Mass Media. What exactly does that mean? To me, mass media is anything that can deliver a message to me. It could be a billboard, news, music, television, video games, books, magazines, and the internet to name a few. Television, movies, and video games are a big part of children's lives in today's technologically advanced society. When children are exposed to television and violent video games they watch with intensity. Depending on what the are watching they can have overwhelming feelings of shock, horror, disbelief, grief, disappointment, happiness, and sometimes depression. So that brings us the golden question. Does violence in the media contribute to violent behavior in children? Some children do act based on what they have seen on television or on video games. Is the media to blame? Should parents be to blame? How strong of a hold does the media have on children? Is violence the result of children who watch too much television or who play too many violent video games or the lack of being able to separate reality from fantasy? Are parents not paying enough attention to their children?
Some say that the rise of violence in society is a symptom of no value systems and poor parental instruction. Others say, and this is backed up with factual evidence, that violence that is seen on television, in the movies and in video games is directly linked to the violence in society. There are people who say the movies and videos are just taking what they see in real life and putting them into their games or movies. Either way, there is too much violence in the mass media and the outcome of this can in no way, shape or form be a good one.
When a child commits a violent act, the crime is often blamed on the television prog...
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Works Cited
American Psychological Association. Violence in Mass Media. 2013. http://www.apa.org/about/policy/media.aspx. 1 April 2013.
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Debate.org. Violent media causes people to be violent and should therefore be banned or censored. 24 August 2008. http://www.debate.org/debates/Violent-media-causes-people-to-be-violent-and-should-therefore-be-banned-or-censored./1/. 1 April 2013.
Ferguson, Christopher. At most, media violence is a symptom, not a cause" of violence in children. 20 February 2013. http://www.familydoctormag.com/childrens-health/1529-media-violence-effect-on-children-experts-debate.html. 1 April 2013.
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The controversy over whether or not violence portrayed on television actually affects children or not has been playing itself out for nearly three decades. When some of the first results came out in the 60s and 70s that made the first connections between aggressive behavior and viewing televised violence, the TV and movie industries denied that there was a connection. When studies found the same thing in the 80s, the FCC opposed any regulation (Hepburn). A writer for Direct Ma...
There are a lot of people who either wonder or believe that violent media is bad for people and mostly children. Not all violent media is bad. Sometimes when people have a stressful day they will play video games to let off steam. A few people like watching horror movies because of the thrill of being scared. But if you’re a kid with no friends or you are alone most of the time, you might enjoy comic books. They are filled with action and heroes. Doing any of these can give off a sense of adventure, thrill, and excitement. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to go off and start hurting people because of it. There is a lot of evidence that states the media affects viewers by encouraging violent behavior and weakening their creative ability. The question is whether the media is truly the problem, or is it the parental role that is the problem.
Valenti, Jack. "Violent Movies Do Not Make Children Violent." Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. 4 May. 1999. Rpt. in Violence in the Media. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven. 2001. 72-74.
"We, as a society, did this to ourselves," said psychologist Dr. David Walsh, executive director of clinics and systems operations for Fairview Behavioral Services in Minneapolis. "Violence grabs the headlines, but violence itself is a result of a society that promotes selfishness, greed and instant gratification" (Peterson). Violence on public television often catches us in a serious debate. Concerned parents fear that viewing inappropriate images presented by the media will corrupt America's youth. They cringe at the idea of our nation's children growing up to be vicious killers due to the brutal violence often seen on TV. Some blame television for most, if not all, of the ills of society and its children. "Truly it accounts for about 10 percent of violence, which means that 90 percent is caused by other things," Leonard Eron says. "Violence is a multi-determined behavior. It's caused by genetic, biological, physiological, macroeconomic and macrosocial factors, all of which can account for some part of the variance." Understanding...
Mass media is a major influence that causes violence in youth culture. According to Hoffman, studies show that children experience an incredible number of violent acts per hour of watching television (Hoffman 11). The advancement in technology such as video games and televisions have aimed children to watch shows with numerous violent scenes. In making this comment, one can infer that violence is becoming a common and unexceptional act for which one can learn that violence is an accepted act in our society (12). Personally, I agree with Hoffman. I visited a websit...
With school shootings becoming a frequent occurrence in our country, we have to ask the question on whether or not the violence produced in children has been influenced by his or her surroundings. Could the violence seen in television shows lead the way to these actions? With these violent situations growing we have to start looking into this issue. TV programs should be held moderately responsible for the violent actions of children because they promote negative influences.
