Violent Media Is Good For Kids Analysis

Violence is a huge part of the United States of America. This can be seen with the large amount of violent movies and video games that has been released throughout the years. Because of this, violent media has often been accused of influencing people to commit horrendous acts of crime. This has led to many parents to be very cautious when allowing their children to watch movies or play video games that contain a lot of violence. Some adults try to shield the youth from not only violent media but from anything they deemed hazardous to the youth’s mental well-being. So is this a bad way of protecting young people from unhealthy influence? Yes, it is because this extreme approach from society can have negative effects on the youth. By overprotecting

While some may argue that this is an exaggeration of the truth, the actions of some adults will prove otherwise. For example, in his essay “Violent Media Is Good for Kids”, Gerard Jones briefly discusses how his parents kept him from most American pop culture out of fear that it would cause him to have a violent nature (Jones 182). This type of protection from Jones’ parents demonstrates the exact nature of helicopter parents. While it is important to not let the youth be exposed to explicit contents, it is more important to inform them of the dangers of the world versus hiding it from them. Another example of overprotection comes from Danah Boyd’s blog “Growing Up in a Culture of Fear: From Columbine to Banning of Myspace”. Boyd mentions how some schools forced their students to delete their social media accounts or face the risk of suspension. She explained that the schools decided to do this to prevent students from facing potential dangers on social media (Boyd 162). Although students may stay away from social media sites, like Twitter or Facebook, students still face the same risks there would if they were on the internet. The school’s reaction to the potential dangers of social media, along with Jones’ parents’ reaction to American pop culture, reflects American society’s overreaction to situations that deals with the well-being of the youth. Because of this overreaction, the youth cannot properly grow as

Some adults would try to dismiss this statement by bringing up the research done at University of Michigan that claims how “violent video games and movies make people numb to the pain and suffering of others” (Swanbrow 165). While violent media may affect people’s willingness to help others, this does not dismiss the fact that society’s overprotective nature have led to the passive manners of the youth. Some other examples of this include young people not caring about elections by choosing not to vote or about their body by abusing drugs (Boyd 164). While it may seem like there is no hope for the youth, there is by giving them a little room to experience life and grow as a person. For example, Jones was able to overcome his difficulties once he was introduced to comics. He says it “freed him” (Jones 182). This can happen to any other young people if they are allowed some space to explore the world around them with the proper