Censorship

Censorship on the Media

Violence is a topic that is keen to everyone's mind. It is constantly occurring and will happen forever throughout the whole world. With the world of today growing at its enormous rate, new technology and other scientific breakthroughs have made our lifestyles easier and much more enjoyable and convenient. With the boom of television, computers, and the Internet, many are quick to blame that these are the key ingredients to what makes a child violent. People are beginning to think that violence on the media is starting to affect our youth by making them imitate what they see in movies and television; legislation for censorship is attempting to be proposed and ratified. The violence in media is not the problem to today's growing youth violence; imposing a censorship on violence does not solve the problem, and might even make it worse. Censorship on violence should definitely not be imposed onto the media.

In America, everyone knows their Bill of Rights, with the first amendment being freedom of speech, press, religion, petition, and assembly. One is allowed to freely express ones voices and opinions through a type of publication. Movies are a way for one (the director) to express his or hers form of art and genius. By censoring violence in movies, a display of art is being blocked and cut off. It goes against the first amendment in that it is restricting one's rights to free speech. Censorship blocks out free writing and imagination. Creativity becomes limited and subdued into a restricted form.

Throughout the pass forty years, surveys, tests, and polls, etc have all been administered to figure out if violence in media can explain for the growing violence in children. Studies have shown that about 87% of all households own one or more sets of televisions and that the average 7th grader will watch 4 or more hours of television each day, with 60% of most those being violent (www.judiciary.senate.gov/oldsite/mediavio.htm). The website also states that 10% of youth violence stems from the television, then where is the remaining 90% attributed? With only 10% of violence being influenced from television, the other 90% must come from other factors, such as: family problems, stress, drugs, and the environment. One cannot seemingly become more violent just by watching a couple of movies and shows; one has to have a close experience or constant viewing of violence to really be influenced.

The same goes for video games, stating that 68% of Americans own a personal computer with a child on average playing at least 90minutes a day, with 50% of those games being violent. These studies however, still do not prove the fact that violence in movies and games play a huge role in the violence of a youth. Fifty percent of video games are non-violent, or educational, making it even with the violence in video games. It is impossible to prove that after a child has finished playing a violent