The Effects Of Violent Television On Youth

After reading “Violent Media Is Good for Kids” by Gerard Jones and “When Life Imitates Video” by John Leo, Both articles have opposing views on violent media for kids and use pathos and logos to persuade a readers reasoning on violent media. Gerard Jones believes that violent media is good to help children express their feelings and not hide them. John Leo believes that killing games can lead to violent behavior and possible imitation of what kids see in violent games such as Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris. There are many reasons why violent media can be good and bad for children and teens there really isn’t a right side.

Viewing violence encourages children to see other people as enemies rather as individuals with thoughts and feelings like themselves. Violent scenes less arouses children whom watch a lot of TV than those who only watch a little. They are less bothered by violence in general and less likely to see anything wrong with it. "For example, in several studies, children who watched a violent program instead of a non-violent one were less quick to intervene or to call for

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

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.

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

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

Children are growing aggressively from watching media input into their undeveloped mind that violence is always the quickest answer and it is easy to do so while if you were to be a good guy, you will have to suffer and lose. Dr. Kunkle, Professor of Communication at University of Arizona wrote in an article on The Effects of Television Violence on Children wrote, “violence that is presented as sanitized or glamorizes poses a much greater risk of adverse effects on children than violence that is presented with negative outcomes such as pain or suffering for its victim or negative consequence for its perpetrators”. Dr. Kunkle came to this conclusion based on National Television Violence Study as a participated researcher in this study for over 20 years. Even with such evidences, teenagers do not care of this fact as it not relevant toward them since they know what is right or wrong. However, if they know the intermediate line between right and wrong, why are they continuing to watches all these violent shows on television and social media and act the same ways like those on social

In conclusion, violent programs on TV lead to aggressive and violent behavior by the adolescents who watch

Children learn by modelling behaviour—observing and copying both good and bad behaviour. When they are exposed to violence in media, they are more likely to model the violent behaviour they see. This has been shown in research such as in the classic Bobo Doll Experiment (Bandura, 1961). In this experiment researchers physically and verbally abused an inflatable doll in front of preschool-age children, and the children later imitated the abusive behaviours against the dolls (Nolen). Further

According to Singer, “Acquiring new aggressive behavioral patterns” is one of the first indications that violent programs can influence a child to learn how to become more aggressive (70). Second, Singer noted that “violent programs can provide indications for the most functional behaviors in a particular situation” (70). If people have the wrong motives, then they are punished, but if people have the right motives, they are rewarded. Another form is drawing attention, “Aggressive children are more inclined to watch violent programs” (Van Der Voort 46). Once children watch a violent program, children are led to be more aggressive and therefore want to keep watching aggressive shows. Finally, the change in attitude towards violence in children are as researchers say that the “attitudes of violence decreases as the child gets more and more involved in violent shows” (Gunter 48). As children get older and older, their views of violence change for the worse; they no longer see how hurting someone on purpose is wrong. Over time, children not only become even more violent but also are increasingly getting more attached to the violence portrayed on television.

          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.

Children view violence in different ways when they watch it on television, whether it is cartoons or a type of drama and action programming. After children have watched these television shows, they may have interpreted the meaning into a negative behavior. It could influence them by becoming aggressive, afraid of the world that surrounds them, or it may lead to confusion. When it is said that children may become confused because their parents teach that violence is wrong. When they view someone in a “superhero” position participating in violence, they may see that as it is all right for the simple fact the good person does the action. According to the American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, “the impact of TV violence may be immediately evident in the child's behavior or may surface years later (AACAP, 2011).”

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.