discrimination, and sexism. Such as, women feelings forced and obligated to stay at home with their children instead of working, and the representation of beauty involving both men and women. Examples of how the media can accomplish this would be through the use of advertisements, movies, magazines, and the radio. The media has an enormous effect on people within society today.

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

Today nearly 98% of American households have televisions. This makes television the single most important source of media in the lives of children and adolescents. Research shows that about 21- 23 hours per week on average, that children between the ages of five and twelve are exposed. This brings much controversy as to how television delivers the news, media, and violence to young children and adolescents. Many argue that the viewing of television during these crucial years of development can be very harmful involving the link of violence with aggressive behavior, hindering emotional and social development, the lack of exercise, health and activities, the development of temperament in young children, and sleep deprivation.

Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on TV affects children and young people. While a direct "cause and effect" link is difficult to establish, there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable to violent images and messages.

According to Huesmann Rowell L., "One of the notable changes in our social environment in the 20th and 21st centuries has been the saturation of our culture and daily lives by the mass media. In this new environment radio, television, movies, videos, video games, cell phones, and computer networks have assumed central roles in our children’s daily lives. For better or worse the mass media are having an enormous impact on our children’s values, beliefs, and behaviors. Unfortunately, the consequences of one particular common element of the electronic mass media has a particularly detrimental effect on children’s well being. Research evidence has accumulated over the past half-century that exposure to violence on television, movies, and most recently in video games increases the risk of violent behavior on the viewer’s part just as growing up in an environment filled with real violence increases the risk of

Arguments concerning social media’s affect on children often being with television. Experts on the other side of the argument claim that television leaves a negative effect on children that leads to obesity and violent behaviors. Manfred Spitzer writes “After 6 months, children in the intervention school had a lower BMI and behaved less violently during break times…” (pg. 1388). Not only are the effects written by Spitzer possible but experts also argue that children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. Children may be more fearful of the world around them and they may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways towards others. The violence exposed to children through media doesn’t cease to exist with only television. Video games are often blamed for violence crimes in children and youth as well. Craig A. Anderson, a psychologist along with others concluded in a 2010 review of video game violence showed that “evidence strongly suggest that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior.”

As censorship of the American media has broken down over the years, the amount of violence allowed to be shown in movies, on television, and in video games has skyrocketed. From coast to coast in our nation, this saturation of hostility in our media has caused many contentious debates between scholars, parents, students and government officials alike. In this controversy, the central argument revolves around the effects violent media has on our society. The question that most researchers strive to answer is this: does watching or participating in violent media cause violent or other harmful behaviors? There are those who would say yes, it does promote destructive behavior in

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

Violent media is a prominent part of America's culture. America is the home to dozens of multimillion dollar industries that specialize in making violent media. This media usually has a rating label on it, categorizing it as being made for young children, teens, or adults. The purpose of this is to protect children from the disturbing and/or violent scenes depicted in the media. Yet, millions of children under the age of 17 still have free access to violent media. However, even though children have access, the overall effects of violence on children are not negative.

The effect that mass media has on children is not something to be taken lightly. Particularly in the western world, children are constantly bombarded with subliminal messages that in some cases are not in the best interest to their psychological,emotional, and social well being . However, children will be exposed to media no matter what, and the consequences do not always need to cause harm. Children can benefit substantially from mass media granted they have someone by their side, helping them incorporate what they learn on the screen, in to their real life.

Excessive screen media may interfere with children’s direct social interaction. According to recent studies, “… families that eat dinner in front of the television converse less and talk about fewer topics than do families that turn the television off before they sit down to dinner” (Wilson, 2008). Although it is believed that media use interferes with a child building direct social skills, possibly the biggest social concern excessive media presents are the effects of media violence. According to The National Television Violence Study, young people view an average of 10,000 violent acts per year through media use. The study concluded that the primary effects of media violence were learning aggressive behavior and attitudes, desensitization to violence, and fear of being victimized by violence (Agarwal & Dhanasekaran, 2012). Television violence is not the only factor in aggressive behavior by children, but it is the greatest factor. It accounts for ten percent of the variance in children’s aggression. The only other factor that even comes close to media violence is gang membership at 9.6 percent (Wilson, 2008). These statistics demonstrate the harmful effects of media on a child’s social

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

"Impact of media use on children and youth” explores the good and bad effects that media can have on a young child’s development both mentally and physically. In the beginning of the article, they provided examples of how watching television can expose young children to violence, sexuality, and offensive language. The author made an interesting point that connected an increase in violent behaviors with children who watch violent

Media is also being tied to the increasing violence in US children. “Children are increasing anti-social and aggressive behavior, become less sensitive to violence and those who suffer from violence, children may view the world as violent and mean fearful of being a victim of violence. Children may desire to see more violence in entertainment and real life, and children will view violence as an acceptable way to settle conflicts.”( Buchanan, A.M., Gentile, D.A., Nelson, D.A.,Walsh, D.A., Hensel, J. 2002) Astonishingly, more time is being spent on watching television then homework which differ from child to child. A child’s interpretation of what they watch depends on of their attention spans, the way in