The Effects Of Media Violence On Children

* According to the National Television Violence Study, the context in which violence is portrayed is as important to its impact as the amount of violence. The study concluded that 66% of children's programming had violence. Of the shows with violent content three-quarters demonstrated unpunished violence and when violence occurred 58% of the time, victims were not shown experiencing pain. (14)

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.

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

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

When it comes to the topic of violent media, some of us would readily agree it’s a controversial subject as to whether kids should or shouldn’t be exposed to it. This is because many children who view violent media react negatively rather than not being affected at all. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of what effects does it have on children. Whereas some are convinced that it is a healthy alternative for kids to express themselves, others maintain that it causes kids to become more aggressive and contributes to juvenile crimes.

In the modern-day world, people are convinced that the Earth is plagued by mass shootings and other acts of violence because of violent media. Children and adolescents being exposed to violent media is deemed, by society, to be detrimental to their mental health. In Gerard Jones’ “Violent Media is Good for Kids,” he vindicates violent media. Exposing children to violent media through video games, comic books, and movies are beneficial to children in Jones’ claim. He believes that violent media creates opportunities for children and teaches children to overcome their fears in order to battle their own subconscious hurdles.

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

Today in society most adults and adolescents create the complex structure of what is socially correct. Violence has created an image in everyone’s mind, even if most people don’t agree. Throughout time we enjoy movies, news, video games, and books, however every subject I just mentioned contains to be violent half the time. By human nature everyone is socially handicapped, as we can relate this to the articles “Why we crave horror movies” by Stephen King and “violence media is good for kids” by Gerard Jones given to both authors get there points across by being precise, compelling, and knowledgeable.

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.

It appears that the rating systems are undermined by the marketing efforts of the very groups responsible for their implementation and effectiveness” (McIntyre 94). He has a concerned tone, which encourages readers to question the media. Not only is the media affecting children, but he also points out that parents are one of the reasons that kids are being over exposed to violence. He claims that “most adults see [advertisements] as a relatively harmless annoyance” (McIntyre 94). While he does admit that the media is essentially the cause for children becoming violent, he also suggests that most parents don’t feel it’s an issue but just an “annoyance” (McIntyre 94). What McIntyre is trying to get through is that without the help of parents children will continue to mimic everything they watch on television or movies. His purpose in writing this article is to convince the reader that there should be more restrictions from promoting violence in television shows, movies, and advertisements. Throughout the article he uses a worried tone to convince readers into protecting their children from violence on television. He hopes to inform society of the effects of violence in the media towards children in order to minimize the amount of dangerous behavior.

In the article "Media Violence" by the The American Academy of Pediatrics, they state and recognizes that exposure to violent media, such as TV, games, comics, movies, and music, can pose a health risk to young teens and children. There has been some research that shows these risks can include, aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed. The American of Pediatrics also provide a way to counteract such effect such as advocating for media literacy, more thoughtful and proactive use of media by children and their parents, more responsible portrayal of violence by media producers, and more useful and effective media ratings.

Media violence is something that is extremely prevalent in today’s popular media, especially television. According to an article by KD Browne and C Hamilton-Giachristsis published in the academic journal Lancet, “20–25 violent acts are shown in children’s television programs each hour, with an average of three to five violent acts during prime-time television

Children often do not understand violence shown on television.  They cannot differentiate between that which is real or of the imagination and they often incorporate both into their own imaginations.  However, many people disagree that the media has any effect on children's imaginations.  They are wrong.  How often does a person see little kids running around with fake guns and other makeshift weapons pretending to be Rambo, G.I. Joes, or snipers?  In each of these games the object is to kill one another and to be the "tough" man.  According to the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association web page), the average American child views 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence before finishing elementary school.  And, the National Television Violence Study shows that the average American child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television including 16,000 murders before the age of 18.  Children do not understand the consequences of

            In recent times, the news media has cried out against violent media, painting it as the leading cause for youth violence. Following events such as the Columbine massacre, news sources have vilified violent media, claiming that it is a primary cause of violent behavior in youths. This analysis provides firm research on the subject from the opposing and supporting sources, giving a thorough definition to the term “violent media” and  brings forth evidence that other psychological effects and environmental factors are more significant causes of increased youth aggression than violent media.

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.