Abstract
Media channels promote TV violence aggressively to earn money. What was limited to imaginative stories on movies and television shows are now enacted in real life violence on TV. In the event of such promotion of violence, the influence of media violence on children as well as teenagers has become a topic of great discussion, especially when the number of crimes committed by teenagers is escalating around the world. There lies a conflict of opinion among people as regards the effect of media violence on teenagers with one group believing that violence is a natural streak inherent in some people and children with inherent violent streak only show aggression upon watching violent content on television show and another group believing that violent media enhances aggression in teenagers. However, there is no denying the fact that if children and teenagers who are yet to develop full emotional maturity get exposed to violence in their formation years; they might try to imitate violence considering it to be normal. This paper has discussed the topic at length taking into consideration both sides of opinions.
TV violence is promoted by the media channels as a lucrative way to earn money. There was a time when violence was limited only to imaginative stories on movies and television shows, but these days real life violence can be seen live on TV. Viewers of NBC network news witnessed a live incident of a man murdering his wife at a cemetery in Florida where they both gathered in order to finish the burial process of their teenage daughter who committed suicide (Mueller, 1998). In a similar fashion, the live airing of a state official committing suicide by pulling the trigger into his mouth in Pennsylvania shocked many who were watching the program. The program was re-telecast couple of times in uncut version later the same day with the sole purpose of earning more audience. The trend of promoting violence by media has made real life criminals uber rich. The attempted murder case of Amy Fisher, the 17 years old "Long Island Lolita" had Hollywood agents and producers fighting to acquire right to narrate her story. A famous TV show called 'Hard Copy' aired between the years 1989 to 1999 paid $200,000 for getting hold on to that right (Mueller, 1998). The Fisher incident earned about ten million dollars from books, TV movies, and tabloid shows. There is an array of such violent incidents which were similarly paid including the Menendez murders, Lorena Bobbit cutting off her husband's penis and so on (Mueller, 1998). In the wake of such promotion of violence by media, the issue related to the effect of media violence on the minds of teenagers has come to the fore of discussion again and again whenever any violent incident or shooting has taken place involving teenage perpetrators. Several studies have been conducted by numerous scholars in an attempt to find out a correlation between media exposure of violence and teenagers. The findings of these studies all indicate that if children and teenagers are exposed to the violent content of any television programme or video games continuously, they develop a desensitizing attitude towards violence and show potential behavior for aggression. However, there is a group of people like Mark Miller opposed to this view. They believe that there is no correlation between media and youth violence. Despite the dichotomy of opinions among people on this issue, it has undeniably proven again and again how media exposure of violence could influence a teenage mind into an aggression.
Mark Miller, the creator of the ‘Kick-Ass’ comic book series opines that he has never been taken by the notion that “violence in fiction leads to violence in real life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more boy wizards in real life” (Pozios, Kambam & Bender, 2013). There is no denying the fact that exposure to violence not necessarily means that the viewers would get desensitized by it or would develop a characteristic streak for violence, but the complete denial of the negative effects of media violence on teenage minds would mean to completely negate the findings of several studies which successfully established a correlation between the two. Quite contrary to the view of Mark Miller, the producer and creator of the 'Kick Ass' comic book series, who completely dismissed the idea of having any correlation between the violent content of media to youth violence, the hero of the same movie series Jim Carrey has confessed that "in all good conscience" he cannot support the extensively graphic violent content of the movie especially in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre which resulted in the death of 20 young lives (Pozios, Kambam & Bender, 2013). People sharing the same view as Mark Miller believe that violence is a streak inherent in people and it does not have any connection with whether or not someone sees a violent programme on television or plays a violent video game. They argue that everyday millions of American youngsters are watching violent TV shows or films, but only a tiny fraction of them turn killers. But people supporting the view that constant exposure to media violence can desensitize children and teenagers towards violence argue that just because someone does not get lung cancer even after years of smoking cigarettes does not mean that smoking cigarettes is not injurious to health. Same argument goes for violent TV shows too.
According to the researchers Douglas Gentile and Brad Bushman, exposure to media violence is one of the several factors contributing to aggressive behavior in teenagers. However, many researchers on the other hand believe that there is no direct causal relationship between youth violence and violent video games or movies. In fact, the US Secret Service and FBI National Center for the the Analysis of Violent Crime in their analysis of school shooting mishaps in USA find no direct link between youth violence and violent content of media (MGH, 2012). These researchers believe that teenagers with inherent aggressive traits are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior and get drawn towards playing violent games but their behavior in real life cannot be predicted by their playing the games. On the other hand, many psychologists like L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard Eron and others who conducted scientific research study in the 1980s to monitor how media exposure influenced the minds of children came up with the finding that children who were exposed to violent media content in elementary school had a tendency towards violent streaks of behavior when they grew into teenagers (APA, 2013). The three major effects of media violence on teenagers as have been identified by the National Institute of Mental Health include:
- Teenagers become less sensitive to the sufferings and pains of others.
- Teenagers become more skeptical and fearful of the world around them.
