Argumentative essay - violence caused by the media - pro and con + essay

Pro:

brutal, cruel, violent videogames, tv-shows, movies, magazines, news reports...

it's said there have already been incidents because of the media

children are easily influenced

Con:

* personal background (e.g. family, friends, etc.)

* prerequisites at work (such as frustration, etc.)

* deficits in one Oes personal character

* society Oes circumstances and prerequisites (e.g. social environment, media)

* the easy access to firearms

* a high level of urbanity

* a high level of poverty in city centres

* and the decline of social structures.

+ there are several statistics argumentating both pro and con

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Violence in the media appears to be a current issue. Almost every month there happens a terrible incident, wherefore the media gets blamed. One example is Erfurt, where a german student ran amok. I guess these extreme incidents of violence are only the tip of the iceberg, but do they really happen because of the media?

First of all aggression doesn't appear out of nowhere; there has to be a cause. One cause is the media, but there are also personal backgrounds (e.g. family, friends), conditions at work (e.g. frustration), deficits (in one's personal character) and other socially circumstances like the media or the social environment. So when there's a violent incident, the media is the real cause only in a small percentage of the incidents, but generally gets blamed for all of them.

Aggression has become an entertainment in today's media. All forms of aggression are shown in the media, such as on TV, in videogames and in books or magazines. It's a fact that newspapers which inform people of sensational incidents, especially of violence, have the highest circulation. This gives rise to reflection on a new topic, which is the ambivalence of aggression. On the one hand people are faced with it on TV every day but on the other hand society forces them to hide it.

But would it be better if people were allowed to yell at others or to beat others. In our society acting like this would appear as a lack of self-control, impatience etc., but sometimes people just need a way to get rid of their aggressions and I'm of the opinion that for example playing a video game doesn't heighten a person's chance of running amok but even reduce it. So the media can also be a resort for today's violence.

A similiar example is TV, which of course shows many cruel, violent movies and there are even news reports which are extremely brutal, but if a person has the necessary background and knowledge, he will never act more violently after watching such movies or reports. In point of fact he will even act in a more educated and more ideal way. An educated person would tell his friends that they should fight with words not with hands if there was a problem.

Some parents began to select carefully the programs on TV which are according to the age of their children. I guess that's a good way to completely eliminate aggression from the media. But in most of the families, where the parents aren't at home all the time, it's nearly impossible to do that. From my point of view it would be a much better way to prepare the next generation towards the problems of aggression in society. So there are some ways how children could be brought up without aggression of the media. Therefore I am sure that these children the parents care for would never be part of such a violent incident. It's a fact that mostly the lower classes, the uneducated and the discriminated minorities get hackled up by the media. Especially poorer people are concerned being faced with the riches of others. This can lead to frustration, resignation and, in extremer forms, to aggression as a response to frustration. In many cases values like confidence, an inner balance and friendship don Oet exist anymore. Of course nobody is allowed to say 'Your aren't educated -> you're a criminal'. It's just a fact that the percentage of people acting violent is much higher in the poorer districts than in other districts. And sadly that's the way prejudices rise.

So, to sum up, the media is only one cause which leads to violence. People from the lower classes can more easily get affected by this kind of violence. Some people perhaps don't even realize it if they're doing something which is against our rules of society. But the media will never influence a normal, educated person in a bad way. The main function of the media is to entertain people and I am sure nothing will stop TV showing brutal movies as long as only a small percentage of people gets influenced badly by it.

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suggestion for improvement: enlarge some of the arguments,

go more in detail