In fairy tales, children are pushed into ovens, have their hands chopped off, are forced to sleep in coal bins, and must contend with wolves who've eaten their grandmother. In myths, rape, incest, all manner of gruesome bloodshed, child abandonment, and total debauchery are standard fare. We see more of the same in Bible stories, accentuated with dire predictions of terrors and abominations in an end of the world apocalypse that is more horrifying than the human imagination can even grasp.
In a research analysis of Media and Violence, studies show that “Although the typical effect size for exposure to violent media is relatively small ... this ‘small effect’ translates into significant consequences for society as a whole” (“Media and Violence: An Analysis of Current Research”, 2015). This states violent behaviors can come from the smallest variables, or clips from videos, which is why it is important for parents to control what their kids see, read, and watch, and limit the amount of violence exposure.
In an article written by Kevin D. Browne and Catherine Hamilton-Giachritsis out of Lancet, dated 2/19/2005, Volume 365 in issue 9460, on page 702 a collection of research shows short-term effects increasing the likelihood of aggressive or fearful behavior in younger children, especially in boys. It also shows research stating that there is a very weak correlation directly between media violence and acted out aggression. This article basically states that violent media being watched by children does impression and arouse some, but does not associate strongly with violent acts. This would help explain the fact that millions of kids watch violent television shows and remain nonviolent.
Society has been bombarded with violence from the beginning of time. These concerns about violence in the media have been around way before television was even introduced. Nevertheless, there have been numerous studies, research, and conferences done over the years on television, but the issue still remains. Researchers do acknowledge that violence portrayed on television is a potential danger. One issue is clear though, our focus on television violence should not take attention away from other significant causes of violence in our country such as: drugs, inadequate parenting, availability of weapons, unemployment, etc. It is hard to report on how violent television effects society, since television affects different people in different ways. There is a significant problem with violence on television that we as a society are going to have to acknowledge and face.
Fisher, Deborah A. "Television Violence Contributes to Aggressive Behavior in Young People." 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. .
A widely accepted cause of the murders committed by children is violence in the media. The parents of three students killed at a high school in Padukah, Kentucky filed a $130 million lawsuit against the entertainment industry because they believe that violence in the media inspired the boy, Michael Carneal, who killed their children ("Media"). To some extent, these parents are correct in their assumption. On average, children watch television 16 to 17 hours per week, beginning as early as age 2 (Strasburger 129). Furthermore, when video games are added, some teenagers may spend as many as 35 to 55 hours per week in front of the television set (Straburger 129). Within these many hours of television viewing, there are many violent scenes. The National Television Viole...
By the time a child reaches the age of one, they see about 200,000 acts of violence on television. (Nakaya, 3). The Media has been becoming more and more violent over the years. A poll in an issue of Times Magazine, from 2005, showed that 66 percent of Americans think that there is an abundant amount of graphic acts of violence on televisions (Nakaya, 18). People are exposed to thousands of acts of violence through video games, television, and movies. Many studies show that media violence increases violent behavior in in humans. Studies show, violent video games, and graphic television have physiological effects on children. The government has very few regulations on media violence. Some people believe the government shouldn’t limit content because others might be insulted by its material. Media violence is such a broad topic and has such a large presence in daily lives, so we cannot simple get rid of it. The Federal Communications Commission stipulates, “By the time most children begin the third grade, they will have spent the equivalent of three school years in front of a television set.” Even though the government shouldn’t censor the media, Media violence is becoming a serious issue because it is becoming more violent, it makes people behave violently, and it has little regulations.
Television violence causes children and teenagers to be less caring, to lose their inhibitions, and to be less sensitive. In a study on the connection between violence and television done with 1,565 teenage boys over a six-year period in London, William Belson, a British psychologist, found that every time a child saw someone being shot or killed on television they became less caring towards other people (Kinnear 26). William Belson also discovered that every time a child viewed this violence on television, they lost a fragment of their inhibitions towards others (Kinnear 26). In addition to William Belson’s study, studies done by many scientists and doctors show that seeing violence on television causes viewers to become less sensitive to the pain of others (Mudore 1).
No single factor can cause children or adults to act aggressively. Instead, it is the accumulation of risk factors that leads to an aggressive act. Hundreds of studies look into the issue of violent media, it always seems to end up the same place with three major effects including increasing aggressive behavior in a variety of forms, desensitization, and spurs fear. Not every viewer will be affected noticeably, but we know that every viewer is affected in some way. Some have argued that violent media are the primary cause of mass shooting. Others have argued that there is no solid evidence of any harmful effects of violent media. But it is clear is that exposure to media violence is one of risk factors increased aggressive behavior, desensitization, and fear.