Media Violence

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

After reviewing many case studies about whether excessive or extensive violent television news coverage leads towards violent conduct is up for debate. Interestingly enough many scientific organizations have openly stated that violent media coverage causes aggression, and examined the association between media violence and violent behavior. It has been reported that there has been more than 3,500 research studies to prove that there is in fact a connection between media violence and violent behavior. Out of these 3,500 studies only 18 of them have not been able to relate media violence and violent behavior. Clearly there is overwhelming evidence to prove this relationship is accurate,

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

In the end, media violence, like all important things in life, has a middle ground. Neither side is completely right, nor is either side completely wrong. It is all a matter of proper usage and  proper exposure to children. Now I won't tell parents how to do their job. It isn't my business to tell them how to raise their child. But I will say that it is important to note that every child is different. One may be mature enough to understand that the actions in a certain movie or game are not good life choices in real life, and others may be be extremely immature and unable to understand how to act in the real world. But, again there is a middle ground. Do you see where I am going? This isn't a matter of,  “it is bad.” or, “it is good.” but a matter of “how do we use this properly?” It is a lot like cars in that sense. We all know cars are good, but does the number of car crashes that happen daily make it bad? No, of course not! It is all about adapting how we use cars to prevent crashes. Tying media to shootings and abuse is also absurd. Since many sane people intake tons of media daily. And most all of those people aren't murderers. Probably a ratio of about 1000 murderers, to 7 billion okay-ish people. Bottom line, media violence and real world violence are to separate things. Should we let kids watch certain things? Probably not. But that is up to the parent, not the government to make laws against it. Media violence almost always comes down to the parents. Maybe perhaps

This is because they view it all the time, so it becomes commonplace to where they are no longer affected by it. This can cause them to embrace these acts, which can lead to them becoming aggressive. The disadvantages of adolescents being desensitized to violence are being less likely to help someone in a life-threatening situation, lack of empathy and encouraging violent behaviors. This is supported by Sullivan, stating “ The media’s influence on young people is arguably the most corrosive of all factors cited and by far the most difficult to contain.” (Sullivan 619). This shows that not only is the media a dominating force, it’s detrimental and problematic to contain and refrain from. When children are watching cartoons like Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; where the characters blow each other up with TNT and fight with swords and daggers, they are not wincing at the mayhem, instead they’re laughing and applauding the antics because they think it’s funny and cool. Because their children seem to be entertained, parents are not intervening for the reason that their kids now have something to occupy their time. As a result, this may send mixed signals to adolescents causing them to believe that these outrageous acts are

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.

Many parents go through the same cycle in regards to dealing with their children. Kids come home from a long day of school and want a distraction from all the knowledge they consumed that day. However, a parent does not always have the time or even the ability to entertain their kids, so while they remain in the kitchen finishing preparing dinner, their children sit on the couch and engage in video games. Obviously, each parent wants what is best for their child and worries about the effect of all these violent video games corrupt with shooting, punching, blood, gore, and of course, death. Which is exactly what leads them to this question. Researchers at Ohio State University asked parents, media researchers, pediatricians, and psychologists of their opinion on this matter and here is what they observed: 66

With children having easier access to media and a wider variety of content, the possible negative influence on health issues such as sex, drugs, obesity and eating disorders is increased, along with the influence of violence (Media para 3). The viewpoint claims that children learn their attitudes toward violence at a young age and that makes it difficult to reverse and modify these attitudes (Media para 1). Several studies have shown that violent boys tend to watch more TV, choose more violent content and get more enjoyment out of it (Cutler para 3). Because of all the love in boys for violent television and games they tend to grow up in a violent aggressive way and have a greater chance than someone not a fan of violent media to make the wrong

In “Violence in Media is Good for Kids”, Gerald Jones asserted that violent is not always give negative impact for children, but also can give positive impact for them. Children can learn how to solve problem in different way from violent media, they also learn that life is not always harmful for them then it makes them stronger. Children can explore their experiences and will not shock if they get bad experience in the future.

For many years now scientists all over the world have been trying to find a connection between media violence and violence in the real world. Sadly no real answer has come up to answer our question. Why might scientist not have figured out the answer you ask? Well, scientists have not made a credible connection between media violence and real world violence because, to begin with, there is not a lot of evidence to back up whether video games cause us to bring media violence into the outside world. In order to answer if video games do have an effect on our brains, I did a little research myself to try to find the real truth behind this mysterious subject.

Television, movies, and video games are a big part of children’s lives in today’s technologically advanced society. However, there is a big controversy questioning the effects of these media outlets on children. Much of society claims to have proof for the belief that media violence affects children negatively. However, I am skeptical of the evidence that is stated to prove that claim. I feel that society has placed the blame on these mediums for the violent acts, however serious or trivial, that children commit way too easily, before they even begin to examine the parenting of today’s society.

There has been continuous research with regards to the relationship that exists between media violence’s and the behavior of the viewers. Some of this research has focused on children and teenagers. Despite most of them indicating the absence of a strong relationship with real life violence, there have been proof that it affects other aspects such educational performance and social relationships.

The debate over media violence has eluded definitive answers for more then three decades. At first glance, the debate is dominated by one question. Whether or not media violence causes real life violence and whether or not it has a negative effect of the modern day Canadian family. Closer examination reveals a political battle. On one hand, there are those who blame media violence for societal violence and want to censor violent content to protect our children. On the other hand, there are those who see regulation as a slippery slope to censorship or a smoke screen hiding the basic causes of violence in society.

Exposure to the media violence may be especially problematic in late adolescence. Television and other media play a major role in adolescent socialization and identity development by providing perspectives, values, ideologies, and behavior models (Arnett G., Roberts D. et al.). The socializing role of television in particular may be amplified by the large amount of time young people spend with this medium. Specifically, 18- to 24-year-olds spend more time watching television and movies than younger youth (Center for Research Excellence 2009). In order to understand the violence in media as a threat to society, an understanding of why and how violent media cause aggression is vital. In fact, psychological theories that explain why media violence is such a threat are now well established. These theories also explain why the observation of television violence stimulates aggressive behavior in the observer.

Most of the world can be viewed through the television. Educational programs are aired. News from all over the world is broadcasted. Anything from sports to music is displayed on the television. While there are many positive aspects of mass media, to the contrary, there are also violent programs portrayed. Violence in all aspects of the media has drawn public attention with practically every novel type of media entertainment (Slotsve et al., 2008). With children being the main audience, this is a topic that has become highly debatable. Over the years more and more cases have come to light alleging television is the culprit to violence. Beginning in 1994, a three year study was conducted. This utmost recognized study of violence in television, the National Television Study, evaluated violence on the television (Slotsve et al., 2008). Through this study, a trend between violent and belligerent antisocial behavior was documented (Slotsve et al., 2008). The violence portrayed on the television can create footprints in the child’s mind. The paths become a link to abnormal behavior patterns. In addition, the Surgeon General’s Program of Research also identified a contributory linking between televised violence and antisocial behavior with children being more affected (Slotsve et al., 2008). The question still remains, is television a root for violent behavior?