Influence of the Media

             Ever since the shooting at Columbine High School, there has been an increased interest in violence and how it affects our children. It has started other school shootings with similar acts of violence, thus, leading parents and even children searching for answers. Answers to why and even how these events could happen. Some look towards gun control, some look towards parenting methods, and some look at the media. For instance, Susan Douglas, author of "A Look at Terror with My Daughter," and Stephen M. Wolf, author of "Countering Violence," both view the media as a negative influence on children. However, that is, indeed, the true question. Does the media have an influence on violent behavior, or is it just a scapegoat?
             How would one find out whether or not the media does have an influence on violence? Who better to ask than teenagers themselves? In a Time/CNN poll, that asked 13-17 year olds, what was the believed to have caused the shooting in Littleton, 75% blamed the internet, 66% blamed the movies, music, and television, and 56% blamed video games ("Statistics"). Does this mean that the media, indeed, does influence violence in our children, maybe, maybe not? However, the startling statistic by the American Psychiatric Association, which states, "By the age 18 an American child will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence on television alone," ("Statistics") may prove otherwise.
             One might ask how the media influences violence with its television shows, movies, and videogames. Well, Susan Douglas explains it in an accurate way when she states,
             Computer and video games, in particular, that require you to enact murders with your own hands – yes, just a quick click, not unlike a trigger pull – may restructure some peoples individual psychology in quite powerful ways so it becomes easier to do unspeakable th
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