Mass Media Violence Affecting Children
ENG 1102 Krause 1
Mr. Little
Mary Krause
2/7/2012
Violence affecting Children in the Mass Media
There are many problems with mass media today. I think the worst issue with mass media is, the way children are depicted and the affect that it has on children. The violence in the media greatly affects children in a negative way, especially when it is children on TV doing violent acts. What it all boils down to is, do you really want children to be treated this way? Is it ok for children to act out what they see on TV? Parents should not allow their children to watch violent contents. Television networks need to take violence out children’s TV shows and show more violence warnings before certain shows.
There are a lot of controversial children’s shows on TV. Many of them are controversial because of the amount of violence in them. There are many pros and cons for children watching TV. Although I think the cons largely weigh out the pros because of all the violence. Children think that if it’s on TV its cool, so since there is a lot of violence children act on that. “Extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater aggressiveness”, says the A.A.C.A.P. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Krause 2
Research shows that the way violence is portrayed can make it more or less likely that a child will adopt violent attitudes or become violent. For example, violence that is committed by “good guys,” that is shown as justified, and that shows little visible pain or harm is more likely to be imitated than violence committed by evil characters or violence that brings pain or punishment. The National Television Violence Study, which recently released its Year Three report on the most representative and extensive sample of television programs ever studied, showed that not only as violence remained at a high level on television (3 out of every 5 programs contain violence), the way most violence is portrayed is destined to promote
Mr. Little
Mary Krause
2/7/2012
Violence affecting Children in the Mass Media
There are many problems with mass media today. I think the worst issue with mass media is, the way children are depicted and the affect that it has on children. The violence in the media greatly affects children in a negative way, especially when it is children on TV doing violent acts. What it all boils down to is, do you really want children to be treated this way? Is it ok for children to act out what they see on TV? Parents should not allow their children to watch violent contents. Television networks need to take violence out children’s TV shows and show more violence warnings before certain shows.
There are a lot of controversial children’s shows on TV. Many of them are controversial because of the amount of violence in them. There are many pros and cons for children watching TV. Although I think the cons largely weigh out the pros because of all the violence. Children think that if it’s on TV its cool, so since there is a lot of violence children act on that. “Extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater aggressiveness”, says the A.A.C.A.P. (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry)
Krause 2
Research shows that the way violence is portrayed can make it more or less likely that a child will adopt violent attitudes or become violent. For example, violence that is committed by “good guys,” that is shown as justified, and that shows little visible pain or harm is more likely to be imitated than violence committed by evil characters or violence that brings pain or punishment. The National Television Violence Study, which recently released its Year Three report on the most representative and extensive sample of television programs ever studied, showed that not only as violence remained at a high level on television (3 out of every 5 programs contain violence), the way most violence is portrayed is destined to promote
Cited: 1. Cantor, J. (1998). Forthcoming. Mommy, I’m Scared: How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them. San Diego: Harvest Books/Harcourt Brace. 2. Federman, J. (Ed. 1998). Executive Summary National Television Violence Study, Volume 3, Santa Barbara, CA: Center for Communication and Social Policy, University of California, Santa Barbara. 3. National Television Violence Study (Volumes 1, 2, and 3, 1996. 1997, and 1998, respectively). Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage Publications. 4. Paik, H., & Comstock, G. (1994). The Effects of Television Violence on Antisocial Behavior: A Meta-analysis. Communication Research, 21(4), 516–539.