Violence in the media is an ever-growing epidemic in our country. A person would be hard pressed to watch and hour of television, listen to an hour of rap music, or play a few different video games and not locate any instances of violence. Our society is emerged in violence whether the images and messages thrown at us causes the real violence in our world is the true question. Does the constant exposure to violence through media make people desensitized? Obviously, mass media has some type of effect on people because millions of businesses send billions on advertisements each year. If mass media did not affect people than why would companies pay so much to get their product thrown over public media sources? That may be a trick question because obviously media affects people. The real question is can it cause someone to become violence. This is another intense argument because there was plenty of violence before media came along. Exposure to violence in the media may cause some instances of violence, but it is not the only cause and furthermore eradicating violence in media will not end violence in real life.
Video games are good examples of how entertainment depicts violence. Even video games rated E often depict murder in a childish form. According to the Entertainment Software Rating Board or the ESRB, “titles rated Everyone (E) have content suitable for persons ages 6 and older. These titles will appeal to people of many ages and tastes. They may contain minimal violence, some comic mischief (for example, slapstick comedy), or some crude language” (Entertainment 1). Framed within this interpretation includes violence some examples include torching characters until they disintegrate, using weapons such as bats to destroy a character, and pushing school-aged characters off buildings. As fore mentioned all this acts are apparently suitable for six-year-olds. This does not seem appropriate to expose children to these types of things at such a young age. In today’s media sources children are exposed to a number of frightening situations. A nine-year old child could without difficulty, turn on the television and witness any number of crude acts.
Violence as a form of entertainment has been around for years before the introduction of mass media. Thousands of years ago, the Romans gave weekly shows in the Coliseum where countless people were systematically murder well citizens watched in awe. Ray Surette, a professor of criminal justice and legal studies at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, once wrote “the good news is that we compare well with the ancient Romans in our public entertainment. We do not kill real people in public spectacles. Quantitatively, however, we do not fare as well. While we do not actually kill for entertainment, we do graphically, yet fictionally, murder thousands.”(Surette 9) Violence has always played a role in entertainment. However, there is a growing concern that something about media violence has changed.
According to a new study released by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, “television and movie viewers see, on average, an act of serious violence -- murder, rape, kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon -- once every four minutes.” (Center 2) That means that every four minutes an act of violence appears in visual media. That can easily be called overexposure. But when should people be exposed to violence? An average person may say never, but then what about the news? The news is a great example of many instances of violence but it is necessary to keep informed on current events. At what age should children be exposed to the news. Is it just to keep them from it? Children of this generation were alive during the genocide in Rwanda and the bombing in Oklahoma City, but most people do not remember watching any information on television. Keeping children isolated from news stories is wrong once a certain age has been reached. This exposure helps children gain experience about the world around them. The news is vital to development, but it is filled with scary images and information.
In conclusion, people are bombarded with many violent messages in the today’s media. This exposure can cause disillusionment towards reality and violence, but restricting it would be taking away a fundamental right. There has always been violence in our world. Has the media really made it worse or is it just a scapegoat for the world’s problems?
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I dont think violence on tv affects the average person. As far as young kids go, parents need to control what they watch.
Yes, I agree with you to say that TV stations have been making lot of money by showing violent and exotic things. They are after money but not social welfare. They are very selfish and greedy.
The human mind is very easy to influence, even by factors that we don't realise how dangerous they are, at the beginning; we just see their effect.
I see your view and I agree, u presented some very good points and facts.
there is far to much