Reading the newspaper is an enjoyable way for many Americans to relax while reading about current affairs. Although reading the newspaper was more popular in past decades, it is still a reliable source of information about current updates. However, in recent years, newspapers have begun to present more violence. These days, many of the articles in a newspaper deal with many criminal and violent acts. In fact, an entire section of some newspapers has been dedicated to crimes and punishment. In addition to newspapers, many other media outlets such as television and video games are violent and bring upon bad influences to our culture as well.
In addition to newspapers, many television shows contain a significant amount of violence. For example, South Park, a popular satirical cartoon, contains foul language and violent acts committed by eight year olds. Many children and teens absorb the material they see on TV and imitate the actions they observe. By viewing violent TV shows, individuals may emulate character behavior and possibly commit crimes they would have otherwise avoided. Individuals who are constantly bombarded by the same content will eventually act similarly. When individuals are constantly pestered by all the violence within television shows, they will feel eventually believe all society reflects this phony production.
However, various scholars have proven that, throughout human history, violence has been a vital component of communication. For this reason, many might suggest that contemporary representation of violence in media should not be cause for concern. After all, every since the first cave paintings, violence has been a part of promoting war and other aggressive behaviors. This was used in conquering different territories and showing strength within tribes. Texts that show visual representations tend to have a big affect on the way people act because that is something they become accustomed to seeing. If someone sees something frequently they are more likely than not to act upon their seeing. These visual representations of violence that were displayed in the earliest age of human kind show how visual images of violence promote aggressive behaviors. By seeing violence on cave paintings, allowed people in that time period to feel that it is okay for them to act in that manner.
Since the 1950s, thousands of studies have been done on the effects of violence in television and movies. Most of these studies conclude that children who encounter violence in television or movies are more credible to exhibit aggressive behavior, attitudes, and values (Children 1). Since then, some believe the portrayal of violence on television is an example of the moral decay of our once-great nation. Today, television has played a major role in mass communication. Unfortunately, television is thought to have an impact on the beliefs and actions of viewers, especially of children and teenagers. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard Eron are two doctors who followed the viewing habits of a few children for twenty-two years. They concluded that watching violence on television encourages children to violent and aggressive behaviors. Huesmann and Eron further proclaim that a most individuals, who have little experience with violent acts, are more likely to act the way people do on television (Anderson 4).
Video games are the best example of how society has become desensitized to violent behavior. Video games are worse than television due to the fact that most of them are dominated by violence compared to most other medias. Video games allow people to interact in a first person position where they are viewed as being the character in the game. This allows them to feel that they are the powerful person in control doing all the violence. This violence eventually can play out to become real life violence and poses a threat to all gamers. According to modern research, 88% of teenagers play video games. As a result, most teenagers have been exploited to violent, gory, and disturbing games. Further, many individuals are immune to violence in their everyday social encounters. As research shows, violent video games correlate with increased aggression levels in the children who play them. For example, violence in video games has shared the blame for high school shootings that have taken place in the United States.
In conclusion, the violence in today’s media has a large effect on the violence and crimes people commit. In our lives, we witness more violence than any other generation which leads to an overall insensitive society, where there are little or no feelings for those who are harmed. Because violence in today’s media is more immersive and pervasive; we must be more cautious and protective over our young children to keep them from developing violent behaviors from our violent media.
Sources
"Children and Media Violence". National Institute on Media and the Family. 4/25/09
Anderson, Kerby. "Violence in Society". Probe Ministries. 4/26/09
