The Effects of Violence in the Media

The Effects of Violence

In the Media

"Someone just got shoot on the streets due to the violence in the media." That is what some people are saying that violence in the media is the cause of that. The controversy of the effects that violence has on people has been going on for a long time. This paper is going to prove both sides of the controversy and let one decide which side is right.

Violence is on the news and on everyday action shows. Theses everyday shows are targeted for the kids of the world who are in the stages which are important for their lives. At this point in their lives the kids can make life changing decisions the violence on TV has some effects on that decision. One might watch a scene from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" which may show them betting up a bad guy for trying to hurt someone. "The consequences of killing, especially by the "good guys," are seldom shown." It doesn't show the turtles getting in trouble for hurting someone it shows them as being the good guys. In real life you won't be going around betting people up with out getting into trouble as well. It's not like the kids won't see so act of violence on TV for there is 50-60 times more violent commercial TV for the children then for the adult's prime-time programs. Do you try to stop that by putting up parental controls on your TV? If you do that you have the protection on your TV but what about the TVs at their friend's houses?

"The typical American child watches 28 hours of television a week, and by the age of 18 will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence." With all of that violence on TV there is a good chance of a child thinking that violence is the answer to all their questions. Yet it isn't just the TV that brings us the violence there are other factors. "Girls who watched more than an average amount of violence tended to throw things at their husbands. Boys who grew up watching violent TV shows were more likely to be violent with their wives." This is true but what if you didn't watch the violent TV shows but your parents acted that way to each other? Would you turn into a wife better or would you turn into a caring person? This hasn't been proven so I can't give you an exact answer. What I do believe is that children look up to their parents more then their TV shows. If this is true then it wouldn't matter what you watched on TV. Watching to much violence on TV could make it so children "see the world as a dark and sinister place." This fact has its flaws as well. I can state that I watched a lot of violent TV shows when I was younger and I don't see the world as being dark or sinister. One of the main reasons I believe that that happened is that my parents were able to talk to me and got me looking up at them. I am not sure what would have happened if I didn't have my parents doing that when I was younger I could have been one of those statistics. Parents have just as much weight in their child's life as the violence on TVs.

"Boys who watch more than 25 hours of television per week are significantly less likely to be aroused by real world violence than those boys who watch 4 hours or less per week." If you see someone get bet up in front of you how would you react? I know if I saw someone getting hurt in real life I would try helping that person out. That isn't due to the fact that I have seen a lot of violence on TV it's because I am a caring person that likes to help out the needy. That is another fight that shows that if you are brought up by a caring family you could end up not acting violent. "Children are more likely to mimic positive behaviors -- 87 per cent of kids do so." This is proving that if you bring your children up properly then they won't act violent but I don't want to blame it all on the parents. The people that your kids hang out with also have a effect on how your kids will grow up.

Is the area of which your kid is brought up in a bigger factor then the violence on TV? "Japanese television has some of the most violent imagery in the world, and yet Japan has a much lower murder rate." This is showing that it could be a factor of where you live. The Japanese are more disciplined then we are over in the United States. They also have more friendly communities over in Japan; some parents allow their first grade kids take community buses by themselves to go to school. But when you look at our communities you don't see the same trust that they have.

"In 1960 Leonard Eron studied 856 grade three students living in a semi-rural community in Columbia County, New York, and found that the children who watched violent television at home behaved more aggressively in school. He revisited Columbia County in 1971, when the children who participated in the 1960 study were 19 years of age. He found that boys who