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violent video games effect on teenagers
us school shootings and gun laws
effects of violent media on children
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I go to gross movies and listen to heavy metal and rap music and I haven't killed anybody, does that make me a potential killer?” These things provoke anger, temper, and crummy attitudes. Gross visuals and music dull sensitivities. They teach the wrong way to handle problems. Make no mistake about this. No matter what defenders of this junk may say, violent movies, video games, and gross music have consequences that include more arguing, hitting, abuse, and other violent behavior; sometimes even killings like happened in Littleton. However, instead of focusing on the real problem, most of the attention has been focused on guns. Yes, these boys used guns. They also made and used bombs. Obviously, kids can't have guns at school. But weak solutions about controlling gun sales would not have stopped these kids from getting guns-or from buying nails, propane and other things they used to make the bombs. These kids broke a dozen laws in doing what they did. Another law or two on the books would not have prevented the massacre in Littleton. Common threads in this and other episodes of school violence have been that the kids have watched lots of violent movies and videos, listened to gross music, and played violent video games. I'm more worried about filling kids minds with gross violence in videos, movies, and video games than I am about guns. I'm also very concerned about the disconnect from parents and the lack of respect for authority. Parents need to take charge. Obviously this needs to be with love, but parents need to be in charge and know what is going on. Other than guns being the quick diagnosis and thing to fix, all this awful violence seems to be a big mystery to so many. This isn't a mystery. There's no mystery about it. If there's no respect and if kids' heads are filled with evil, violence, and sex--which is what has been happening, why is anyone surprised about this horrific behavior? A large part of the responsibility for the violence that happened in Littleton must be placed on the producers of increasingly gross and violent movies, music, and video games. When kids go to a movie, watch television, or play video games, they become part of what they see and hear. Soak this stuff in their heads long enough and it becomes a part of the way they think, act, and live.
On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on Columbine Highschool killing twelve fellow classmates and one teacher. School violence changes our youths morals. From bullying to peer pressure, youth are exposed to school violence everyday. What is school violence? School violence varies from accounts of “death, homicide, suicide, weapon related violence, in the US.” (c1) School violence can occur to and from school, while attending a school sponsored event, on a bus, or at an activity.
Family environment and the press are two major influences resulting in the recent tragic school shootings. As much as society continues to focus the killing rampages on factors such as television and music, what children are exposed to in reality contributes to the violence. The most recent school shooting in Michigan involved a six-year-old first grader who killed a classmate with a .22 caliber pistol. The news coverage had vanished after two or three days, and I was left wondering what had happened. Considering the fact that the media wore the Columbine incident out, I wanted to know why they did not pay more attention to this school shooting. As evidence did arrive, it was discovered that the child lived in a household where cocaine, heroin, and many other illegal drugs were commonplace. Also in this “home” guns were easily accessible to the child. Children growing up in this type of environment certainly are likely to be held accountable for future violence. Even though I am against the news media presenting too much school violence, Americans should have been deeply disturbed by this shooting because of the child’s young age. The Michigan shooting should have enlightened Americans to the dilemma we face in this country. Two weeks after the Columbine High School shooting, information on the mass murder was still being broadcast on television. The press was feeding young viewers ideas on how to kill their classmates. News was reported how the teenage murderers acquired information regarding building bombs, obtaining guns, smuggling guns into the school, and proceeding to kill their classmates. A mentally unstable teenager could simply watch these news reports and write a book entitled, “How to Slay Your Classmates”. This onslaught was ridiculous and the news coverage should not have been permitted to continue for countless weeks. Society has determined three reasons on which to blame the shootings. First, the nation blamed it on television’s violent programs. Following that, Americans gave the music recording companies the evil eye as well as attacking the gun manufacturers. All of these reasons involve material objects that are unable to think for themselves. Televisions and CD players do not control themselves, people control them. Finally, boundaries controlling the television programs children view should be set by the parents. The same explanation applies to firearms. How can it be a gun’s fault that a person killed another human being?
