Violence in the Media
Christopher O'Leary
University of Texas at El Paso
There are so many T.V. shows, music, movies, and videogames that have a lot of violence in them. Violence in the media may have an effect on children and adolescents. Violence in these T.V. shows, music, movies, and videogames may be used to entertain the users. This violence may not be intended to harm those who use these sources of entertainment, but some unintended consequences may arise due to this. It is important to understand the background of the issue, the current situation, and why people should care about it.
To learn about the issue of violence in the media, it is important to know about the background of this issue. Key events in research, legislation, and public awareness show that television violence was causing real violence. "Networks issue a joint statement of policies on TV violence, made possible by an antitrust exemption passed by Congress. Anti-violence advocates step up pressure. 1990 Simon-Glickman Television Violence Act gives three major networks an antitrust exemption so they can formulate joint policy on violence. Nothing happens. 1992 American Psychological Association study shows research on link to real violence is ignored and calls for federal policy to protect society. December 1992 Days before House hearings, the three major networks release joint violence policy and agree to an industry-wide conference," (Media Literacy, 2011 para. 5). While television violence was being monitored, music lyrics and meanings of the music lyrics also have an effect on the people who listen to it. "The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC), pushed the music industry and the government to create a rating systems evaluating the content of artists. The PMRC also hoped for radio stations to become conscious about airing controversial content which would in turn censor artists hoping to become played on the radio…. As a result of testimony before the U.S. Senate, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) began labeling albums that may be objectionable, including the infamous black-and-white label “Parental Advisory: Explicit Content,” created in1990 and still in use today," (Hall, 2009, para. 12). Profanity use and dirty lyrics has caused music to be censored on the radio and labeled as explicit content on album covers.
Today, Children and adolescents are exposed to media violence mostly through television, movies, music, and videogames. T.V could be a problem to children and adolescents because they are exposed to violence. "Today 99% of homes have televisions. In fact, more families have televisions than telephones. Over half of all children have a television set in their bedrooms. This gives a greater opportunity for children to view programs without parental supervision. Studies reveal that children watch approximately 28 hours of television a week, more time than they spend in school. 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, 2010, para. 2). Children and adolescents are exposed to a lot of television violence, but videogame violence which could also have negative effects. "In a 2006 Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine article (http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/160/4/348), examined effect size estimates using meta-analysis to look at the short- and long-term effects of violent media on aggression in children and adults. They reported a positive relationship between exposure to media violence and subsequent aggressive behavior, aggressive ideas, arousal, and anger across the studies they examined," (Cooper, 2011, para. 13). Videogame violence could have a negative effect on children and adolescents.
People should care about this issue because kids could show aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, and could start to bully. The effects of exposure to violence can cause kids and adolescents to act out in different ways. "Taking these findings into consideration, the authors recommended that pediatricians do urge parents to take an interest in the music their youngsters buy and listen to. The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) panel also focused on violence in various media, including TV, music, movies and video games in particular. They reviewed a variety of studies that found associations between media violence and aggressive behavior, bullying, desensitization to violence, nightmares, depression, sleep disturbances, and a fear of being harmed that could result in a teen carrying a weapon or acting more aggressively," (Neale, 2009, para. 13,14). The exposure of violence to the youth can cause harmful effects, the effect size is recognized as a public health threat. "The effect size of media violence is the same or larger than the effect size of many other recognized threats to public health. In Figure 1 from Bushman and Huesmann [41], the effect sizes for many common threats to public health are compared with the effect that media violence has on aggression. The only effect slightly larger than the effect of media violence on aggression is that of cigarette smoking on lung cancer," (Huesman, 2007, para.38). The effects of media violence have become a big concern and are considered a public health threat. In conclusion, violence in the media may have effects on kids and adolescents. The background of the issue is important to know about to gain information on why violence and profanity is censored. The current status of this issue is that kids and adolescents are exposed to violence every day. People should care about this issue because media violence and aggression is considered a public health threat.
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