Should Violent Media be held responsible for increasing youth aggression?
Many people wish to place the blame for any increase in youth aggression solely on the violence in the media to which they are exposed. There have been many examinations into how violence in media can adversely affect childhood development, increase hostility and promote undesirable behavior. Yet, historically, there has always been violence throughout human development including abuse by parents to which children have been subjected. People are exposed to a multitude of personal experiences which shape them as they grow to adulthood. Taking individual experiences into account is thus imperative when attempting to assign blame from any outside stimuli. Most studies found on this subject rarely take into account individual or environmental factors in the adolescent and preadolescent stages. The studies almost never examine the benefits that media, violent or otherwise, can offer during childhood development, but focus on the negatives. Children, who can be some of the more vicious beings on the planet, can also be the most giving.
Children tend to make choices based on satisfying their own wants and needs. Children’s behavior adjusts based on “concrete consequences” or whether they will be “rewarded or punished.” However, long-term behavioral adjustment only happens if children are taught the mores and social conventions expected by their society. If a child is caught doing something they have been shown is taboo or destructive by cultural etiquette they will often feel guilt and attempt to avoid that behavior in the future, but not always. Research has shown that children learn by example, which is called “observational learning.” Children tend to learn from...
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... and counterproductive moral messages which the youth can be exposed that may drastically affect the more sensitive among the populous. Children around the world, witness horrific atrocities in their daily life, but the percentages that react aggressively are small in comparison to the amount of violence in which they are inundated. It is everything that we experience which makes up the whole person, not just what media dictates to us. Even though extended exposure to extremely violent and graphically realistic media may increase the possibility of violent and/or aggressive behaviors, media is only one of a multitude of factors impacting the developing youth. So, in conclusion, it is not so much the exposure to violent media but the unsupervised inordinate amount of exposure to gratuitous and graphically realistic violence that may affect the children of the world.
In “Violent Media is Good for Kids” Gerard Jones introduces us to his fearful and lonesome childhood. He lived in a world where he was taught to be the violence fearing, and passive boy his parents wanted him to be. But, when one of his mother’s students gave him a Marvel comic book, his fearfulness was transformed into inspiration. He found a way to escape these discouraging feelings through the “stifled rage and desire for power” (Jones 285) that he had newly found. The popular comic book hero “The Hulk” freed him from his passive and lonely persona. Throughout the article he cites his testimonies and the testimonies of others as examples; and shows how they used violence as a positive realm for “overcoming powerlessness.” (Jones 287) Ultimately, Jones is trying to convey the message that violent media can provide kids with psychological tools for coping with the problems that they face as they grow. Although there are slight hints of biased evidence, “Violent Media is Good for Kids” should be considered for the top prize for persuasive essays.
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...
In “Violent Media Is Good for Kids,” Gerard Jones states that violence is good for children. Even with all the bad things people have said about the media and the effect of violence on kids, it has helped many kids reveal their feelings and their fears. In Jones article, he uses his own experience as an example of himself when he was a kid. Also, he uses his son and other kids experience as an example. Most kids use their imagination to pretend to be a protagonist they like. From reading this article it has helped me understand more that not all media violence are harmful for children. Violent media have helped kids express their feelings in a good way. With my own experience as a kid, I can relate to Jones experience. In his essay he uses diction, tone, organization and examples.
In today’s world there has been huge increases in violent acts being done. Kids are turning into to bullies, murders, thieves and more. This can be happening for many different reasons. One could say it is the way the children are raised, what they see going on in their neighborhoods, what they are watching on television, seeing online, or on their video games. Everyone reacts to things differently and the violent media kids see can have different effects on each of them. According to the article “Violent Media is Good for Kids” written by Gerard Jones, violent media and other forms of ‘creative violence’ help far more children than they hurt. Gerald Jones gives examples through the article on experiences that are personal to him where violent media has been helpful but he does not give enough facts to make the reader believe it helps more children than it hurts.
The debate about violence in media, such as video games, has been going on for years now, however, there is no definite answer on what to do about it. Should adolescents be able to differentiate between video game fantasy violence and real life? Is it partially the parents’ fault for not controlling their access to these games? Perhaps there is more to it than just the scientific side of things. Adolescents should be able to differentiate violence in video games from real life and be able to recognize patterns in gender role and age. In turn, adults should be held responsible for what the adolescents play by controlling access to this media in the first place.
The video hosted by Bill Moyer that we watched in class on March 4th involved violence in the mass media and the effects that it may have on children in modern day society. Video games sometimes display graphic violence as well as violent verbal messages that often convey a message of appeal to children. Movies often combine humor, violence, and/or sex in order to be more appealing to the audience. Usually two or more of these factors are used. Whether it is through these sources or as something as simple as the evening news, violence is everywhere in the media today and displays messages of approval that American society may not realize.
According the Centerwall (1992), the average child aged 2-5 in 1990 watched 27 hours of
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.
Children have been seen to act in a free manner, worrying mostly about themselves, over time learning to consider other’s views and feelings when completing an action. Typical adult actions, however, are almost entirely controlled by thoughts and feelings aware of the world around them. Children act on impulses, while adults have been mentally trained to act against these impulses, acting in a way to appear acceptable in their society, generally. There is a lot of pressure on adults to conform to act a certain way, as there is for children, but only adults feel this pressure. Children are somewhat aware of what they can get away with, as figuring this out is one of the basic ways they learn how to act. By the time they reach adulthood they understand what is acceptable at what times and what is not. Whether they conform to these standards or not is their choice, but they are aware of the fact that the standards do exists. Others around them know that they are aware of this, and have expectations, increasing the pressure to act that way. Children aren’t expected to be as aware, and other’s expectations are lower for them, allowing children more freedom under this pressure. So as children act on their impulses and learn what is acceptable, they begin to understand how to control their actions. This knowledge is always present in their actions as they become adults, as they now wear the pressure of conformity with every step they
Fisher, Deborah A. "Television Violence Contributes to Aggressive Behavior in Young People." 2007. Opposing Viewpoints. .
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).
The first effect of mass media on teenagers is violence. Aggressive behavior is the first example of violence in the media. Aldridge argues that, teens who watch violent movies may behave in an aggressive way towards others for example bullying and fighting in school. This is important because there are high risks of teenage developing into aggressive behavior that may last into adulthood if they are not being supervised on what they see on TV (2010). Fearful of the world may also occur for those who watch violence television programs. According to children and television violence, teens that are being over exposed to violent on television may worry about becoming a target of violence. The relevance of this idea is that teenagers will more likely grow up thinking that the world is a scary place and that something bad will happen to them (2008). Imitative behavior is another major effect of seeing violence in the media. According to Weldon, two teens from Johnstown, Colorado, killed a 7 year old girl by beating her to death. The teens claimed that they were imitating moves from a video game called “Mortal Combat.” This is an example case which shows that violence in the video game may lead to an imitating behavior (2007).
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.
...onditions that ensure an adequate counterbalance increasing consumption in some cases, end up having a negative effect on children. Children learn best through demonstration followed by imitation, with rewards for doing things the right way. While not all are affected the same way, it can be said that, in general, violence in the media affects attitudes, values and behaviors of users. You run the risk that children end up understanding that it is reasonably practicable to resort to violence. The fear is that the models of aggressive behavior can be considered suitable. Thus, in an investigation, a good proportion of children (third) defined as normal acts of violence they had seen him mightily little. It is not; here is a risk of direct imitation, but rather a change in terms of reference: where extreme violence appears to be normal any more light may seem harmless.