Some teenagers go to violent movies and listen to heavy metal and rap music. Some teens argue that they have not killed anyone. These teens are missing the point. Television teaches teens to handle their problems in the wrong way. Some ways include arguing, hitting, abusing, and initiating other violent behavior-sometimes, even killing like what happened in Littleton. Little boys all the way up to teenagers have always loved guns. They started out with BB guns and end up with real guns. Even with gun control there was no way to stop the kids at Littleton. I am also concerned about the disconnection from the parents and the lack of respect for authority. Parents need to take charge and know where their children are and what they are doing. If the kids have no respect and their heads are filled with evil, violence, and sex, why is anyone surprised about this horrible behavior? When children and teens watch all the violence on television, they might forget that it is pretend and think of it as reality.
This is not to diminish the seriousness of school shootings or deny that they exist altogether – simply that the fear is disproportionate to the actual threat. In Reinarman’s (1994) investigation of drug scares, he found that one of the major components of the social construction of drug scares is that they are based on a kernel of truth. In the case of video games, the kernels of truth were that (a) school shootings occur, and (b) some studies found small but significant correlations between exposure to media violence and aggressive behavior (Sternheimer, 2007). Nonetheless, there is evidence that suggests that school shootings are extremely rare as well as multiple issues regarding how the media interprets the previously mentioned studies. First, according to Burns and Crawford (1999), a child has a greater chance of being struck by lightning than being killed at school. Second, between 1993 and 2003, homicide arrest rates actually decreased by 77 percent among juveniles (Sternheimer, 2007). Third, Sternheimer points out that the aforementioned studies do not imply causation – they are merely correlative studies that show a link between media violence and aggressive behavior. Therefore, it is extremely possible that the link occurs opposite of what is sensationalized in the media – that
“Although the perpetrators of the school shootings at Littleton and other campuses have been surrounded by dangerous influences, such as television and the Internet, to which they do not know how to respond, they are responsible for their own behavior. The way to improve society is to improve individuals. Society, in particular parents, must take steps to ensure that children know the difference between right and wrong” (The Absence of Public Morality Causes School Shootings). While knowing the majority of shooters are strongly influenced by their surroundings, parents should be wise as to monitor what their children read, watch and view on the internet. The ability and ease to access a firearm should be sustained as well. Although guns will not directly harm anyone, if the weapon falls into the hands of an adolescent – whom has never handled a gun before – a very serious problem may arise. Parents need to learn to respect the age and development of their child and peach about gun safety, what is right and what is wrong, should their child start showing interest in
Violence in our schools is an issue that has become more prominent in the last few years. News articles about violent deeds within the school setting are on the increase. Our society demands that schools are safe for our children. In order to maintain a peaceful environment for all, we must address and inform our schools, children, and parents as well as the neighboring communities about the issue of school violence. As David W. Johnson, the author of Reducing School Violence states, “To eliminate violence and resolve destructive conflicts, schools must first admit that such conflicts are out of control.” (Johnson 7) Schools in general must identify with these issues in order to deal with them.
obtaining weapons to ensure their safety. Nearly half of all males and one-third of all
be affected by school violence due to two reasons. First, middle school students are in an
Education is a part of life, and everyone is required to go to school, up until adulthood. Without education, the likelihood of being successful is slim to none. Every kid dreams of being wealthy, having a solid career, and taking care of family. Career days in elementary school, is most looked forward to next to field trips. Whether the child wants to be a doctor, police officer, or even a fireman, the professionals in that specific field will state that going to school is imperative. Every parent wants their child to have the most successful education. Any parent will go above and beyond to make sure that their child does not fail and is treated just as fair as the next. With that being said, private and public institutions should have the
Violence in the media has long been a possible cause for people to commit violent acts. Everyone has seen a violent television show, watched a violent movie or listened to music depicting graphic violence. These forms of media are available to people of all ages across the United States. A major cause of high school violence may be discovered here. Columbine high school shooters Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were avid listeners to violent music such as Slipknot and KMFDM. Both groups feature very dark and twisted lyrics, which the shooters listened too without a doubt. Are the lyrics in the music to blame for the violent behavior of two of the group’s listeners? Another possible source of the hatred that some shooters have may lie in the television shows they watched. Violent television shows are everywhere today; many primetime or late night shows carrying “Parental Discretion Is Advised” disclaimers. In all honesty the disclaimers shown there are more likely to draw younger viewers in to watch the show, rather than keeping them away. “I don’t know if it made me want to watch it more, it’s just like, I don’t know it’s kinda like an advertisement for some cool shit [especially swearing and guns]” Bradley University Freshman Jim Hering said. It seems to be very clear that younger Americans are going to want to watch such shows, regardless of the warnings that the television station puts on before a particular show. Exposing young Americans to such violent shows as “NYPD...
