Correlation Between Media Violence and Aggression Essay

Television is the mainstream of our culture. Violence on television has been a topic of conflict since before 1950. There have been repeated debates on how to protect children from the harmful effects of violence on television. Television is one form of modern media that influences the everyday lives of people. Televised violence has a major effect on how children perceive the world and how they behave. "American television has become the most violent in the world. It is for this reason why researchers have focused their attention toward television violence" (Cantor & Hoffner 424-4-25). Children enjoy watching television and now with the increased technology of cable and movie

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.

Violent media has been proven time and time again over the past 60 years to cause increased aggression in children and young adults. The long term and short term exposure to violent media has been shown to cause “increased feelings of hostility, expectations that others will behave aggressively, desensitization to the pain of others, and increased likelihood of interacting and responding to others with violence” (Committee on Public Education). One of the most famous experiments done on the subject was done in 1961 by the psychologist Albert Bandura at Stanford University. In this experiment children between the ages of three and six were put in a playroom containing a many activities and toys (Cherry). One of those toys was a bobo doll; a 5 foot tall inflatable doll. An adult would enter and either play with the child from a complete ten minutes, the control group, or at some point during those ten minutes begin beating up the doll, the experimental group. They would also say things such as “pow” and “he keeps coming back for more” while attacking it (Cherry).

I found that this review examined just how aggression and aggressive behavior is depicted in the media and how this impacts society’s perspectives and thoughts when it comes to aggression behavior. There was a review of the literature by the authors, in which they analyzed the relational and physical aspects of aggression in many media aspects (film, broadcast television, music, books, and video games). Findings across media types, the evidence finds that both physical and relational aggression are portrayed often and in ways that may contribute to continued aggression. Also, although there are studies finding no impact of exposure to media aggression, the results discovered that watching relational and physical aggression in the media contributes to aggressive conduct. Important media aggression beliefs are assessed and some of those beliefs are administered to relational aggression media effects Coyne, S. M., Stockdale, L., & Nelson, D. A. (2012).

Exposure to television violence, both on fictional programs and news reports, makes the world seem like a frightening place and can lead to nightmare and sleep problems. Viewing violence can lead to children being afraid of becoming a victim of violence (Clarke-Pearson, 1997). It is likely that children who witness violence in their homes or communities are especially vulnerable to media influences, as each exposure validates the other and confirms the role violence plays in settling disputes (Augustyn, Parker, Groves, & Zuckerman, 1998). There is little prosocial programming for children to consider alternative methods to violence and the consequences of violence (Sege & Dietz, 1997; Spivak & Harvey, 1998).

With the evolving of the technology, children easy access to the variety of these different media forms, many of which have high levels of violent content. Nowadays, just by clicking on the screen, children observe tons of news regarding to murders, beatings and sexual assaults. Eron and his colleagues conducted the research show that before finishing the elementary school, the child would have witnessed 8000 murders (Eron, 1993). Other media such as movies, video game, the Internet seems to be effective methods of informal observational learning and also correlate with youth exposed to violence. Violence in the media is going to be considered if it fires violence in the real world. Yet, there are many investigations concluding that the relationship between media violence and aggressive behavior is strong (Anderson et al., 2008; Dubow et al., 2010; Fanti et a., 2009).

The media is a part of everyday life in American kids. Children are surrounded by technology, entertainment, and other media that is full of violence. Newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and the internet all contain violence. Today's media has a negative influence on children. The media does have an influence on them, but does it really influence them to act out even though they know it's wrong? Mass media, and its components, are very powerful and can influence one's mind, as well as their behavior. Children that imitate characters who use violence in the media and display aggressive behavior, tend to give them reason to believe that violence can happen without consequence. For children who grow up with poor adult examples or an

Media violence has a negative impact on children and adolescents. Younger and younger children our beginning to show increasingly violent behavior. There has been continuing speculation over the main cause of this. Not all media promotes violence, however all shows do involve violence and when children are exposed to it, it can easily lead to aggressive behavior. Children at younger ages often imitate the actions of characters or celebrities they see on television. Basically, before age four, children cannot distinguish fact from fantasy and their brains are something like a super-sponge. For example, Brotherson states that the ‘prime time’ for visual and auditory development, or a child 's capacity for learning to see and hear, is from birth to between 4 and 5 years old (2010). So when a child sees actors or actresses making certain gestures, s/he doesn’t know the exact reason for it. Flipping the finger, sticking one’s tongue out, and taunting are all common gestures on television that children will reenact in their lives.

“Head shot! That guy was destroyed!” These are just some examples of the dialogue spoken between children who play video games like “Call of Duty” or “Halo.” Children brag about the number of people they have killed in these games. Playing violent video games may cause children to act violently. First, violent video games train players to act aggressively by repeatedly killing an enemy over and over. Second, children mimic what they see, whether it’s in real life or on a video screen. Third, being exposed to the violent behaviors of the game, dead bodies, and blood, make the players insensitive to violence. Because the violence from video games affects the behavior of children, violent video games should not be available for purchase by anyone under age eighteen.

Abstract: Studies of the aggressiveness in children in relation to the amount of violent television viewed were examined. The results are discussed and a potential solution is proposed which assigns responsibility for the control of television viewing and its effects to parents and children.

A ten-year-old boy stares at a television screen mashing buttons on a PlayStation controller as the sound of gunshots, bombs, and shouts fill his bedroom. While his parents say, “It’s keeping him out of trouble,” they don’t see the emotional problems violent video games are causing their son. In 2014, TIME Magazine reported that, “Approximately 90% of children in the U.S. play video games, and more than 90% of those games involve mature content that often includes violence” (Park). Even though many parents and caregivers don’t see the harm in the violence shown in video games, television, and the internet, the effects of this exposure on children today is undeniable. Because children are being exposed to the harmful effects of violent screen time, they are more aggressive, more likely to engage in violent behavior, and desensitized to violence in general.

Today, it is not a surprise for a child to spend an average of several hours per day playing video games. When a child is playing the current generation of video games, they become immersed in a world of virtual reality, which may have a negative effect on a child if the game content is of a violent nature. Like the old saying

Through what they experience on television, children are forced into adulthood at too young of an age. The innocence of youth is lost when children stare endlessly at a screen displaying the horrors of murder, rape, assault, devastating fire, and other natural disasters. Although these are occurrences in everyday life, things adults have grown accustomed to hearing about, children do not have the maturity level to deal with these tragedies appropriately. Children's behavior changes because they become desensitized to the violence. There are many preventative techniques that can be applied to ensure that negativity on television will not interfere with a child's development.

Children who watched the violent shows were more likely to strike out at playmates, argue, go against authority and were less willing to wait for things than those children who watched nonviolent programs. Studies have also found that children who watched many hours of television violence when they were in elementary school were inclined to also show a higher level of aggressive behavior when they became teenagers.

"Impact of media use on children and youth” explores the good and bad effects that media can have on a young child’s development both mentally and physically. In the beginning of the article, they provided examples of how watching television can expose young children to violence, sexuality, and offensive language. The author made an interesting point that connected an increase in violent behaviors with children who watch violent