Introduction
Since the dawn of media evolution, psychologists, parents, teachers and health specialists have shown concerns about the harmful influence of media violence, mainly on children. The legitimacy of that apprehension is supported by extensive scientific research that has been done. The study has shown that media advancement has potentially become a physical display in the form of behavioral change in young generation. In the early '70s, an eminent psychologist Albert Bandura showed interest in the television's effect on social learning and the children's capacity to imitate the things that they see (Anderson, Gentile, & Buckley, 2007)). The current study has shown that television and video games are the main contributors of negative effects of violent media on the level of aggressive attitudes and children's behavior, inflated or increased fear of being victimized by violence, and increased insensitivity towards victims of violence.
Literature Review
Drawing evidence from American Psychological Association article, there are numerous evidence-based case studies that can be drawn concerning the presentation of media violence on television (Kunkel, 2007). The current study exhibits that there is no controversy in the public health and social science communities about the jeopardy of negative effects from children's exposure to media violence. The study emphasizes on a strong consensus that media violence exposure is a substantial public health concern (Kunkel, 2007).
The result of the study indicated that violence is extensive across the landscape of television and the most violence on television is presented in a way that makes it increases risks of harmful impact on children. The National Television Violence Study examined TV's programs and concluded that the overall presentation of violence on TVs has continued to be remarkably constant over time (Kunkel, 2007). The research shows that programs with violence average about six violent in every hour. Half of the violent media contain lethal acts, and depict gun use (Kunkel, 2007).
The article by Anderson and Bushman seeks to establish effects of violent video games on aggressive cognition, aggressive behavior, physiological arousal, aggressive effect and prosocial behavior (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). The study evidently supports the hypothesis that exposure to video games, movie and television violence increases aggressive behavior in children and young adults. The results of the analyzes indicated that low levels of the daily video game were beneficial to children while excessive video game resulted in increases physiological arousal, peer and conduct problems, lower life satisfaction, and aggression-related feelings and thoughts (Escobar-Chaves & Anderson, 2008). Additionally, children involving themselves with violent video games make them lower prosocial behavior.
According to Anderson and Bushman, the debate of effects of media violence on youth aggression and violence has been discussed for more than five decades (Anderson & Bushman, 2001). The research evidence shows evidently that negative effects of violent media are a causal risk factor for violent and aggressive behavior. The study indicates that media have a strong and powerful influence on health behavior on children. To date, the leading causes of children mortality and morbidity are the consequences of health risk behaviors that are connected to media exposure (Escobar-Chaves & Anderson, 2008).
The article by Mößle, Kliem, and Rehbein aims to examine how aggressive behavior is connected to violent media consumption, given the ease with which children can access violent content, particularly on the internet (Mößle, Kliem, & Rehbein, 2014). The study concluded that empathy was shown to facilitate the relationship between violent media content usage and aggressive behavior in the male subsample entirely. For instance, boys were found to have a lower empathy due to consumption of violence resulted in more aggressive behavior about the girls' whose behavior stabilized over time (Mößle, Kliem, & Rehbein, 2014).
Gaps in the Research
In the research, the gaps fail to account for other variables apart from negative effects of violent media. Variables such as family and environment setting may affect children's psychology that may lead to aggressive and violent behavior. Additionally, in the last two decades, the nature of violent depictions in television has changed considerably (Mößle, Kliem, & Rehbein, 2014). In many studies, surprisingly little is acknowledged about the violent content of present video games, especially the most widely played game by the children. Many studies have failed to understand that movie contents are highly rated. For instance, there is a review of the movie content of previews found on PG- or G-rated movies released.
Conclusion
Summing up, not all children raised in violent environments will eventually become violent. Therefore, not all children who are exposed to violent media will have or increase aggressive and violent behavior. However, there is greater chance that the exposed children will be slightly aggressive and violent behavior, especially if multiple risk factors are operating sequentially. The current research evidently supports the hypothesis that the level of violence on television poses a considerable cause for concern. Content analysis studies exhibit that violence is a vital feature of TVs programming that enjoys outstanding stability and steadiness over time. The research concluded that exposure is negatively linked with prosocial behavior. The study found that there are negative and positive long-term outcomes of violent media. Therefore, the parents should monitor and be attentive to the content being exposed to their children.
References
Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2001). Effects of violent video games on aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect, physiological arousal, and prosocial behavior: A meta-analytic review of the scientific literature. Psychological science, 12(5), 353-359.
Anderson, C. A., Gentile, D. A., & Buckley, K. E. (2007). Violent video game effects on children and adolescents (Vol. 10). New York: Oxford University Press.
Escobar-Chaves, S. L., & Anderson, C. A. (2008). Media and risky behaviors. The Future of Children, 18(1), 147-180. Retrieved from http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ795862.pdf
Kunkel, D. (2007, June 26). The Effects of Television Violence on Children. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/about/gr/pi/advocacy/2008/kunkel-tv.aspx
Mößle, T., Kliem, S., & Rehbein, F. (2014). Longitudinal Effects of Violent Media Usage on Aggressive Behavior: The Significance of Empathy. Societies, 4, 105-124. Retrieved from http://www.mdpi.com/2075-4698/4/1/105/pdf
