Media Violence Promotes Violent Behavior

Media Violence Promotes Violent Behavior Abstract America and media violence have always been a topic for people to discuss. There has never been a definite answer to rather violence in the media is copyed by the public. When people talk about who it effects they are always talking about children. This research paper will explore both sides of the argument. This topic stops parents from letting their children watch certain shows while other parents believe it has no effect. This paper will show that violence in the media has no direct correlation on the rise or fall of violence by children. Introduction Media violence has always been a big topic in America. The debate has never been decided upon. There are multiple studies that say that it does promote violence while others say that it is completely unrelated. Media violence is a form of entertainment that parents believe can effect their children negatively. Even though it is fake in the movies many people believe that children will believe it is cool and want to follow the example. They believe that children will not be able to distinguish between reality and the media. Even though no direct correlation has been made between the two most parents believe that it does but in reality they just do not want their children subjected to violent material. The media has become more daring with the material that they put on television. Over the decades the envelope on what is acceptable has been pushed to the point where there is almost nothing censored and everything is acceptable. Even though there is more violence on TV there is still no clear answer to rather it has promoted violence in children. Literature Review Arguments saying that violence does promote violence Eighty three percent of children under six years old use some form of screen media (Kaiser 2006). That means that almost all children have seen violence on television. Studies show that when children watch violence that they become aggressive which translates into anger which can turn into violence. Short-term exposure increases the likelihood of physically and verbally aggressive behavior, aggressive thoughts, and aggressive emotions (Anderson 2003). Craig Anderson of the department of psychology at Iowa State studies show that even a short amount of time watching violent programs can cause this aggression. So parents that try to limit their child’s viewing in reality does nothing to stopping the aggression that could build and cause violence. People believe that children are taught to solve their problems by being violent towards whoever they do not like. Since the nation has greatly advanced in technology and children have so many more options to be entertained such as video games people believe that the violence is a major problem. Video games have become more realistic and violent in recent years. In violent video games players are encouraged to be as aggressive as possible and to kill as many things as they can. People believe that children are becoming numb to violence which could cause them to not understand the real effects that it has when they use aggression in real life situations. No long term effects have been proven though so even though children could be only subjected to a limited amount of violence from these video games the effects are still there. Those effects have been shown to only last for a short time period. Even though the results are non conclusive it is still untimely up to the parents to decide if a television show or video game is suitable for the child or not. Arguments saying that violence does not promote violence Even though parents might not like the new fondness of violence in the media the violence rate in America has actually gone down in the past years. The overall story is that homicide rates declined substantially (as did rates of interpersonal violence of all sorts)(Blumstein 2000). In a graph by Blumstein he shows that the America homicide rate has dropped signifitely in the past fifteen years. Even though America is more violent then most other countries our nation has personally improved the violence rate. This shows that there is no correlation in the recent violence explosion in the media and real life violence in the nation. So even though adults believe that their children are becoming more violent there is no proof of this. The surgeon general released a report in 2001 on youth violence stating that the types of crimes such as aggravated assault and robbery have gone down as well. Children are more likely to be involved in these minor crimes then they are in homicide. The report also goes on to say that most violent youth will not commit a violent crime. So it seems the only real threat in children watching and playing more violent shows and games is that they will not have human interaction. While parents do want to protect their children from violence their children viewing violence has nothing to do with actual violence in the real world. Boys seem to have more of a problem with aggression than girls. While girls do watch violence boys seem to be the only ones that show aggressive behavior. Children no matter what the age know the difference between reality and fiction. Parents can help with this too by explaining to their children that real life problems can not be solved by violence and that being aggressive can only make things worse.

Implication From this ongoing battle on violence people can see that there is no direct facts stating that violence and aggression in the youth comes from the media. Even though this debate will probably be never ending parents will just have to decide for themselves what they believe and adjust their children’s entertainment intake accordingly. Peoples opinions will probably never change once their mind is made up. These studies will probably always go on with no definite answer even though violence rates in the youth have gone down.

Recommendations Some people have proposed that to make everybody happy tighter ratings need to be put on violence in the media. This has taken place with ratings becoming stricter and video games with a higher rating people need to have identification to purchase. While this can cut down on younger children coming into contact with violence it can still happen. The nation is doing what it can to keep an abundance of violence out of the media. Televisions are putting riskier shows on later at night while networks are completely editing out violence from movies. Video game companies are putting stricter ratings on their products as are big movie studios. Since people have started performing these studies adults have become more aware as to what children are taking in and how many hours of it.

Personal Thoughts Personally I believe that media violence has no direct correlation to violence in the youth. Even though crime rates have dropped I would still believe that it was not related. Children today are more in touch with the world and people around them. They understand that being aggressive is not the way to get what they want out of life. There are always those select few that will be against the crowd and there always will be. There will be those kids that do think being aggressive will get them their way. As a whole though today’s youth understand the consequences of their actions and violence. The only real problem with violence in the media is that its entertaining. Since it is so entertaining this will keep children in the house and away from other things they could be doing. I do believe that parent’s should regulate the hours of game play and television watching that their children have. Not for the violence but so children can learn to not be distracted by technology. Aggression comes more from the way children are raised and the real life examples that they have to follow. Children follow real life examples more than they do television shows and video games. Conclusion In conclusion violence is a problem in the United States but the reason is still unknown. Many people are trying to figure out how to decrease the rate of violence in the youth. Media violence is not the reason why children have violence tendencies. Empathy is the only real worry with violence in the media. Children do still need to realize that it is bad and that it should not be repeated or used as a way to get what they want. The focus on violence in the youth needs to be focused on family life and individuals more than anything. Violence in the media has nothing to do with violence among the youth in the United States.

Works Cited

Potter, B.B. Health and human services, (2001). Youth violence

Blumstein, A. (2000). The crime drop in America.

Anderson, C.A. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological science in the public, 4(3), 81-110.

Kaiser, . (2006, May). Media violence and children. Retrieved from http://actagainstviolence.apa.org/mediaviolence/index.html

Cited: Potter, B.B. Health and human services, (2001). Youth violence Blumstein, A. (2000). The crime drop in America. Anderson, C.A. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological science in the public, 4(3), 81-110. Kaiser, . (2006, May). Media violence and children. Retrieved from http://actagainstviolence.apa.org/mediaviolence/index.html