The Effects of Violence in the Media

1089 Words3 Pages

Violence in the media seems to affect many children and young adults in our society and this should be a concern to parents. It seems like violence plays a role in the lives of many people. Many innocent children are affected by the negative things that happen in the world we live in. Violence seen in television is overlooked a lot of the time because TV is usually a tool that is used to keep children entertained so parents can have time for themselves and most of the time the kids are unsupervised. Consequently, the kids may watch what they want and a lot of the times they are exposed to unnecessary violence. I believe that this is a major problem and has a great effect on the children and eventually can affect their lives.

The effect of violence in television and the effect of violent behavior is cause by video games in children. Most television channels try to protect themselves and deny their involvement in childhood violence. Sadly, there seems to be a correlation between the two and this may be one of the reasons why there is so much shocking violence in America. . A psychology professor of Iowa State University, Craig A. Anderson did a study on the effect of violence video games on aggressive behavior where he explains, “that exposure to violent video games increases physiological arousal and aggression-related thoughts and feelings. Playing violent video games also decreases pro-social behavior.” (Anderson).

For example, in the last couple of years we have seen shootings and stabbings in schools and college campuses, as well as in Movie Theater and malls. The youngsters are being born into a world where everything is on their hands where, photos, videos, messages, video games, rap songs, of which for the mos...

... middle of paper ...

... Also, preview the programs before you watch it with your child. A good idea too, is to set up schedule to watch the program you liked with your family. This is not something that can be fixed in a day or two, it needs to start with the parents but it can be done.

References:

1. Anderson, C.A., & Bushman, B.J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological Science, 12, 353-359.

2. Jennifer Rosenberg (2010). About.com - New York Times Company. http://history1900s.about.com/od/famouscrimesscandal.

3. Emily, K. Smith. (2014) ‘It was a joke’: Teenager accused of plotting a ‘new Columbine’ massacre laughs in court as he claims his threat to shoot children at his school wasn't serious.

Open Document