The violence on television and video games essay

The violence on Television and Video Games            Every body perhaps would agree that television violence is bad for young children. Electronic venue sites such as the Internet, television, video games, and other electronic gadgets gives fun to teenagers, but at the same time “ carry some very serious risks” (Meeker, M.

& Meeker, J. 2008, p. 54) for them. The recent announcement of the American Academy of Pediatrics emphasized that television violence is bad for the kids. Today, the impact of violence on television and video games to young people are becoming very obvious and alarming.

They become desensitized and we often see boys acting more aggressively and becoming more violent. Most of the time, we see boys yell at passersby using more graphic and obscene language or hit girlfriends.            Psychologists suggest that during a sensitive time period early in life, children “ acquire scripts or programs for behavior” (Perry, D. 2002, p. 231). Perry point out that viewing media violence may “ not only teach such scripts to children, but may serve as a cue for children to recall those they have learned previously” (p.

231). Citing the conclusion of study done by Huesmann and Eron (1986) Perry wrote,“…violence viewing and aggression mutually facilitate each other, contribute to academic and social failure, and are engendered by such failure. Imitation of specific aggressive acts undoubtedly plays a role, but such imitation may be no more important than the attitude changes TV violence produces, the justification for aggressive TV violence provides, the scripts for aggressive behavior it teaches, the cues for aggressive for aggressive problem solving it furnishes, or the social and intellectual isolation it encourages” (p. 231)            According to a survey done among 46, 000 teen agers 13-18, one third of these young people want less violent, but roughly one half of these number says violence is necessary to defend themselves (Wahintonpost.

com). In an Internet article entitled The Evidence Against Media Violence, it noted the difference of the definitive epidemiological study on the impact of TV violence, conducted by the Journal of American Medical Association on the two regions being compared, they being demographically and ethnically identical, except of the presence of television as the lone variable. The study pointed out that in every nation or region with television there is an instant occurrence of violence on the play ground, and within fifteen years, the murder rate is doubled (Evidence and Media Violence).            It is quite clear that TV and video games violence are the ones shaping the character and behavior of young people. Long exposure to such violent shows or programs will certainly mold the children’s’ processes of acquiring behavior. Thus, in this case, the saying “ what you sow is what you will reap” holds truth.

The children’s mind molded by violence will soon become the cold blooded murderers in the future. The innocence that made these little kids angelic is replaced by the thoughts of violent characters. This is the reason why we could hear news about a nine year old kid who kills his brother or an eleven year old child who had killed several others by spraying bullet with an automatic weapon. In fact, America’s schools had been plagued by school shootings killing more or less thirty people and injuring more than twenty others.            Although this seemingly epidemic of school shooting had been blamed to various causes, but no one can deny that media violence are causing young people to commit violence. The 1993 report from the American Psychological Association emphasize that the higher levels of viewing television and video games violence are associated with greater acceptance of aggressive attitudes augmented aggressive behavior (eNotes, par. 3).            The evidences that violence on television and video games causes violent behavior in children are overwhelming.

Different studies on media violence point to the same findings that children with greater exposure to violence in television and video games are likely to be influenced by what he is feeding. Younger children’s behavior is molded by what regularly sow which affects his behavior development process. However, this does not mean that all crimes happening everywhere are related to media violence. There are crimes resulting from substance abuse and other factors that may not have something to do with media violence.            What this writer trying to emphasize here is that children’s exposure to media violence such as television, video games, Internet, and other electronic gadget that features violent show or music, have “ harmful lifelong consequences” (eNotes, par.

6). Therefore, I therefore joined those who are calling for the censorship of television and Video games program to listen the media violence bombarding young viewers’ with shows that effectively and powerfully injecting into the fragile minds of children that violence is a way of life, right in their own living rooms which are supposed to be the safest place for these helpless and innocent children. Conclusion            While television and other electronic equipments providing entertainment are basically the evidence of how far technology has gone; they provide fun and entertainment yet, parents should be more aware of the serious risk these technologies offer at the same time through various programs that promotes violence and behavior that do not conform to the standard norms of conduct.  It is therefore a worthwhile effort of every member of the community to involve in a concerted effort to at least minimize the exposure of these children to violent programs in television and electronic sites; at the same time, inculcating values to children is a powerful means to eliminate the harmful effects of violence in their young minds. ReferenceeNotes Is Media Violence a Problem? http://www. enotes. com/media-violence-problem-articleMeeker, M.

& Meeker, M. (2008) Boys Should Be Boys. USA: Regnery Publishing. Perry, D.

(2002). Theory and Research in Mass Communication. USA: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Poussaint, A. Violence Among Youth                                                http://www. washingtonpost.

com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2006/03/31/DI2006033100525. htmlThe Evidence Against Media Violence.                     http://www. bluecorncomics. com/grossman. htm