Violence is not a new issue in the human race. It is worth noting that violence is tremendously on the rise in the modern society. As a matter of fact, media is one of the crucial tools that informs people in society, but many has associated media to violence and other violence related activities. There is greater access of media information in the world today; these are because technology has become very advanced. There is greater access to explosives and firearms, which has increased the scope of violence in society. For many years, several research have been carried out to determine the relationship between media and violence. Violence in media has also increased based on the programs aired in various media sources. The presence of media sources and violence in the media has led to increase in violence in society (Carter & Weaver, 2003). For example, in the United States many families have access to television. These mean many household follows that televised violence. In the general perspective, violence in the media has increased; hence, it has affected the society adversely.
Children in the modern society have access to media without any parental supervision. These means that children have the freedom to access the violence in the media. There are many incidents of violence in society today, especially in institutions. The change of behaviors and more violence behaviors in society are attributed to violence in the media (Freedman, 2002). The school shootings bring out many questions on the effects of violence in the media. It is evident that kids have more access to media violence, which drives them towards real-life violence.
Violence in the media escalates various hostile behaviors among its viewers. Mental health studies show that violence in the media has major effects, especially in children. Evidently, violence in the media make children become less sensitive to the suffering and pain of other people. These implies that violence on the media make individuals view violence as a normal phenomenon (Nikkelen et al., 2014). On the same note, violence in the media develops some sense of fear among individuals. Children particularly believe that the world around them is full of violence and precaution measures are required to remain safe. Individuals who have access to media violence mostly behave in an aggressive manner towards other people.
Violence in the media affects growth and development of individuals. Studies show that children who spend most of the time watching violence in the media during elementary school level develops aggressive behaviors during their teenage. These means that violence in the media develop violent and aggressive behaviors in society (Anderson et al., 2003). Violence in the media has an impact of desensitizing individuals towards violence in the real world. The enjoyment derived from watching violence in the media could be shifted into the real world. Such individuals will always be attracted to scenes of violence in society.
Most of the media content in the play stations entail much adult information and violence. The adults mostly have well developed cognitive and behavioral skills that help them adjust to media violence (Arnold, 2007). Children, on the other hand, learn from what they watch and play. In fact, violence in the media has developed many debates, which include taxing of violent video games and age restriction on selling such programs.
Conflicts in society are inevitable. These mean that people need to develop various strategies of conflict resolution and problem solving. As a matter of fact, violence in media as developed a bad way of solving conflicts. Those who watch many media violence tend to believe that the only way to solve problems is through violence. Media violence is also associated with various antisocial behaviors among individuals in society (Freedman, 2002). In fact, the antisocial violence begins with trivial violence on toys to serious violence that lead to punishment. In some occasions, scholars assert that the link between violence in the media and aggressive behavior is stronger than evidence that link lung cancer to smoking.
Adults understand that most of the information in the media is fabricated and can easily adjust to it. The children are very vulnerable to violence on the media because they take it as a reality. Children in most cases does not differentiate between fantasy and reality. Developmentally, children use magical thoughts, which make them view what is the media to be the reality (Nikkelen et al., 2014). They believe that the fictional characters in violent media programs feel and act as portrayed. Even those in school-age, they cannot comprehend that the violence in the media is acted and played by characters who follow written script.
Probably, children between 8-12 years are very sensitive to violence in the media. These is because, at that age, they are children with learning, impulse control, emotional, or behavioral problems. Therefore, more exposure to violence in the media increases chances towards aggressive behavior (Levine, 1996). Individuals who have been exposed to media violence for a long time have some unique reaction towards stressful situations. These reactions include angry voice tone and verbalization of revenge. They have a sense that violence is accepted, socially rewarded, effective and courageous. Therefore, such individuals will always be part of aggressive and violent cycles.
Violence on media tend to demonstrate that violence is rewarded. In the programs, heroes emerge winners and are celebrated and rewarded. It is worth noting that the heroes are more violent and aggressive making them emerge are winners. Hence, children will just imitate and believe that heroism in real life is achieved through violence. In addition, the heroes and stars in the programs use weapons and violent tactics to kill the bad guys (Carter & Weaver, 2003). These gives individuals watching the programs a justification to violence against those who perceived to be the bad people in society. The vulnerable individuals who have fallen victims in society can be tempted o use violence against to solve their problems and to defend themselves. For example, in schools children who are bullied tend to use guns and other violent behaviors to revenge.
In the general perspective, consensus has been arrived on the negative impacts of violence in the media. Violence in the media is a reality and should not neglect. The rising cases of child violence and school shootings need to raise an alarm on the possible consequences of violence in the media. In the modern society, it is so easy to access programs that contain violence. These is attributed to the advanced technology and every rising media source. Violence in the media lead to aggressive and violent behaviors in society. Evidently, children tend to view fantasy in media violence to be a reality. The government and other responsible stakeholders must focus on ensuring that violent programs are not accessed by children. Violence in media affects children more than the adults.
References
Anderson, C. A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L., Johnson, J. D., Linz, D., & Wartella, E. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological Science In The Public Interest (Wiley-Blackwell), 4(3), 81-110. doi:10.1111/j.1529- 1006.2003.pspi_1433.x
Arnold, D. (2007). Violence in the media. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Carter, C., & Weaver, C. K. (2003). Violence and the media. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Freedman, J. L. (2002). Media violence and its effect on aggression: Assessing the scientific evidence. Toronto: University of Toronto Press
Levine, M. (1996). Viewing violence: How media violence affects your child and adolescent. New York: Doubleday.
Nikkelen, S. C., Vossen, H. M., Valkenburg, P. M., Velders, F. P., Windhorst, D. A., Jaddoe, V. V., & Tiemeier, H. (2014). Media Violence and Children's ADHD-Related Behaviors: A Genetic Susceptibility Perspective. Journal Of Communication, 64(1), 42-60. doi:10.1111/jcom.12073