- Teenagers may become more likely to display aggression in their behavior towards others (APA, 2013).
A series of laboratory experiments done on adolescents have proved how teenagers become aggressive by watching violence on TV or video games. In a study a group of teenagers who were made to watch a TV clip of a violent adult assaulting an inflatable doll showed violent streaks afterwards compared to the group who didn't see the TV clip. There are other studies which proved how violence on TV desensitizes teenagers to real life violence. In one study a group of teenagers were repeatedly made to watch Batman and Spiderman and another group Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood for many weeks and researchers found out that teenagers who watched Batman and Spiderman behaved more aggressively with their friends whereas the group who viewed Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood became very agreeable and sharing in nature.
There are people who believe that though television violence may affect the impressionable minds of children aged between 7 and 12 years, the same would not leave a detrimental effect on teenagers as teenagers have more sense of what is real and unreal and would not blindly imitate the acts of television as children do. However, according to some the influence of watching violent content on television shows and films leaves the same damaging impact on teenage minds as on children because teenagers get easily carried away by their environment and show a propensity for reactions without judgment. Frances E. Jensen and David K. Urion both of whom are professors of neurology have shown that the young brain changes and grows continuously and by the time a child reaches adolescence his brain is developed only by 80%. The largest part of the brain is called cortex which is divided into lobes. These lobes that mature from back to front have the last section called frontal lobe accountable for processing cognitive functions in the brain including planning, reasoning and judgment (Ruder, 2008). The frontal lobes are not fully developed in teenagers and this shows in their instinctive actions based on reactions rather than rational thought or judgment. Hence teenagers react easily to anything that gives them excitement. If teenager spend hours watching violent programmes on TV or playing video games, they are more likely to get negatively influenced by the shows than adults. Besides, television presents a make-believe world. TV shows and commercials present violence, drug, alcohol and sex in a positive way. A lot of Hollywood movies show the negative streaks of their heroes in a macho way as if indulging in inappropriate behavior or violence is a cool way to deal with things. Teenagers who cannot distinguish between right and wrong try to imitate the behavior of the hero by acting aggressively. When a child views a hero beating up the wrong guy to teach a lesson in a cartoon or television show, he considers that as real and tries to implement that in real life. In New York, when a 16 year old boy was apprehended by the police for breaking into a cellar and questioned as to why he was wearing gloves, his answer gave away the telltale sign of TV violence affecting teenagers. He replied that he was wearing gloves so that his finger prints could not be detected and he learned the trick from a television show (Howe, 1977).
Paul Boxer who works as an assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers University in Newark in order to prove how watching violent content on television and films subject teenagers to the risks of executing criminal activities conducted a field study rather a laboratory research funded by CDC or the Centers for Disease Control. In his study he took extensive interviews of 820 teenagers all of whom hailing from Michigan State. Out of these 820 participants, 430 were high school students from suburban, rural and urban areas and 390 were juvenile delinquents held in state facilities (Science Daily, 2008). Parents, guardians and teachers of 720 students were also interviewed. Each of the participants was enquired of their favorite TV shows, video games, movies and were questioned whether or not they ever indulged in any sort of anti-social behavior like bullying, using weapons of any kind or throwing rocks. The teachers, parents and guardians were questioned whether or not they observed any sort of abnormality in the behavior of the children or students. Boxer and his team then analyzed the data gathered from the interviews and came up with the finding that high exposure to violent content of media does contribute to violent behavior among teenagers (Science Daily, 2008). Children exposed to the violence of media showed a tendency towards aggression compared to children who were not exposed to violent media.
In conclusion, TV violence promoted by the media channels as a lucrative way to earn money leaves damaging effects on the minds of children. Numerous studies have revealed over the years how media violence continues to affect the minds of children even when they grow into teenagers and adults. However, there is a dichotomy of opinion as regards the influence of media violence on teenagers. One group of researchers believe that media exposure of violence does not have anything to do with youth violence because it is ultimately the inherent violent streaks that make teenagers choose the content of the show they would like to watch or games they would like to play. Everyday millions of teenagers view violent films and shows on television but only a fraction of them become violent and therefore, it is not necessary that media violent enhances violent streaks in children. On the other hand, many psychologists in their study have come up with the finding how children or teenagers exposed to media violence act aggressively and become desensitized to the suffering of others. A group of people further believe that media violence affects the impressionable minds of children much more severely than that of teenagers as teenagers have more sense of right and wrong, but there is evidence shown by many neurologists that frontal cortex of the brain responsible for making judgment and taking rational decision does not get fully developed in teenage years, making them prone to reactionary behavior without judgment. Therefore, teenagers come under the influence of their environment easily and if exposed to violent content of television for a prolonged period of time they might indulge in anti-social activity. Paul Boxer in his field study involving extensive interviews of 820 teenagers has shown how violent media content may enhance aggression in teenagers. Taking into account that constant observation of violence might trigger violent streaks in underdeveloped minds, media violence is truly damaging for both children and teenagers.
References
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