Media Violence Research Paper

On average an American is exposed to approximately 200,000 violent acts before the age of eighteen. However, these exposures do not influence an individual to exhibit violence. Concerns regarding whether television and video game violence has a negative effect on society by promoting violence, dates back to the 1950’s and is still prevalent today. Studies and research conducted on the issue are unable to prove that the two variables have any correlation to each other. In fact, statistics demonstrate how the amount of violent crimes has decreased significantly throughout time despite growing video game popularity. Lastly, in society people look for anything to transfer the blame, especially in regards to a situation that may threaten an individual’s society. As a matter of fact, by reviewing the extensive research the conclusion was drawn stating exposure has no effect on violence. Therefore, television and video game violence does not have a negative effect on society.

Literature Review: The article presents an issue with exposure to media violence. Children ages 2-18 watch an average of twenty-six hours a week of television. Sixty percent of programs being watched display violence. Children exposed to aggressive scenarios are likely to imitate those behaviors. Children

"It has been calculated that American kids see about 200,000 acts of violence and 25,000 murders on television by the time they reach age eighteen." (Schleifer 18) Arrests of people under the age of eighteen for violent crimes rose forty-seven percent from 1988 to 1992. (Miller 174) The American Medical Association conducted a study that found a direct relationship between viewing and homicide. (Miller 176) Does this kind of overexposure to violence have a significant effect on children and teenagers? The answer is yes! Many reliable sources have proven that violence in the media has a negative influence in children under the age of eighteen. Statistics show that deaths and arrests involving children due to violence committed by other

The media clearly has an impact on our lives and especially the young, impressionable and weak-minded people in our society. Children become desensitized to violence when they see it everyday on TV, in theaters and even in video games. They are not becoming properly aquatinted with what is real, what is not, and the effects of it all. Even TV news deadens anyone's perception of reality. People of all ages especially those who are at an impressionable time in their lives, need to know that murder, death and violence are real and that sadness comes with all of these.

Violence can be seen everywhere even when we are not looking for it. Specifically on television, video games, and on the web. Something as simple as turning on the television and watching the morning news can even portray some violence. Many experts have debated over whether violent media has any effect on a child’s behavior. I think that many people don’t see this as an issue. Possibly because we have integrated violence as a part of society. But I feel that excessive exposure to violent media will have negative effects on a child’s psychological health and well-being.

Media Violence is definitely harmful to children as the exposure of media violence can desensitize children (age 6-12) to violence and in the real world; violence becomes enjoyable and does not result in apprehensiveness in the child. There have been several studies and experiments regarding the adverse effects of violence used in video games, television, as well as movies. With both preschool and school-aged children, studies have found that they are more likely to imitate the violence they see on screen if someone they see as a 'good guy ' is using the violence to solve a problem, especially if there are no realistic consequences for the violence. Examples are marvel comic characters such as Spiderman, The Hulk, Batman. These characters appear unhurt after smashing a building; this may lead to young adolescents thinking that violence will solve the problem. The relationship between media violence and children are positively related, if the media content contains violence, it will show in the behavior of the child eventually. Quantity is also another factor that plays an important role in influencing a child. Excessive TV watching in childhood (3+ hours a day) is associated with an increased risk of criminal convictions and anti-social behaviors in young adults. The main claim is to prove that media violence will affect a child’s behavior, using the research and experiments as evidence. One common reaction to television violence is fear, which has received a good deal

To begin with, many studies have shown that media violence has an effect on aggression. Aggression can be defined as hostile or violent behavior or attitudes toward another. So aggression can be declared as a negative effect regarding to violence in the media. Barrie Gunter found evidence from several sources. “These include clinical analyses of the role media violence played in triggering deviant behavior; and contrived experiments in field environments in which localized and naturally occurring aggressive behavior is observed before and after media exposure interventions”(1065). The notion is that violent television and video games influences negative behavior on children and adults. For example, terrible acts of mass shootings have been related back to violent video games. Another example would be dating violence, some shows on television depicts

