Sex and Violence in Media

​Violent T.V shows and video games can increase children's aggression. Dr Phil explains "the number one negative effect is they tend to in appropriately resolve anxiety by externalizing it.  They can attack someone, they can kick a wall or they can be mean to a dog, abet or even people." It means that the kids who are exposed to violent shows or

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 United States children watch an average of three to fours hours of television daily (Cantor & Wilson, 1984, p. 28). Television can be a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming is violent. Studies of the effects of TV violence on children and teenagers have found that children may become insensitive to violence. Consequently, they tend to gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems by imitating the violence they observe on television; and they identify with certain characters, good or bad. Therefore, extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater

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.

The article “Violence As Fun” by Randall Sullivan brings up this issue, arguing that parents need to be educated on the dangers of allowing their children to watch violent TV programs. The author supports this with evidence from a report conducted by The American Psychological Association, where they concluded that early substance abuse, access to weapons, isolation, and widespread display of violence in media; the latter being greater, contributes to the violent behaviors in adolescents. He also points out that since the 1950s, aggravated assaults have increased seven times. The passage further emphasizes that many TV outlets know the damaging effects that violence in media has on juveniles, yet only a few acknowledge this fact. Sullivan’s

Children watch an average of 2 to 4 hours of television a day (these numbers may have increased since this study), the occurrence of violence on television has increase by 75% since 1998, children view more than 1,000 murders, rapes, and assaults each year on television, by the time children reach elementary school children will have already seen 100,000 acts of violence committed on television (United States Congress and Senate 2012). Exposure to these acts of violence makes it very easy to slowly accept that this is the way the world operates. Children becoming desensitized to violence has a negative effect on their evaluative/ judgment system and they begin to lack empathy. When children become desensitized to the violence in television they begin to lose a sense of remorse for poor behavior and not take societal crime as serious as it should be

Children tend to act more violently due over exposure to violent media. Interestingly, studies done by psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard Eron and others show that being aggressive as a youth did not speculate that they would watch more television. This suggests that violent media portrayal is a cause rather than a consequence of aggressive people. However, later research by psychologists Douglas Gentile and Brad Bushman, suggested that media violence is just one of the many causes that inhibit rational thought. [http://www.apa.org/research/action/protect.aspx]

Many studies show that children are more prone to violence due to a child’s undeveloped brain. “Children who are regularly exposed to more violent media have an increased probability of behaving more aggressively in real life (Anderson).” Furthermore, children nowadays are exposed to excessive amounts of violence in media, increasing their risks of violence when older (Anderson). Anderson explains, children are likely to become “emotionally desensitized to the violence” being portrayed. Negative actions may happen without concern or acknowledgement that something is wrong (Anderson). According to Anderson, young children will be meaner and more aggressive. The more contact with media violence a child gets, the more likely they are to be aggressive, as he or she gets older

We as a society cannot succumb to believing such an opinion because we are very familiar with violence and criminal activity resembling something from a movie scene or television show. Most violent acts shown on television go unpunished and are often accompanied by humor. Rarely does the media display the consequences of human suffering leading a child accept its reality. Of course, crime can become the result of a number of influences working together; even researchers point out the independent influence alone cannot directly contribute to the effect.

It would be best to test college age students, as they know right from wrong. Researchers, pediatricians and parents have all found that exposure to media violence can increase aggression (Bushman, Gollwitzer, & Cruz. (2014). Bushman, Gollwitzer, and Cruz stated most parents and educators “learn about violent media effects from new reports rather than scientific reports” (p. 7). It is because of this that parents so blindly believe that media so harshly youth. This study will help to make the effects of media violence more concrete and apparent instead of

The media is a part of everyday life in American kids. Children are surrounded by technology, entertainment, and other media that is full of violence. Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the internet all contain violence. Today's media has a negative influence on children. The media does have an influence on them, but does it really influence them to act out even though they know it's wrong? Mass media, and its components, are very powerful and can influence one's mind, as well as their behavior. Children that imitate characters who use violence in the media and display aggressive behavior, tend to give them reason to believe that violence can happen without consequence. For children who grow up with poor adult examples or an

          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.

While violent influences that impact children negatively, they may participate in different behavior. On the contrary, children who watch education television shows were more likely to do better in school. According to the University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) department:

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.