Summary #1
Television violence, and media violence in general, has been a controversial topic for several years. The argument is whether young children are brainwashed into committing violent real-world crimes because of violent and pugnacious behavior exposed in mass media. In his article “No Real Evidence for TV Violence Causing Real Violence”, Jonathan Freedman, a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and author of “Media Violence and Its Effect on Aggression: Assessing the Scientific Evidence”, discusses how television violence, claimed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), does not cause real-world aggression among adolescents. The FCC determined to restrict violent television programming to late night hours only because their “scientific research” proves of increasing aggression among young viewers (Freedman Par. 2). Freedman goes on to explain that the FCC has no substantial scientific evidence stating that there is a correlation between fictional violence and real-world aggression among young audiences. He has completed research in 1984 and 2002 on the relationship between media violence to actual acts of violence on the street. Because he has completed research projects related to this topic, Freedman’s statistical evidence shows that there is a reduction in youth violence and it essentially does not cause real-world crimes (Freedman Par. 1). The FCC continues to claim that exposure to media violence does in fact increase aggression, and yet their readers continue to believe their fabrications. Freedman argues that people who research media violence tend to disregard and omit the opposing facts. No one type of violence is more effective on aggression than another type. There is no evidence showi...
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Fisher, Deborah A. "Television Violence Contributes to Aggressive Behavior in Young People." 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. .
Freedman, Jonathan. "Television Violence Does Not Contribute to Aggressive Behavior in Young People." April 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. .
Motion Picture Association of America. Motion Picture Association of America. 2011. .
Friedrich-Cofer, L. & Huston, A.C. (1986). Television violence and aggression: The debate continues. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 364- 371.
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...
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.
There is a "general consensus among social scientists that television violence increases the propensity to real-life aggression among some viewers," and yet, paradoxically, "there is presently little evidence indicating that violence enhances program popularity" (Diener & DeFour, 1978). Top government studies insist, "violent material is popular" (Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior, 1972). Differing conclusions may be viable. One leading social psychologist flatly states, "evidence suggests that violence on television is potentially dangerous, in that it serves as a model for behavior -- especially for children" ...
addition the average American child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television including 16,000 murders before the age of 18 (DuRant, 445). Polls show that three-quarters of the public find television entertainment too violent. When asked to select measures that would reduce violent crime “a lot”, Americans chose restrictions on television violence more often than gun control. Media shows too much violence that is corrupting the minds children, future leaders of our society. In a study of population data for various countries sh...
Lahann, Jeff. "Does Violence on Television Influence Young People to Commit Crime." By Aurora97. N.p., 10 July 2009. Web. 06 Apr. 2014.
...er factors have also shown to be influential in this cause and effect relationship between television violence and violent behaviour. Such factors as age, gender, parental influence and amount of viewing contribute to how influential television violence is on an individual’s behaviour. Findings are still however inconclusive in this debate, although a large proportion of the evidence does appear to strongly favour the hypothesis that viewing violence on television does have an effect on a viewer’s violent behaviour. As a Washington Post article states "the preponderance of evidence from more than 3000 research studies over 2 decades shows that the violence portrayed on television influences the attitudes and behaviour of children who watch it" (Oldenburg 1992 cited at http://maple.lemoyne.edu/~hevern/ericdig.html).
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.
American Psychological Association. "Violence on Television. What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?" APA Online. www.apa.org/publicinfo/violence.html. Accessed October 23, 2001.
As early as 1958 investigations were being conducted of the effects of television on children. During this time, the researchers found that most of the television content was extremely violent. In almost half of the television hours monitored, the programs main focus contained violence. The common theme that was seen throughout the programs were crime, shooting, fighting, and murder. The universal definition of violence used was, "Any overt depiction of the use of physical force, or the credible threat of such force, to intend to physically harm an animated being or group of beings." In this investigation, Wilbur Schramm concluded that under some conditions, some violent television could effect some children. For the most part, most television is neither helpful or harmful to most kids under most circumstances. As you can see this conclusion is quiet vague, and does not give a lot of crucial information for us to correct and improve. Schramm and his colleagues came up with a solution for parents to provide a warm, loving, secure family environment for their children, and they would have little to worry about.
According to the Article ?Violence on Television? published by the American Psychological Association at the website http://www.apa.org/pubinfo/violence.html, ?violent programs on television lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch those programs.? That's the word from a 1982 report by the National Institute of Mental Health, a report that confirmed and extended an earlier study done by the Surgeon General. As a result of these and other research findings, the American Psychological Association passed a resolution in February 1985 informing broadcasters and the public of the potential dangers that viewing violence on television can have for children. Psychological research has shown three major effects of seeing violence on television: ?children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, children may be more fearful of the world around them, and children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others?. Children who watch a lot of TV are less bothered by violence in general, and less likely to see anything wrong with it. The article gave the example that in several studies, those who watched a violent program instead of a nonviolent one were slower to intervene or to call for help when, a little later, they saw younger children fighting or playing destructively.
Frazier, Stacy L., and Others And. “The Effects of Television Violence and Early Harsh Discipline on Children’s Social Cognitions and Peer-Directed Aggression.” (1997): ERIC. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. .
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.
Furthermore, television violence causes aggressive behavior in children. Many people believe that children who watch violent television programs exhibit more aggressive behavior than that exhibited by children who do not (Kinnear 23). According to the results of many studies and reports, violence on television can lead to aggressive behavior in children (Langone 50). Also, when television was introduced into a community of children for the first time, researchers observed a rise in the level of physical and verbal aggression among these children (Langone 51). The more television violence viewed by a child, the more aggressive the child is (“Children” 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.