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Violence in the media
Influence of mass media on children
Effects of media violence on children's behavior essay
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If a child acted violently towards someone else, like if he or she punched another child, there would be consequences for that child. Perhaps detention or grounding, but then their act of violence is mostly forgotten about. Rarely do the parents or school officials investigate why the child acted violently in the first place. If asked, the adults might say something like “the child probably watches a violent television show, like Powerangers, or he/she plays violent video games, like Grand Theft Auto.” Most people would consider that an acceptable reason. It is the norm to blame “the media” for everything that is wrong with our culture. But the question raised now is why; why does our society claim that violence in the media affects the behaviors of children?
The term “the media” is somewhat overused in our culture. It is a vague term we use to include any and all ways that messages are portrayed to us, usually in technology. Dr. Cyndy Scheibe, a professor at Ithaca College and media literacy expert, says that media is “messages conveyed through visuals, language, and/or sound that are mass produced for a mass audience. [Media is also] mediated by a form of technology and the producer of the message is not in the same place as the receiver of the message” (Scheibe). This means that media would include things like television, movies, the internet and print. Media doesn’t include things like text messages because they are not intended for mass audiences. For the purposes of this essay, “media” is mostly going to refer to television and video games.
Media violence can also be broken down to a specific definition. Dr. Scheibe describes the characteristics of media violence as frequent and pervasive (it appears on ...
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Works Cited
Browne KD; Hamilton-Giachritsis C. “The Influence of Violent Media on Children and Adolescents: a Public-Health Approach”. Lancet 365.9460 (2005): pp. 702-710. Print.
Jenkins, Henry. Fans, Bloggers, and Gamers: Exploring Participatory Culture. New York: NYU Press, 2006. Print.
-----------------, ed. Congressional Testimony on Media Violence. n.d. MIT Communications Forum.
Olson, Cheryl K. “It’s Perverse, But It’s Also Pretend”. New York Times. 28 June 2011. Print.
Scheibe, Cyndy. Media Literacy and Popular Culture CLTC 11000-01. Ithaca College Textor 101. 25 January 2012. Class lecture.
Walma van der Molen JH. “Violence and Suffering in Television News: Toward a Broader Conception of Harmful Television Content for Children”. Pediatrics 113.6 (2004): pp. 1771-1775. Print.
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.
Do violent media produce our youth commit violence. While people believe this I disagree and realize it is just a scapegoat, and believe the previous article state that media helps us deal with negative emotions that humans feels. For people at one time will feel rage or anger and learning how to control these emotions is an important segment of growing up. It is dangerous to hide these feelings and pretend that they don 't against. For then when they pop up in life we will not be able to control our action and that can lead to violence. It is important that kids nowadays view violence for what it is, for it will always be around and one day every person will become a victim of it. The glorification of violence is also not something that is modern, the oldest told stories have excess violence in them. Even back then I believe people have been able to tell the difference between fantasy and real world. So what could be the cause of the increase in violence. There are two things that I believe causes of our current violent world. The first is the breakdown of the family of America. Kids are growing up nowadays with less guidelines and no one to teach them right from wrong. Being forced to conduct adult decisions at younger and younger ages and this is leading to a downward fall of society. The
Torr, James D. Introduction. Violence in the Media. Ed. James D. Torr. San Diego: Greenhaven. 2001. 13-15.
A "hot topic" of discussions today is the issue of violence in the media. After reading about the subject, I am convinced that media violence negatively affects the viewer. The most susceptible are the young.
Javier, Rafael Art., William G. Herron, and Louis Primavera. “Violence and the Media: A Psychological
Acts of minors killing minors across our nation is sadly becoming trendy and familiar. School shootings are tragic and yet that is all that is said about them. It seems as though words of action to stop such tragedies are just that. Educated experts study reasons why such crimes take place, but the findings are rarely put into action. The violence and content that the media of the United States displays to children causes hidden irreversible damage that most deny. What it would take to minimize the spread of school shootings is simple and the results would surprise American society. The content of movies, music, and other forms of entertainment have a serious effect on children because media inadvertently trains their minds for violence and needs to be stopped.
Violence in the media has been a growing problem ever since the emergence of mass media. One wonders however, how violence has become so prominent in our culture, more so than other countries. More minors are being involved in heinous crimes such as murders and armed robberies. Even play on the school ground is getting rougher. There are many factors that play into the increasing violence, such as over population, religious struggles, and race. One factor that plays into the increase of violence would be mass media. Mass media has the power to reach and influence almost every American. Radio, newspaper, and television are all means by which media reaches people. Television however, can be considered the most influential. Ninety-eight percent of Americans have a television in their household. When it first came out it was considered a novelty, there were only a few channels and the signal was not very clear. Now it is available through air broadcast, cable, or satellite. Television has become part of everyday life. With the growing fixation and attraction to violence in the media, children in today’s society are becoming more violent and aggressive than ever before. However, to obtain a true understanding of this problem we must look at all aspect that cause violence, and not just put all of the blame on the media. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t forget the number one violence causing aspect, the media.
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.
What is Media? Did you ever wonder how we can find out information we need, or just want to know what is going on around the world? We use it in all different types of ways to retain the knowledge and communication that we use on a day to day basis. Media is one of the many ways of communication that is used to receive and deliver information to influence people across the world. The use of media is communication being advertised through televisions, radios, internet, magazines and newspapers. These are by far the main resources of how we use media to reach our audiences. Media can be classified as a forum of information that is ready to be released into the world. How we do it is entirely up to the person who withholds that information.
first time in human history most of the stories about people, life, and values are
Also, when television shows that allow the character who commits the crime they do not receive punishment, it teaches children that it is fine to commit a crime because there won't be punishment and kids feel that if they do the same thing as the character from the program who committed the crime they will be a hero, that is why many of the programs that children watch send the message that a conflict always involves a winner and a loser. The media in general reduces the different values of life, also makes violence and even death, which seem funny and unreal that children do not learn to respect themselves and in general, because of the violent television that is influencing them even more. If parents ignore or approve of their child's aggressive behavior, or if they lose control too easily themselves, a TV control plan will not help at all. In the same way, if parents themselves show violent behavior, they serve as role models for their children, too.
Does violence on television have a negative effect on children and teenagers? The violence shown on television has a surprisingly negative effect. Television violence causes children and teenagers to become less caring, to lose their inhibitions, to become less sensitive, and also may cause violent and aggressive behavior.
Media is defined as the means of communication, such as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, which reach or influence people widely. Over the last 50 years, media has transformed our everyday life to the point where we are aware of world events within minutes of their occurrence. Media has progressed to a point never observed before. World topics, such as the environment and global warming, have progressed in media coverage due to new technologies and public interest. Overall, there is more choice, freedom, speed and competition in all aspects of media today.
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.
The term ‘Media’ could today be defined as a collective term for television, radio, cinema and the press. The media are nowadays often discussed as a single entity, because of their combined importance as providers of entertainment and information, their presumed power to mould public opinion and set standards and the growth of cross-ownership among the various sectors. The word was however, originally derived from (i.e. is the plural of) the word ‘medium’, which suggested a medium for the transfer of information. Media are channels through which information is transmitted or through which communication takes place.