Media Effects the Way People Veiw Violence
Essay Preview: Media Effects the Way People Veiw Violence
Report this essay
The Effects on Teens from the Media
A 1982 report from the National Institute of Mental Health states “Violent
programs on television lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch
those programs.” (American Psychological Association.) Whenever I catch my little
cousins play fighting, I always ask them why they were doing it. “Power Rangers to the
rescue!” exclaims six year old Benjamin as he runs away. “Doh.” says twelve year old Joseph Scott. They just react to what they see on the television. Those two for example have different things they are allowed to watch. When Joseph Scott turned twelve last June, he was now allowed to watch the Simpsons, and That Seventys Show. Ben can watch the Power Rangers, as well as shows on the Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon, but not much else.
Violence in entertainment has always been around. “Between 2000 B.C. and 44
A.D. the ancient Egyptians entertained themselves with plays re-enacting the murder of
their god Osiris– and the spectacle, history tells us led to a number of copycat killings.”
[Internet- Media Awareness].
Today violence plays a huge role in the television programs that Americans
watch. In 2001 television programs averaged an alarming number of forty acts of
violence per hour. Eighty percent of the violence shown on Canadian television stations
originated in the United States. Approximately thirty-nine percent of violence on
television airs in programs before 8 P.M. The majority of children are likely to view it
then. 87.9 percent of all violence in television programs airs before nine P.M. That
makes a jump of nearly 48.9 percent. [Internet- Media Awareness].
In the year 2001 a quarter of the most violent movies and television shows were
rated R. The majority of those that should have been rated R were rated PG or PG-13
[Internet-Media Awareness (Source Center for Media Affairs)].
When teens go to the movies it is normal to see bullets flying and people lying in pool of their own blood. Many children watch WWE or World Wrestling Entertainment and see the females trying to rip each others hair out as well as tear off their clothing. [Internet- Media Awareness].
In the top selling video game, Grand Theft Auto, the player is able to have sex with a prostitute, and then beat her to death with a baseball bat. Sexual violence has gotten worse in the media over the years. From 1989 to 1999 the number of sexual violence on television has doubled. ( [Internet- Media Awareness].
Three hours of television viewing is the norm for the average child surveyed in 23 countries. They watch television fifty percent more than doing anything else outside of the classroom. To make matters worse, 57% of children ages eight to sixteen have their own television sets in their bedrooms. 39% have gaming equipment such as play stations or XBoxes [Internet- Media Awareness]
Music is also a form of entertainment, and the music industry does not always
play a good role in bring children up right. In the song Kim by Eminem, the lyrics are:
“Now shut the fuck up, and get whats comin to you! You were supposed to love me!!!!!!!!! ( Sound effect of Kim choking.)
NOW BLEED, BITCH, BLEED
BLEED, BITCH, BLEED, BLEEEEEED!”
In that song, Eminem is depicting images of killing his wife. In another Eminem song, Kill You, he raps about how he is going to kill and rape his mother. [Internet- Media Awareness].
Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others, become more fearful of the world around them, and they are more likely to be aggressive and harmful towards others is what psychological research shows the effects of viewing violence on television. [Internet- APA]
Children who