Childhood Exposure To Violent Media

​ Children who are exposed to violent media may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others. Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others as they deal with killing and cruelty most of the time. All shows and games need the kid to kill his enemy to win, he feels happy after killing or destroying whatever facing him to reach the top. That's why I'm not surprised when they become violent or cruel, they enjoy the surfing of others and this moves with them psychologically from media to reality. This is the moment when the kid starts to change into a monster. Also, children who watch a lot of violent T.V shows are more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place. Imagine, when your life is full of fear, running, killing and blood, what will you feel. Of course you will be afraid of living in such world. You will expect harmful actions from outside world all the time and as a result you will be terrified and live in fear from the entire world. Violent shows or video games are really harmful not only for children but for all the family, society and the world as well.

“There is increasing evidence that early exposure to media violence is a contributing factor to the development of aggression” (Huesmann, Moise-Titus, Podolski, & Eron, 2003). Huesmann and Kirwil (2007, p. 545), argue that an individual’s aggression and violent behaviour are not only caused by emotional, mental and physical circumstances but also the environment plays an equally vital role. They further on state that hastening violent behaviour in the short-term sense is due to disclosure to violence, which can be either through media, computer games and violence that they observe at home, school and their social environment. This paper intends to comprehend media violence and its effects on humanity by understanding the issues that

When it comes to the topic of violent media, some of us would readily agree it’s a controversial subject as to whether kids should or shouldn’t be exposed to it. This is because many children who view violent media react negatively rather than not being affected at all. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of what effects does it have on children. Whereas some are convinced that it is a healthy alternative for kids to express themselves, others maintain that it causes kids to become more aggressive and contributes to juvenile crimes.

According to Huesmann Rowell L., "One of the notable changes in our social environment in the 20th and 21st centuries has been the saturation of our culture and daily lives by the mass media. In this new environment radio, television, movies, videos, video games, cell phones, and computer networks have assumed central roles in our children’s daily lives. For better or worse the mass media are having an enormous impact on our children’s values, beliefs, and behaviors. Unfortunately, the consequences of one particular common element of the electronic mass media has a particularly detrimental effect on children’s well being. Research evidence has accumulated over the past half-century that exposure to violence on television, movies, and most recently in video games increases the risk of violent behavior on the viewer’s part just as growing up in an environment filled with real violence increases the risk of

Many people still have several questions they want answered, such as, is media violence actually affecting children or are children already prone to violence drawn to media violence? Some experts have shown short and long-term negative effects occur in children from watching violent media; however another group of experts have shown that media violence is only one of many risk factors leading to aggression developed in children. These two groups need to continue more research and go beyond that to find true solutions. Nevertheless, no sources were found to say that media violence has no influence on the increase in modern culture’s violent actions. The key to discovering the true correlation between violence in children and media violence is to continue research until a solution is

Hi Ju Young, I like this because it really did inform me about how violent media does have an effect on young children. For example, you found how violent video games can make children become violent, “‘the violent scripts observed in many violent video games to carry a weapon. This behavior also would be consistent with the schemas taught by the games that the world is a hostile place, and the beliefs promoted by the games that aggression is normative’ (Ybarra). Consistently, little children tend to mimic what they see on media such as TV shows, movies, and video games. Therefore, the likelihood of aggressive and the violent behavior increase from different term contexts. Importantly, early exposure to violent media in childhood leads to

What role does violent media play on children? This has been a controversial topic for many years. During any violent

Utilizing only common sense, the majority of Americans link exposure to violence in the media to acts of real-life violence. A 2013 HuffPost/YouGov poll of 1,000 Americans asked, “In general, how much do you think the depiction of violence in popular culture, such as in movies and video games, contributes to gun violence in the U.S.?” Over half of the respondents believed the link was moderate-to-strong, with only 14% believing in no link whatsoever.

It is easy to accept to believe that children are exposed to negative effects by watching media violence. Children react differently than adults after having watched violence. For example, many children may experience having nightmares. According to the book entitled, “The 11 Myths of Media Violence,” it says

In the world one is currently living in, there has been an increase in the acts of violence occurring. Violent media has become a greatly discussed topic where there is always two sides to this argument, one side says they are just games and the other can agree that they have a greater impact. Parents usually chose a side and stick to it but the reality is that they don't look carefully what both sides have to say. Gerald Jones states that violent media is good for kids because it helps them develop their personality but the truth is that children should not be exposed to violent media since it affect their emotional stability, creates a hostile attitude, and affects their health.

Behavior on Initiation of Gun Carrying: A Longitudinal Test of Three Models of Youth Gun Carrying, Richard Spano, Alex Pridemore, and John belland studies the link of youths of different ages in different areas of poverty. They concluded that youth that have witnessed violence and saw dead bodies are more likely to be influenced by violence. Youths who witness violence are influence to join gangs and performs violence. while the other youths learn to equip themselves with tools for protection for themselves and their families. Youth who lives in poverty does not always see a died body, saw violence, or carry weapons. Drugs, violence, and gun thrive in poverty atmosphere.

In 1999 a study was done stating that fifty-two percent of children who watched horror movies/TV shows, would wake up in the middle of the night with night terrors. Another study was conducted in 2003, this time it was based off of psychology. AllPhsych Online, is an online classroom mostly focused on psychology, states that “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.” (Scribner) The affects of violence in media are still being discussed today. Some people believe this claim to true others take the opposite approach. By limiting what children can and cannot view, we are restricting their creative freedom and views.

The graphics in games now make the game almost look as if it were real life. That has brought the video game industry a lot more players and part of those new gamers are young children. The issue is when a child is presented with a violent video game that has really good graphics the child has a better understanding of what is going on in that game. Because children can relate what is going in the video game to the real world, that leads children to believe that the actions being done in that video game are accepted in society. If the children believe that its right from them to do violent actions that they learned from the game there attitude starts becoming more aggressive. Anne Harding says “children who watch violence in the media can internalize the message that the world is a hostile place...”.

            In recent times, the news media has cried out against violent media, painting it as the leading cause for youth violence. Following events such as the Columbine massacre, news sources have vilified violent media, claiming that it is a primary cause of violent behavior in youths. This analysis provides firm research on the subject from the opposing and supporting sources, giving a thorough definition to the term “violent media” and  brings forth evidence that other psychological effects and environmental factors are more significant causes of increased youth aggression than violent media.

In the book Critique of Violence ,author Walter describes Violence as "The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, which either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, male development, or deprivation .The violence that is portrayed in the media has been debated for decades ,and it has rose a question about how does it influence the youth?. From movies to video games society has been accustom to seeing violence in their everyday entertainment. Since children are easy to be influence by their environment, it is safe to say that violence in the media can and will contribute to violent behavior.