Media Violence And The Effects On Youths

INTRODUCTION

Videos are a form of recording images for various purposes for example, retaining information for future references and much simpler explanation is to record memorable events and activities. But the usages of videos nowadays proved to be misleading especially on youths. Video Violence has become quite an issue in our society today.

Violence is a learned behavior. Children learn violent behaviors from their family and peers, as well as observe it in their neighborhoods and in the community at large. These behaviors are reinforced by what youth see on television, on the Internet, in video games, movies, music videos, and what they hear in their music.

Children and youths, spend on average, more than 4 hours a day with television, computers, videotaped movies, and video games. But their exposure to media varies considerably, depending on their age and parental viewing habits.

There are those people that believe that violence in television, movies and video games should be closely monitored and restricted. On the other hand, there are individuals who believe that monitoring and restricting video violence would in some way violate the rights that are awarded to us.

The debate over media violence has eluded definitive answers for more than three decades. At first blush, the debate is dominated by one question--whether or not media violence actually causes real-life violence. But closer examination reveals a political battle. On the one hand, there are those who blame media violence for societal violence and want to censor violent content to protect children. On the other hand however, are those who see regulation as the slippery slope to censorship or a smokescreen hiding the root causes of violence in society.

There appears to be evidence that exposure to violent media increases feelings of hostility, thoughts about aggression and suspicions about the motive of others. Here are examples of some:

DOCUMENTARY/NEWS ON VIOLENCE

News is now entertainment. TV news is no longer just "talking heads." From videos of the latest disaster to photos of missing children, even newspapers carry graphic headlines and photos. Most adults want children to be well informed and interested in current events, but what happens to children who watch re-enactments of crimes, see close-ups of murder victims, or experience the play-by-play excavation of trapped earthquake victims?

Adults have learned to distance themselves from the tragedies being enacted in their living rooms. But children have no such defenses. Unlike any previous generation, today's parents need to confront the fears, questions and confusion today's graphic news coverage may raise in children.

INTERNET VIOLENCE

1"Daniel Pearl and Nick Berg had three awful things in common. Both were Jewish Americans who were kidnapped by Islamic terrorists. Both were beheaded. And both had their excruciating deaths recorded and then replayed thousands, perhaps millions, of times over the Internet. One of the websites that featured the killing of Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter abducted in Pakistan in 2002, was also among the first to post the footage of Berg's execution two years later in Iraq."

The Internet is full of such fare. Another site boasts that it "collects images and information ... to present the viewer with a truly unpleasant experience." It's not news to anyone that the Internet is lavish with pornography. But videos like the Nick Berg murder are a reminder that there's something even more disturbing now spreading across the Web. Call it "violence porn" -- the latest degradation of our popular culture, in which gruesome injuries and deaths are glorified and presented in wincing detail.

And make no mistake, viewing true-life violence is catching on. With a simple click of the mouse, anyone can take a gander at someone else's nightmare. Meanwhile, a recent University of Michigan study revealed that steady exposure as a child to violent screen images can make young adults more likely to turn to violence themselves.

Some Internet filters can help shield children from sites like this, but face it: It's easy for kids to find a friend with an unfiltered computer. So for now, there is no real answer.

VIOLENCE CAN NOW BE SEEN IN VIDEO GAMES

The impact of video games containing violence has recently become a focus of research because children are theoretically more susceptible to behavioral influences when they are active participants than when they are observers.

During the last several decades, electronic interactive games have emerged as one of the most popular forms of entertainment, particularly among young people. Researches have raised concerns about the potential link between playing violent video games and subsequent aggressive behaviours . There is a huge hype surrounding the launch of every new game system - Game Cube, XBox, and Sony Playstation being just few of the latest. Affecting children age 4 all the way to 45 year-old adults, these video games have called for concern in our society regarding issues such as addiction, depression, and even aggression related to the playing of video games.

In the modern popular game Goldeneye 007, bad guys no longer disappear in a cloud of smoke when killed. Instead they perform an elaborate maneuver when killed. For example, those shot in the neck fall to their knees and then face while clutching at their throats.

2"On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold launched an assault on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, murdering 13 and wounding 23 before turning the guns on themselves. Although nothing is for certain as to why these boys did what they did, we do know that Harris and Klebold both enjoyed playing the bloody, shoot-'em-up video game Doom, a game licensed by the U.S. military to train soldiers to effectively kill."

Thus, in order to totally assess the effects of game violence on its users, the limiting conditions under which there are effects must be taken into account, which include age, gender, and class/level of education. However, violent games do affect children, as the studies show, especially early teens, and I feel that there needs to be a stricter regulation regarding the availability of these games to young children.