Violent programs on television lead to aggressive behavior in children and teenagers who watch those programs (Murray, J.P. & Lonnborg, B). When children watch a lot of television violence, they tend to become more aggressive. Sometimes, watching a single violent program can increase aggressiveness. Children who view violent TV shows that are very realistic are more likely to imitate what they see, if they watch it many times. Children with emotional, behavioral, learning problems can be more easily influenced by television violence (Murray, J.P. & Lonnborg, B). The impact of television violence will eventually show in a person's behavior, and young people can even be affected when their family shows no tendency toward violence.
Violence in movies is very common. In movies there is rape, murder, drugs, robberies, and all kinds of wrong doings, but it wasn't always like that. Movies and television shows weren't always that graphic, but people in the media business have realized that people enjoy movies and programs with violence (Media Awareness Network). Some people said that seeing this in movies increases violence among teens. Although everyone sees violence in movies, not all teens commit these crimes. Children might imitate behavior they see in the movies. Although it is true that movies, TV, and other media influence our lives, not all children imitate violence. Violence in movies might make some kids aggressive, but they can learn about the world from that. If there were no violence in the media, everyone would have to learn only from real experience. Many parents tend to blame media violence, but parents should teach their children that there are many good things and bad things, and they should help them to know what is right and what is wrong.
Video games are popular for both adults and children. It is an interactive hardware game played for challenge, educational purposes, and most of all it’s played for our entertainment. Ever since the first electronic game that was made in around the 1950’s, our society has advanced through media. Our entertainment pleasures has gotten more graphical, sexual, and more violent. Nowadays, it is a trend that you acting out as a bad guys and killing innocent bystanders. Grand Theft Auto III and Vice City, one of the best selling games, is popular among pre-teens and young teenage boys. In this game, you act as a criminal and steal cars and drugs. The Mob bosses need favors, crooked cops need help and street gangs wants to kill you. You’ll have to rob, steal, and kill to survive from serious troubles. It shows excessive blood, strong language, violence and sexual content. This game definitely will have great influence on young gamers, but this game is rated for mature (17+). Therefore young children and young teens should not be playing this game. Parents have to monitor what games that their children are playing. This is parents’ responsibility, not the media’s responsibility.
In conclusion, media violence can lead to aggressive behavior in children. The effects on young children are that they fear of becoming victims and making them less sensitive and becoming victims of violence. It increases their appetite for more violence and in real life. We can reduce the bad effects by limiting the playing time on games, and helping our children distinguish the facts between fantasy and reality. Actually we cannot push all the responsibilities to the media. We need to teach our children that real life violence has bad consequences and can lead to injuries or even death. Moral education plays an important part because we have to teach our kids to differentiate what is good and what is bad.
