The negative effects of media violence on children

Children are the future, we believe. But what future will it be, if we teach children the wrong values. A child is being exposed to violence every day, and the violence has no restrictions, moreover media is becoming more violent, and made as real as possible by the producers, which do not estimate or even consider the negative effects, it is mostly about sales and the levels of viewers.

If we talk about the negative effects we need to specify what they are, let’s have a look at what those might be. If we see violence in TV, Video Games and Movies, the most immediate effect is fear. This fear can be an adrenaline rush, but can also cause anxiety in real life. A child might not understand the connection and process of violence, and might be damaged by this image for a long time. Children are more effected, the older the child, the more he understands the realistic dangers.

Other negative effects can be seen in the perceived reality, when the content is perceived to be real, violence had a stronger effect. In the 1960 a couple of researches have been done on nearly 900 8-year olds, and have kept in contact with them, until they were almost 30 years old, the researcher Eron Huseman, has found that the children that were watching more violent TV, had shown a more aggressive behaviour.

One of the main problems in children watching media violence is the glorified violence. Glorified violence can be extremely dangerous, since many young children urge to be glorified in their surroundings, and an act of violence might be shown as something great, and brave, and then imitated by the children in their social life. School shootings and violence amongst children had increased, and looking at the content of the violent movies, video games, and TV programs, no surprise.

Violence is shown to the children at a young age; already cartoons have a great deal of violence. Children might not understand the concept of death, and also problems in the violence portrayal are issues such as immortality, in video games, movies, and TV, a character is sometimes shown as immortal, or in the case of video games a character can die and be reactivated over and over again. Many children are in possession of a TV in their bedroom, which gives the parents no ability to follow on what the child is watching. Nowadays it is very simple for children to get access to violent games, movies, and TV programs, and the rating system does not always serve its purpose, with illegal downloading, the rating law looses its effect.

“Experimental studies have all confirmed this correlation; televised violence and the presence of television in American households have increased steadily over the years. In 1950, only 10% of American homes had a television. Today 99% of homes have televisions. Studies reveal that children watch approximately 28 hours of television a week, more time than they spend in school. The typical American child will view more than 200,000 acts of violence, including more than 16,000 murders before age 18. Television programs display 812 violent acts per hour; children's programming, particularly cartoons, displays up to 20 violent acts hourly.” M.D. Eugene V Beresin, Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Looking at the content of movies, video games, and TV programs, even so called Heroes are portrayed as fantasy; a hero can act violent and gets rewarded. This is an example of how the media can create such Heroes, and give children the wrong picture. Also violence can be seen as a way of revenge, and media content can be used as a justification for using violence. One of the effects media violence can have on children is that child will take the violent content as a fact of life. A special concern to experts, regarding video games, is that the children are able to act out the violence, and are not just passive observers.

According to a recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5.9% of high school students carried a gun in the 30 days prior to the survey. Eighteen percent of high school students now carry a knife, razor, firearm, or other weapon on a regular basis, and 9% of them take a weapon to school.

"Violence is like the nicotine in cigarettes." “The reason why the media has to pump ever more violence into us is because we've built up a tolerance. In order to get the same high, we need ever-higher levels. . . . The television industry has gained its market share through an addictive and toxic ingredient." states Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, a former Green Beret and West Point psychology professor.

Media violence has already been taken up as a public policy issue In 1993, a symposium hosted by the C.M. Hincks Institute for Children's Mental Health brought together all of the stakeholders. The industry-based Action Group on Violence on Television (AGVOT) was formed at this symposium and soon after, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) filed with the CRTC a revised, strengthened voluntary code on violence in broadcasting.
The Code's provisions included:
• a prohibition on airing programs that are gratuitously violent and that promote or glamorize violent acts
• a "watershed hour" of 9:00 p.m. before which only violence suitable for adults could be aired
• a promise to develop a program classification system
• a commitment to sensitivity about violence against vulnerable groups, such as women and minorities
• a statement that violence would not be shown as a preferred way of solving problems, or as the central theme of children's programming and that children's programming would not invite dangerous imitation

(Media Awareness Network)

Violence has become a problem by glamorising and downgrading it. As Dave Grossman states, we have build up a tolerance, and therefore the content of the violence needs to be as shocking and real as ever. A child is not capable to understand all the content he is exposed to, and might not be able to estimate the consequences. Unfortunately the reality is that children have easy access to violent content, and are able to work around the law. Here we come back to the question on who should be the one to blame? And what can we do about it? It is important to educate children to this topic, to make them understand the content. It is also a parent’s responsibility, to know what your child is watching, and only allowing a certain limit of television time. "If you're worried about what your kid eats, you should worry about what your kid's watching." Robert Lichter, president of the Center for Media and Public Affairs, a nonprofit research group in Washington, D.C.

Work Cited

1)J. Soltys's Weblog.(2008,November 18).Male Artists Sexist? Females Need To Look In Mirror.[Image]. Retrieved from http://jsoltys.wordpress.com/2008/11/18/male-artist-sexist-females-need-to-look-in-mirror/

2)Media awareness network.(2010).Media Violence - Introduction.Retrieved April 27,2010, from Media awarenedd network website:http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/violence/index.cfm

3)Media awareness network.(2010).Government and Industry Responses to Media Violence.Retrieved April 27,2010, from Media awarenedd network website:http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/violence/govt_industry_responses.cfm

4)Senate Committee on the Judiciary Senator Orrin G. Hatch.(1999,September 14).CHILDREN, VIOLENCE, AND THE MEDIA.Retrieved April 27,2010, from: http://www.indiana.edu/~cspc/ressenate.htm

5)eHow.(2010).Media Violence In The Us.Retrieved April 27,2010, from eHow website:http://www.ehow.com/media-violence-in-the-us/

6)Eugene V Beresin, M.D.(2009).The Impact of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents: Opportunities for Clinical Interventions.Retrieved April 27,2010, from American Academy Of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry website: http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/developmentor/the_impact of_media_violence_on_children_and_adolescents_opportunities_for_clinical_interventions