The Responsibility of Parenting in Preventing Violence instead of the Media

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.

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

Television can affect learning and school performance if it exceeds the time kids need for their crucial for healthy physical and mental development. Most of children's free time, especially during the early development years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports. Research has shown that children's exposure to television during the preschool years is predictive of academic outcomes during adolescence. The most notable lesson about this

In the media there is a great deal of violence and nobody can really deny that. However, the effects media has on children and young adults have been debated for years. In this paper I will be discussing the effects of media violence, the other factors, and the possible solutions to alleviate this global issue.

Statistics show that screen time negatively affects children’s learning abilities and development. “The effects of so much screen time can include speech delays, aggressive behavior and obesity.” (Lavey) Since parents play a role in how much television their kids can watch, they can minimize the chances of their brains not developing correctly. “The first 2 years of life are considered a critical time for brain development. TV and other electronic media can get in the way of exploring, playing, and interacting with parents and others, which encourages learning and healthy physical and social development.” (Kids Health) Children do

Jacoby stated in his article “Silent that Idiot box” that letting your children watch too much television can ruin them in the long run. Television has the ability to lead children to violence and destroy their innocence. Television can be pleasing to the eye. According to Jacoby children don’t become educated from watching TV. The more TV they watch, the less educated they usually end up. I agree with him because when I use to watch television I would feel extremely sluggish and not want to do anything else. Watching television can have some effects towards your overall health. It also can lead to bad habits and prevents you from having a better outlook on life around you.

Media violence is one of the most debated public issues society faces today. Television screens are loaded with the glamorization of weapon carrying. Violence constitute as amusing and trivialized. Needless portrayals of interpersonal violence spread across the television screens like wild fire. Televisions spew the disturbing events such as children being assaulted, husbands inflicting domestic abuse on their wives and children succumbing to abuse by their parents. Scenes of betrayal, anguish, infiltrate the television screen. Unfortunately, a child becomes subjected to media violence. Everything a child sees or hears in the media affects them in some way or another. The precise effects of media violence on children are

The media is currently regulated according to voluntary industry established rating systems. Many critics state that these systems that are in place do not effectively inform guardians or prevent children from accessing violent content. In 2007, the United States government addressed that some regulations might be placed in order to protect children. Such regulations have yet to be seen but are being pushed (Gerdes81). Violent media is protected by the first amendment, which is why society is fine without the regulations. They would rather place the possible effects on children growing up rather than feel like their freedom of speech is being tampered with. As stated, “Naturally, debate over media violence stirs up strong emotions because it raises concern about the balance between public safety and freedom of speech” (Matter 1). In order to keep hold of our rights, society is not willing to regulate the amount of violent content that is presented in the media. Professionals such as doctors should also be more aware of the role that media is playing on the lives of their patients. It is crucial for them to be asking what devices that patients have at home and what they watch and play. The government realizes that they should place regulations, but it is a difficult situation for them due to the courts protecting violent speech under the first amendment. This is in order to help place some regulations and maintain a healthy amount of violence in the media that they are intaking (Beresein 1). Eighty-two percent of parents that allow their children to watch between two to four hours on a daily basis believe that violence in children's programming is concerning, and nine out of ten says that they are seeing a negative impact taking place in their children (Gerdes 82). Many counter this by saying that it is the parent's

A piece called “Children, Violence and the Media: A Report for Parents and Policy Makers.” is an article recorded by a Senate Committee on a Judiciary hearing. The committee suggests that media

educators. Children are progressively becoming more aggressive. This is in direct correlation to violence becoming more prominent among adults. Parents and educators continue to stress that the damage violent media inflicts on children will continue into adulthood. Multiple studies have demonstrated that violent media makes violent adults. This problem is larger than just turning off the violence. The media distributors need to stop mass producing and distributing violence to children. Until executives at television,

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.

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).”

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