Media Violence
Why are children our so violent? What has changed so much over the years to make today's children so angry, so aggressive? Many people attribute the increase in violent youth to the increase of violence in the media. "If people are fed a daily diet of murder, crime and violence, many come to believe that sort of thing is normal" (Foegen). There is a common belief that television, films, video games, and even the nightly news are to blame for making children believe that violence is not only acceptable, but a necessary way of solving conflict. Is the media to blame for this rise in violent behavior? It is possible that the media is being used as a scapegoat for the failing family unit which may be a more truthful cause of this behavior. There is no mistaking that television has become a household staple, much like bread or milk. The television, once a source of family entertainment, has become a babysitter, and even a parental figure in some homes. "The average seventh grader watches about four hours of television per day, and 60 percent of those shows contain some violence" (Violence and the Media 267). This means that when a child comes
------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**. With all of this television watching, it should not be surprising that by the time an American child turns 18, he or she will have watched 200,000 violent acts, and 16,000 simulated murders on television (Violence and the Media 267). "Newspapers as Behavior Modifiers?" Editor & Publisher 9 Sep. By watching wrestlers receive accolades and praise for engaging in acts of violence, children in turn could believe that this is an appropriate way to gain acceptance in society (Kantrowitz 52). Why do we rarely see reports of teenage suicides on the news? In the 1970's, news coverage of local adolescent suicides was shown to lead to "cluster suicides", or copycat suicides by teenagers (Grossman). Many parents have chastised wrestling for encouraging violence and portraying it as glamorous. He neglected to report that during this same time span in other countries, such as Italy, France, and Germany, murder rates also remained steady or even declined as the number of televisions per home increased (Rhodes 56). If it is believed that a publicized act of self-violence could lead to simila!r acts, then why wouldn't the same hold true for publicized violent acts against others?In 1989 Brandon Centerwall conducted a study that has been used over the years to prove the effects of media violence on society. Whatever the causes of violence in children are, it is clear that this is a problem that is not going to go away any time soon, nor will it go away without someone taking action. Teens and preteens are at the age when they begin to create identities for themselves.
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