Many people worry that media may cause young people to commit violent acts. Nowadays, television is much less strictly controlled in terms of violent contents than it was before. This is also true of movies where it is even more pervasive. It is a worry because many teens spend more time watching television than they do doing homework or going out with friends. According to one estimate, a youngster will have seen 200,000 acts of violence on television, including 40,000 murders (Torr 20). From viewing violent shows, particularly those in a context which glamorizes or trivializes a violence, teens may learn that destructive acts are normal. According to a report from the American Psychological Association, there is absolutely no doubt that higher levels of viewing violence on television correlate with increased acceptance of aggressive attitudes and increased aggressive behavior. Children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong consequences (Daane 6). Teens who see a lot of violence may view violence as an effective way of settling conflicts and are more likely to assume that acts of violence are acceptable behavior.
Television violence is really just tamer offshoot of that in movies. Millions of teens have seen the 1996 movie Scream, which opens with a scene a teenage girl is forced to watch the torture and then disembowelment of her boyfriend two fellow students. The movie is very graphic in that the boy’s stomach is shown cut open and he dies screaming. In recent years, some movies view violence as a comedy. These films succeed in making us laugh at acts which should appall us. In 1999, two high school students in Columbine High randomly shot twelve classmates and a teacher (Associated Par.6). They wanted revenge and to become celebrities, because they had been bullied and mistreated by others in their school. Leonard Eron, a psychologist at the University of Michigan, says that kids learn by observation. “If what they observe is violent, that’s what they learn” (Kelleher 72). Teens who don’t yet understand the difference between illusion and reality may be highly affected by media violence. They might see a violent movie and decide to re-enact the scenes, thus causing harm to themselves or others.
Environmental factors, such as the neighborhood and school, can also contribute to teenage violence. The culture of some neighborhoods provides opportunities for teenagers to learn and engage in violence. The presence of gangs and drug trafficking not only provides high levels of exposure to violence, but make it seem attractive to those who watch it. Ineffective parenting, violence in schools, high dropout rates, substance abuse, and high unemployment rates may all be factors in the decline of neighborhoods lacking effective social organization (Sadler 86). Families living in such neighborhoods are disadvantaged right from the beginning to provide a safe and stable upbringing for their children. Teens growing up in such neighborhoods have a greater chance to participate in gangs and the illicit drug trade, which offer relatively quick and substantial rewards that seem to offset the risks associated with violence. The drug trade, for example, encourages violent activities where youth are at high risk for becoming victims as well as perpetrators of violence. Youth frequently abandon the goals to pursue what seems to them more attractive goals.
Schools in violent neighborhoods naturally provide a destructive environment where teens may learn to be violent. During high school, a clear adolescent status hierarchy emerges, and much of the violence at school is often related to competition for status. Violent individuals and groups tend to emerge from academically poor students and include aggressive troublemakers. The individual feelings of anger, rejection, and alienation are mutually reinforced in these groups. Because violence is modeled, encouraged, and rewarded in gangs, there is little positive encouragement to shoulder the moral obligation to others that is taught and reinforced in other neighborhoods. The effects of exposure to violence at an early age, lack of family control and aggressive behavior patterns developed in childhood all influence the type of friends one chooses, and the type of friends, in turn, largely determines what behavior patterns will be modeled, established, and reinforced during adolescence. In October 2003 during a swarming Saturday, a 16-year-old West Vancouver student from Rockridge Secondary was throat slashed by a small 13-year-old boy (Steffenhagen Par.7). Shelly Hymel of University of British Columbia said in an interview that the attack, at a smoke pit frequented by Rockridge students, appears to have been a classic case of a bullied student striking in anger.
Another reason youth commit violence acts is peer pressure. Teenagers rely a great deal upon their peers for guidance and support. Youths committing violent acts may not think they are violating society’s norms. They do not give it a second thought, and reject to values of their parent while accepting those of their friends. In Beccaria’s argument in the utilitarian concept, he mentions that “all persons are motivated by pain and pleasure” (Deutschmann 132). If this ceoncept is extended to youths, then the degree of delinquency among youths should not be surprising. The youth feel pleasure in being a part of their group. When they feel that delinquency is an “acceptable” behavior within their environment, they will act accordingly. Their “free will” is not controlled by the morals and tenets of society around them.
Violent crimes committed by youthful Canadians are increasing, and this is particularly worrying given the situation in the United States. Teenagers who are raised in a stable home environment with good guidance have the tools to cope with exposure to violence and emerge unscathed. There is little doubt that teenage violence is a major concern for communities and law enforcement agencies. Just coping with it may stem the tide for the moment, but the real solution lies in improving the conditions of neighborhoods and supporting parents in their desire to provide a strong moral base for young people. This would provide a better environment to counteract the effects of mass media, peer pressure and acceptance of violence behavior as the norms.
Works Cited
Associated Press. “Authorities Told Early of Columbine Killer’s Violent Website.” Denver Post on the Web. 29 October 2003. 31 October 2003. <http://www.denverpost.
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Bartollas, Clemens. Juvenile Delinquency. Needham Heights: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
Daane, Diane M. “Child and Adolescent Violence.” Orthopaedic Nursing, 07446020, Jan/Feb2003, Vol. 22, Issue 1.
Deutschmann, L.B. Deviance and Social Control. Toronto: ITP Helson, 1998.
Kelleher, Michael D. When Good Kids Kill. Westport: Praeger, 1998.
Kopka, Deborah L. School Violence. California: ABC-CLIO Inc, 1997.
Sadler, A.E. Juvenile crime: opposing viewpoints. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 1997.
Schissel, Bernard. Blaming Children. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing, 1997.
Steffenhagen, Janet. “B.C. School Violence Serious: Researcher.” Vancouver Sun on the Web. 30 October 2003. 31 October 2003. <http://www.canada.com/search/
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Torr, James D. Is Media Violence a Problem. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2002.
