Introduction
Entertainment can be viewed as any type of activity that a person or a group of people may take part or engage in with a main aim of deriving delight and pleasure. Entertainment comes in many forms. Some of the major forms of entertainment include music, movies, plays, video games, television programs etc. Violence refers to any form of physical force that may be used by a person or by a group of people against another person or group with the main aim of causing physical harm or death. Violent entertainment can then be termed as any entrainment which capitalizes on violence to bring pleasure and delight to its audience. Violence depicted in some of these scenes has a negative effect on the lives of young American children as they seek to emulate some of these characters. The effect has seen a deteriorating character among school going children as they cause physical and emotional harm on fellow children. The most common scenes are expressed in the kind of music being aired on local and international television stations coupled with the movie and video games. This paper seeks to express some of these factors that contribute to the violent American culture.
Music
Music refers to a form of art which makes use of silence and sound as its core medium. There are many type of music but the most common types that have embraced violence as its selling point is rap and rock music. Many school going children spend most of their free time listening to music and watching music videos. The children are oblivious to the fact that music is very powerful and the message that the artists are trying to put across may end up influencing them badly. Rock music which is among the most popular types of music that is being listened to by the young people has been tired to the rampant school shootings in America today (Ravitch & Diane 95-100). The children listen to the music and by them not knowing they have already internalized the singer or artist’s message which in turn drives them to vent their grievances in violent ways.
If an artist is taking about killing his enemies (mostly in rap music), most young people will take this message seriously and may act on the message especially when one is wronged by one of his/her friends (Dorpat, 25). Black and Latin Americans mainly come from the poor backgrounds and they live in the informal settlements which are commonly referred to as the projects. Here the young people end up being recruited in gangs where they indulge in crime and the sale of drugs to make a living. An artist who talks about his childhood and how he used to kill people to make a living will influence the children. This is because these children will conform to a particular form of music or artist since he has walked a mile in their shoes (Kamalipour & Yahya 23).
Violent Video Games
Video games have become the most common form of entertainment in America among the children and the young people today. The first video games had little or no violence at all. But with the improvement of technology, video games are increasingly incorporating violence and now almost all video games that are being produced have 90% of violence. Now there are more killing games in the market than what we had in the past and these are the most preferred games among the children and young people in society today (Ravitch & Diane 144). Studies have shown that children and young people who play violent video games tend to develop tendencies of aggressive behavior and thoughts in bad ways (Gimpel & Diane 25-30). In the schools today, many children are seen trying to emulate the activities that they see or have experienced during their interactive sessions that they engage themselves as they play the videogames. This can be evident as the boys during recess will engage each other in a game of shooting and killing each other as they chase one another in the field. This type of play can be viewed as resembling real aggression (Goldstein & Jeffrey 54-56).
Television and Movies
In television today, most of the content that is being aired incorporates a lot of violence. Some of it may be the nature of the show. Take for instance a show like wrestling. This is a show that generates millions in terms of profits and captures the viewership of millions of people watching it. The audience which comprises of the children and young people will be influenced by the violent nature of the content being aired by the particular show. Children for example will practice the moves that they have seen on their friends during recess when they are in school or at the park playing with their friends (Nagle & Jeanne 8-9). Movies also make use of violent scenes to make the movie more captivating and enthusiastic.
A movie which will have a plot where there are two rival groups or gangs will portray the two gangs engaging in violent confrontations where some members will be killed using either machetes and guns. This will affect the young growing minds and the children to be exact. In the case where a family owns a gun, the child might get a hold of the gun and commit a violent act in the case where the child has been wronged by the friends. As much as possible the power of sight is very strong and it is often said that what people tend see will stick deep into their memories as compared to the music they listen to (Giles, 9). Looking at a television program like power rangers which is viewed globally, it depicts it movie characters as have good mannerisms and excellent mutual respect among each other. But on the flipside, they tend to use a lot of violence against their enemies. Every show the characters are kicking, punching, karate-chopping and even shooting their enemies. This has stimulated children to go on and fight against each other and the program has generated a lot of controversy. The program has also been linked to the death of a child in Norway (Goldstein and Jeffrey 88).
Conclusion
Violence among the children in the American culture is greatly influenced by the children listen to and what they see. This can be evident by the rise in high school shootings, gang violence due to the affiliation of the different groups in the society. This is brought about by the influence of media. Video games which also come up with toys for the children are making millions of profits at the expense of the children being corrupted. In order to reduce the violence, the children should be sensitized on the effect of what they see and hear during their free time. Parents are also to blame since they purchase this violent video games and movies for their children without even considering the dangers that they pose to their children. In order to reduce the violence parents need to make sure that what their children listen to and watch is right and will not affect the children once they become adults or even at their tender age.
Works Cited
Dorpat, Theodore L. Crimes of Punishment: America's Culture of Violence. New York: Algora Pub, 2007. Print.
Giles, James R. Violence in the Contemporary American Novel: An End to Innocence. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1999. Print.
Gimpel, Diane M. Violence in Video Games. Minneapolis, MN: ABDO Pub, 2013. Print.
Goldstein, Jeffrey H. Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Internet resource.
Kamalipour, Yahya R. Media, Sex, Violence, and Drugs in the Global Village. Lanham [u.a.: Rowman & Littlefield, 2001. Print.
Nagle, Jeanne. Violence in Movies, Music, and the Media. New York: Rosen Pub. Group, 2009. Print.
Ravitch, Diane. Kid Stuff: Marketing Sex and Violence to America's Children. Baltimore [u.a.: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2003. Print.
