EFFECTS VIOLENCE

How violence in the media affects young children?

How violence in the media affects young children?

Everything that children see or hear in the media early on in their lives affects them in some way.  Positive parenting role models indicate that in the best interest of our children we should limit their exposure to violent acts.  Unfortunately, violence is one of the most popular forms of entertainment.  Over sixty percent of television shows being shown in prime time contain some form of violence.  There are two very opposite sides of this issue.  The media who market the violent television, video games and other forms of entertainment argue this is safe entertainment and the others argue that violence promotes violence

Current research tends to agree with the proponents who argue that violent media is associated with aggressive behavior.  Risky behavior by children and young adults can include violence against others, lack of remorse for consequences.  The type of faulty thinking creates stressors in children which can lead to the onset of many different symptoms.  Children who view media violence are more likely to have increased feelings of hostility, decreased emotional response to the portrayal of violence and injury that lead to violent behavior through imitation.  An example here would be the television show Jack Ass.  There have been several accidents related to young men attempting stunts that are done on the show.  The act of imitating what they have seen on a television show causes injury to themselves or others around them.  (Deselms and Altman, 2003)

The Academy of Pediatrics says “More than one thousand scientific studies and reviews conclude that significant exposure to media violence increases the risk of aggressive behavior in certain children, desensitizes them to violence and makes them believe that the world is a 'meaner and scarier' place than it is.”  If children begin to think that this type of violence is normal behavior these thoughts are often said to be difficult to change later on in life.  This is similar to the studies of domestic violence where children who are exposed to violence either become offenders or victims because they believe that what they are exposed to is the norm.  One instance that brought the worry of violence in media is the Columbine incident.  The two young men that committed this act of violence were said to have played numerous hours of violent video games.  Their exposure to violence is said to have been the cause since the children involved in Columbine came from secure home environments with active parental influence.  As with Michael Carneal, from Kentucky, who in 1997 shot and killed three of his classmates.  He too was also said to have been a video game fanatic.  Michael Breen an attorney in the case against Michael Carneal stated in court; “Michael Carneal clipped off nine shots in a 10-second period.  Eight of those shots were hits.  Three were head and neck shots and were kills.  That is way beyond the military standard for expert ...