Another school shooting goes down and is preyed upon by the media for a gripping new story. Jonesboro, Arkansas, West Paducah, Kentucky, and Littleton, Colorado all have one thing in common. All these places are sites where school shootings have occurred. Why do school shootings happen and who is to blame when they do happen?. These are two questions that are still trying to be answered. Some people say that school shootings are due to the excess marketing of violence in movies, television, video games, and music. "'There is a difference between what one has the right to do and what is socially responsible', he says. It appears that they have targeted a mass audience for this material, and then they're 'horrified' when it's discovered what they've done. They're being duplictous-in the end, they're lying" says Andrew Schwartzman, president of public interest law firm the Media Access Group(Holland). I tend to agree with this point but I believe that there is a bigger and more substantial factor when looking at school shootings. I believe that parents have to take most of the blame for school shootings.
As a responsible adult would you ever knowingly send a child into a dangerous situation? The majority of adults would say of course not, but unfortunately this is exactly what happens up to five days a week through much of the school year. Sadly, many school aged children are subjected to violence at school on a daily basis. The Center of Disease Control and Prevention, reports that, “School violence is youth violence that occurs on school property, on the way to or from school or during school-sponsored events (Youth Violence).” Students may be physically abused or emotionally humiliated at the very place that adults send them to thrive and grow. School violence is a real crisis that can affect many aspects of a child’s education
To begin with, parents should carefully monitor their children’s viewing habits, because the body of empirical research connecting children's exposure to media violence with subsequent increases in their aggressive and violent behavior was already above average by the 1970s (Bushman, & Huesmann 6). Infrequent exposure is not likely to produce lasting consequences, but parents need to be urged to protect their children against the kinds of repeated exposures that heavy play with violent video games or immersion in violent TV programs is likely to produce. One example of what can happen is Isabelle Martin. She grew up in a rough neighborhood, and had only her mom to raise her. She grew up around countless acts of violence in her neighborhood. She never had a steady job, and was always socializing with the wrong crowd of people. She began to do drugs and her life became and downward spiral. Therefore, parents should consider the district around them. Children are easily i...
One of the first steps to changing our gun culture is to take gun violence out of the media. Kids are exposed to violence in television, video games and movies everyday. Dr Norman B Anderson of the American Psychological Association says there was a link between Adam Lanza’s (the gunman of the Sandy Hook shooting) violent video game obsession and his killing spree that cost far too many innocent lives. A study done at Brock University showed children and teens who played violent video games over a long period of time showed increased development of aggressive behaviors. This goes without saying that there must be a decrease of violence in the media. The kids watching violence on television are the future of society. They cannot all be aggressive, violent people who believe that shooting civilians is okay or stealing cars is something to take lightly. We must change this by
Violence is a very important issue that is coming to the front in today's school systems. School violence is a `complex social policy problem' and is considered very complicated and hard to define. My paper is on school violence and the methods in which the government and schools can provide support and/or programs to help stem the recent rash of incidents. These steps include: use of `less violent' materials, peer mediation interventions, police presence and action, individualizing of the troublemaker(s), safety measures [in schools, and at home], and raising deviancy awareness. Through using these methods, hopefully we can start to stem the amount of, and types of violence that has been ruling the schoolyards these days. It is important to provide for these changes, so that the youth of today can become safer.