Media Violenca and Its Effects - 1668 Words

Media Violence It’s Effects The lives of our youth are being ruined because of the violence in today’s media. This is the view held by many people in our society today. Many psychologists believe that violence on television, movies and other forms of media have a negative effect on children, while others believe media violence has no effect on children. The reality is that children tend to emulate the behavior that they see in the media they are exposed too. The media can have a powerful influence on young impressionable children. Their minds are sponge-like, absorbing all that they are exposed to. Their feelings and emotions become more imminent once they begin to go through adolescents; children often acquire the ability for†¦show more content†¦When children watch violent media, they see violence without consequences. In many story-lines, the hero of the story uses violence to fight the villain and in the end they are often rewarded. Many times, viewers don’t see the injured people going to the hospital or the crying mothers of the dying children. This will often give children a false sense of reality. According to the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, the average American child will spend an average of four hours a day watching television (2011, para 1). It is said that prolonged exposure to violent behavior results in an increase acceptance of violence as a tolerable behavior, also known as desensitization. Many studies have found that the child may become ‘immune’ to the horror of violence. On September 11, 2001 many Americans gathered around their television to watch the World Trade Center’s crumble to the ground. Not only adults, but children watched as bodies were pulled from the ruins. Author and Ph.D. Matthew Tull wrote, â€Å"Even people far away from the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon were exposed to upsetting and traumatic images. This was largely due to the extensive television coverage of the terrorist attacks† (2008, para1). Today’s media coverage has made people extremely