Violence has become increasingly prevalent in the media throughout the recent decades. Every major form of entertainment media, including movies and television, 24-hour news, and videogames, include aspects of violence. The reason for the large amounts of violence seen in the media may simply be that violent content is popular among Americans. Of the top ten grossing movie genres, about four of those genres contain violent content ( Nash Information Services, LLC). Plus, $25 billion were spent on videogames and more than $31 billion were spent on movie tickets in 2010 (Media Smarts). Also, most of the popular television programs of 2017 feature some kind of violent content (Rotten Tomatoes), some types of content including gore, death, or some kind of fight scene. There is so much violent content in entertainment

The word violence has a negative connotation. When you hear the word, you immediately think of people getting hurt, things being destroyed, and the aftermath that is left behind after a violent event has occurred. While violence, most often, is not a positive experience for anyone, there is a misconception that portraying violence in the media leads to more violent acts by people who view it. Parents shield their children from violent video games and the nightly news. While they may be well intentioned, they are unintentionally creating an environment that leads children to believe that violence does not exist. “The rule of the real says that however strong media influences may be, real life is stronger. Real love, real money, real political events, and real life, unmediated interpersonal experience all shape kids’ lives, minds, and behavior more powerfully than any entertainment products. Maggie Cuttler, The Nation” (Haugen and Musser 1) Showing violence in the media is not the cause of the problems in our society. We have a right to freedom of speech, our lives are dictated mostly by our experiences, not by what we watch on television or play on a game, and violence in the media can actually be an outlet for people.

There has been numerous scientific literature materials that have been associated with media violence. This brings out the simple cause-and-effect relation that exist between the media and the societal behavior and perception of mass media violence and crime. It is this vein, that mass media crime has been attributed to the consequential outcomes of consumer behavior, attitude and character. Mass media-violence viewing that involves unhealthy images, video games, films, and T.V series on the cable among other programs that justify murder, carjacking, robbery, abduction, rape and other crimes. The media has therefore, contributed immensely to development of negative behavior and change of character and attitude especially among the young children and the adolescents (Haerens, 2013).

In today’s popular culture, I would certainly say that violence in the media has a very strong and influential power on actual violence. It is extremely vital to recognize that media violence has surely contributed to the actual violence in the real world and has caused numerous problems in the world. More specifically, television, advertisement, video games, and other media outputs have slowly but surely shown violence through verbal and physical means. If we think carefully about media violence, television screens are packed with the glamorization and promotion of weapon carrying and how one looks cool with a gun or firearm. Mass media is today’s storytellers and if violence is how things are solved, children are going to pick up on it fast. Television programs air disturbing and unsettling incidents such as children being assaulted and husbands imposing domestic abuse on their children and wives. Unfortunately, a young child can become subjected to media violence from a very early age if parental supervision is managed. Everything that is happening on the TV, computer, or cell phone, a child sees or hears and affects him or her in some way or another. The specific effects of media violence on children are unknown, but I am sure that there is a correlation. With the possible increase in risks associated with actual violence, exposure to media violence needs to be regulated. Parents need to control the amount of TV the children are watching as well as explaining to the

Other significant studies have expressed their interest in the topic regarding the media’s influence on violence. The study “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth” examines whether violent videogames increases the probability of individuals engaging in violent activities such as uttering threats and physical assaults (Anderson et al., 2003). The research involves participants such as children because they are more likely to be associated with violent media such as videogames (Anderson et al., 2003).

Modern media takes many forms, in the western world especially, violence plays a large role in much of this media. A largely held sentiment is that this violence causes violent or aggressive behavior, evidence however, would say the opposite.

The violent scenes in the media has increased in the recent years and children also have more opportunities to watch TVs. Studies show that “ The typical American child will view more than 200,000 acts of violence, including more than 16,000 murders before age 18. Television programs display 812 violent acts per hour; children's programming, particularly cartoons, displays up to 20 violent acts hourly”( Beresin). We can see from these data that American children live in an environment saturated with TV violence. It is easy for adults

The debate regarding the media's relationship to violence in society has been a hot issue for most of the past century. From the beginning of the wide use of mass media, from films to radio to television, researchers have tried to explain any association or correlation between media effects and violence. Of particular interest and concern has been the issue of violence in the media and the impact that this has on children. Although important research efforts have increased our understanding of the topic there is still a great that needs to be done in terms of the application and implementation of the findings to policies and television programming.