Essay on cartoon violence

From infancy onward, parents and teachers have drilled into the young generation that violence should be avoided at all costs. They have preached cooperation, tolerance, and “using one’s words” as tactics to combat difficult situations. Although those lessons are valid, Gerald Jones claims there is an alternative way. In his essay, “Violent Media is Good for Kids,” Jones argues that “creative violence- bonking cartoons, bloody videogames, toy guns-gives children a tool to master their rage” (Jones). In other words, media violence, used correctly, can serve as an alternative method for powering through adolescence. By reading and writing violent stories, children are able to express

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

Violent media; a strikingly relevant phenomenon millions are becoming captivated by. It’s everywhere you go, on your phone, the TV or on the computer. As much as people try to avoid it, they soon realize it’s ineluctable. Gerard Jones, a comic-book author, released a brief report, “Violent Media Is Good for Kids” that argued violent media is not only beneficial to children but also inspiring. He goes on to support his claim by sampling his own personal experiences. However, not all forms of violent media are necessarily helpful. Some are more preferable while others can harm them. To an extent, violent media can help children by helping them release built up emotions, learn lessons regarding the real world, as well as create something for themselves.

The portrayal of violence on television is shown in cartoons, comedies, horrors, dramas, and many other genre television shows. Some cartoons as well as other television shows, endlessly display violence--that youth often view as a form of entertainment. However, the actions and behavior conveyed on the television do not make youth commit violent acts. It induces them to believe that violence is just the standard way of living life. On the television, the lawbreaker gets away with the crime and does not face disciplinary actions, and therefore they are not held responsible for the repercussions of their wrongdoings (Menhard 11).

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.

In Gerard Jones' essay “Violent Media is Good for Kids,” he argues a position not taken by many in today's culture. Jones advocates children should be exposed to violent media in order to overcome real life hardships. The problem with Jones' argument arise when he fails to develop his somewhat dated ideas and leaves his audience questioning how effective such exposure would be.

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

In his essay “Violent Media is Good for Kids”, comic book writer Gerard Jones argues that there are some benefits of exposing your children to a violent content. Back in the day, children have access to different media entertainments, which mostly were violent. Violent issues can rise from the community, poverty and so fourth. Jones thinks that violent media helps children’s attitude and perceptions in their life in a good way. Jones says,” children use violent stories to meet their emotional and developmental needs”(10).

In “Violence Media is Good for Kids”, Gerald Jones described how violence is not always bad for kids, but can have a positive impact for them. Children learn from violent media how to solve problems in a different way. Violent media shows children that every obstacle they face is not the end of the world. By exploring the pages of violent media and exposing the children to violence it prepared the child for experiences in the future.

In “Violent Media is Good for Kids,” Gerard argues that, violent media is not necessarily harmful to kids, rather very essential and of great importance to them and their future lives.

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

Saturday morning cartoons contain twenty to twenty-five violent acts per hour (Stranger & Gridina, 1999). Pediatricians warn that media violence can be especially damaging to children under age eight because they cannot readily tell the difference between real life and fantasy. Many violent acts are perpetrated by the "good guys," whom kids have been taught to emulate. Even though kids are taught by their parents that it's not right to hit, television says it's OK to bite, hit, or kick if you're the good guy. This can lead to confusion when kids try to understand the difference between right and wrong. And even the "bad guys" on TV aren't always held responsible or punished for their actions (Nemours, 1995-2009). “These violent behaviors are learned,” said Dr. Slutkin (Herbert, 2010, p. 1). “They are largely formed by modeling, the almost unconscious copying of one another (Herbert, 2010, p. 1). And then they are maintained by the social pressure of peers (Herbert, 2010, p. 1). It becomes normal to reach for a gun (Herbert, 2010, p. 1). TV is full of programs and commercials that depict behaviors such as sex and substance abuse as cool, fun, and exciting. Studies have shown that teens who watch lots of sexual content on TV are more likely to initiate intercourse or participate in other sexual activities earlier than peers who don’t watch sexually explicit

          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).”

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.