The Effects of Violent Media on Children, Adolescence, and Adults

It is a matter of great importance how much of media content children are exposed to and what exactly they are viewing on media. The issue of violence is not a new phenomenon among children and keeps increasing with time and change in technology and information technology. The causes of violence in children are seen to be multifactorial and exposure of children to media violence is said to be an important factor when it comes to the etiology of behaviors that are violent among children.

The debate whether violence in the media increases aggression in children has been going on for decades. There have been hundreds of studies, experiments and articles supporting and opposing both sides of the argument. This essay is going to examine an article supporting and an article opposing the debate. The articles include “The Influence of Media Violence in Youth” which supports media violence causing aggression through the use of evidence that includes short and long term effects of media violence, theories as to why media violence causes aggression, factors that influence aggression and ways to counteract the negative effects (Anderson et

Violent video games, movies and television shows have become the subject of large debates that may have lasted since the beginning of media. Everyone knows that people have the ability and desire to imitate what they experience in the media, and given the perceived increase in violence among children in the U.S., the media is seen as a major possible explanation. In the following, we will examine the evidence pertaining to whether the media is becoming more violent over time, how much violence is in the media, and what kind of psychological connection or causal influence there may be between children’s violent behavior and their favorite types of media. It will be argued that the type of media as well as other cultural and environmental factors, are the key variables in determining whether violent behavior was caused by media, focusing specifically on the influence of video games considering they permit children the most realistic and interactive experiences of violence compared to all media.

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

This could be opening the doors to a plethora of other cases and assumptions that can lead to our youth potentially becoming killers. Research was conducted on the exposure of television violence and its effects on kids, organizations like the American Psychological Association, the American Medical Association and the Academy of Pediatrics have concluded that there is a cause and effect relationship amongst those exposed. However, such studies does not demonstrate that media violence causes aggressive behavior, only that the two phenomena exist together (207). This finding was used to make the assumption that it would likely be the case with video games.

Does the violence occurring in media exhibit aggressive and violent behaviors in older children and adolescents? This is a big controversial issue that everyone debates on. However, many researchers have found that violence in television, video games, and media reveals that media violence increases likelihood of aggression and violent behaviors in adolescents. Although, negative experiences in families and peer groups have an important role in the development of violent behavior, children may develop that mentality to view the world full of conflicts and violence. I will be arguing how media violence does exhibit aggressive behavior a adolescents’ life. Therefore, many researchers believe that a violent behavior in adolescents is a learned behavior rather than an innate behavior.

While violence is not new to the human race, it is an increasing problem in modern society. With greater access to firearms and weapons, the scope and efficiency of violent behavior has massive potential for serious consequences. Society needs to only look at the recent school shootings and the escalating rate of youth homicides to comprehend this ominous trend. While every child is different and the causes of youth violence are multifactorial, there appears to be a correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior within the group of vulnerable adolescents.

the position statement of the National Association for Education of Young Children discussed the violence in the children's lives. It is evident that the problem of violence takes the life of an American child at least every three hours and the lives of at least 25 children. According to a national survey, 91% of the responding teachers reported increased violence among children in their classrooms because of the cross-media marketing of violent cartoons, toys, and videos. In fact, all children today affected by the violence that pervades our societies. Many factors can contribute to violence such as poverty, racism, unemployment, and substance abuse. According to the research, is clear that media, particularly television and films, contribute to the problem of violence in the

With children having easier access to media and a wider variety of content, the possible negative influence on health issues such as sex, drugs, obesity and eating disorders is increased, along with the influence of violence (Media para 3). The viewpoint claims that children learn their attitudes toward violence at a young age and that makes it difficult to reverse and modify these attitudes (Media para 1). Several studies have shown that violent boys tend to watch more TV, choose more violent content and get more enjoyment out of it (Cutler para 3). Because of all the love in boys for violent television and games they tend to grow up in a violent aggressive way and have a greater chance than someone not a fan of violent media to make the wrong

In present day society, the realm of intense and violent video games along with their media counterparts is ever changing, and this transformation is leading to the most expressive and realistic viciousness a child can be exposed to without actually harming another human being. Furthermore, due to this tremendous level of ‘realisticness,’ the inquiry of whether or not the violence portrayed in these video games and television shows leads to an amplified level of aggression and other types of violent behavior in their participants and viewers has become a forerunner among both psychological and parenting authorities. The purpose of this paper is to give an honest assessment of the various studies performed on this topic, as well as to

          Due to violence on television, children become less sensitive to that pain and suffering of others or to become more aggressive to others. It also makes children more fearful to the world around them. (Abelard 1) Viewing habits of children observed for many decades deduced that violence on TV is associated with aggressive behavior, more than poverty, race, or parental behavior. It also reported that a TV show contains about 20 acts of violence an hour.

Many video games, television programs, adverts, films and music lyrics depict different forms of violence. Some people feel that there is too much violence exposed in the media. Many studies have made the claim that the media is responsible for much of the violence seen in the world we live in. However, people have choices and responsibilities we cannot allow ourselves to blame it on other things such as the media. The violence seen in our media has an impact on both adults and children.

            From a scientific standpoint, however, defined causes for youth violence simply have not been found. In fact, a study of youth violence held in 2014, focusing around candid conversation with youths between the ages 14 and 22 who had been involved in violent behavior and fights about the causes of youth violence, found “...no predominant cause of violence emerged from the discussion” (Cheng, et al. 288). Simply put, evidence pointing out any primary cause of youth violence does not exist. With mental illness, poor lifestyle choices, hostile environments, ineffective parenting, and peer pressure all playing roles, one must consider whether violent media and entertainment are primary causes of youth violence. Even if sufficient evidence existed to prove violent media was a significant factor in causing youth violence, one cannot claim that it causes more youth violence than other

What has the humanity come too lately? It repeatedly seems as everywhere one looks, hostility rears its hideous head. We witness it on the streets, school, college, shopping malls and even at home. The very last of these is a key basis of violence. In numerous peoples' living rooms there resides a channel for violence that frequently goes unobserved. It is the media, and the individuals who view it are frequently drawn into its realistic planet of violent graphics with sometimes disturbing consequences.

As evidence has shown, children view many violent scenes while watching television, movies, or playing video games, but the question still remains: What psychological effect does violence in the media have on children? Research over the past 10 years has consistently shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real-life aggression (Strasburger 129). Violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the various programs. Of course, not all children who watch television, or movies, or play video games develop aggressive behavior. However, there is a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior. A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, examined how children's television viewing practices are related to aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that children who reported watching greater amounts of television per day had higher levels of violent behavior than children who reported lesser amounts of television viewing (Singer 1041). Witnessing violence is an important determining factor in violent behavior. The media serves as a means for children to witness violence. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, children imitate behavior that they see on television, especially if the person performing the behavior is attractive or if the