Thesis: Moderating violence in media is a more feasible course of action rather than completely eliminating it.
Media violence is defined as “the depiction of violence in media sources” (Media Violence). As people moved towards the era of modern technology, people became more exposed to media violence. Media is an all-encompassing term that refers to modern communication tools that include newspapers and magazines, television, music, radio, movies, advertising, and photography. Among these forms of media, television is considered to be the most common.
Most households today have TV sets, with more than half of the total number of children all over America having their own TV set in their bedrooms. Being at home most of the time, children were reported to have exhibited the negative consequences of television violence due to their prolonged exposure to it. According to Beresin, on average, an American child watches TV amounting to almost 44.5 hours in one week. As technology continued to advance, media came to include music videos, video games, and the Internet. Children now have more means to witness media violence without parent supervision.
With regular exposure to media violence, Pozius, Kambam and Bender observe the development of aggressive behavior manifested at their younger years among children that are. Bersin states that “very young children will imitate acts on TV in their play with peers.” Children of such tender age are still unable to distinguish fact between fantasy, making them vulnerable into thinking that violence is a natural occurrence which, according to studies, is how growing kids seem to believe.
With the danger that media violence brings to children, it is surprising to learn that violence in media still persists. Numerous studies have already shown and proven that children are the usual victims, but steps are not taken to temper, if not completely eradicate, media violence. In 1999, after the tragic shootings that took place in Columbine High School, investigations were conducted by the Federal Trade Commission in order to determine whether movies, music and video game companies have advertised and marketed materials that contain violence to young children and adolescence. FTC discovered that the said industries exercised “pervasive and aggressive marketing of violent movies, music, and electronic games to children” (Media Violence).
Works Cited
Beresin, Eugene V. The Impact of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents: Opportunities
for Clinical Enterventions. American Academy of Child and Adolescet Psychiatry, Inc.
2014. Web. 19 April 2014
Media Violence. American Academy of Pediatrics.2013. Web. 19 April 2014
Pozios, Vasilik, Praveen R. Kambam and H. Eric Bender. “Does Media
Violence Lead to the Real Thing?” nytimes.com. The New York Times Sunday Review.
23 Aug. 2013. Web. 19 April 2014.
