Next to the advertising promoted by the Columbine incident, enduring research struggles persist to look for the division of revelation to violence and contribution in violence. As an external to American culture, European juvenile and child psychologist named as Allan Guggenbuhl proposed an impartial viewpoint in relation to the alleged connection between school violence and American media influences (Murray, 2003). Guggenbuhl provided that, "The video games and TV shows are specifically not to claim for violence... To put the claim for violence on the media is the simple way out; the media function as a scapegoat" (3). Guggenbuhl noted, instead, violent and aggressive media more frequently operates to civilize violence and affects adolescents to act in response with greater understanding. Contrary to idea that a media culture established in objectionable matter influence morals of children, Guggenbuhl also provided that, very small numbers children are enthused to mirror representation.
More recently, Mrug, Loosier, and Windle (2008) researched the impact of violence within home, school and society environments and its connection with youths' predispositions toward committing violent acts. The writers discovered that disclosure to aggression can result in a breakdown of mental health in adolescence. According to the writers, this worsening can be an issue in the development of psychopathological diseases, such as despair, which can possibly affect violent behavior among kids or young people. The question extends whether disclosure to portray violence in movie, lyrics, or video gaming environments carries the same harmful effects as disclosure to real-life violence in the home or somewhere else in a child's physical environment.
The question remains to other objectionable content, containing portrayals of promiscuity or drug use. As Vivian (2009) notes, indecent content has long been a foundation of debate in federal and legal rules, as symbolized by a case engaging late comic George Carlin's adult-theme subject matter, which acted as a catalyst for a decision about acceptable air times for possibly objectionable TV material. More recently, makers of video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas took fire from the Federal Trade Commission after reports of a glitch that permitted players to view explicit content and contribute in a virtual, sexual role-playing scenario (Federal Trade Commission, 2006). On the other hand, such precedents fail to provide evidence of any direct relation between objectionable content and objectionable behavior. Amid continuing objections and arguments over gaming substance, according to Vivian, "federal judges have discovered a shortage of compelling proof from critics who claim that games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas cause harm" (p. 361).
Certainly, study surrounding violence and drug use has sought to move the focus of concern away from media effects and toward family effects. Not long after the Columbine massacre, the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse stated that the parents of 7 in 10 children in the United States do not set disciplines for their children's behavior (Walter, 2001). Study points out kids who develop in home environments in which no rule is enforced are four times more probably to involve in substance exploitation than children who develop with disciplines. Numerous study surrounding media influences on children, study into family environments apparently points out that shortage of attention to rule is also likely to reflect shortage of concentration to other features of social health. For example, as Orpinas and Horne (2006) note, a direct relation exists between bullying and the possibility of disciplinary sviolence among victims. Like several pessimistic effects, Orpinas and Horne note, "Bullying can be avoidable, if the young people in the lives of kids opt to make it so". As King (1999) entreated his viewers to realize, the thoughts and actions of people do not reflect the media-the media reflects the thoughts and actions of people. King's affinity for the wounds of adolescence infuses his work: "That I feel shame for these bogey boys should shock no one; I have been drawn many times to tales of the powerless and disenfranchised young".
In spite of continual asserts that objectionable content is detrimental to ethical character, no stalwart evidence exists to solidify relations between media effects and unwanted behaviors. That Mathers' music or King's literature or Grand Theft Auto's gaming platform should be present in the control of performers should not work as circumstantial proof of media's blame in the perpetrators' offenses. These items are also presented in the hold of millions of users who do not involve in dangerous, degenerate behavior. The origins of violence and other detrimental behaviors might well be reflected in media, but the causes exist autonomously of their portrayals. Adult themes of aggression, promiscuity, and content abuse impact several children and grownups on a level much more personal than the computer or TV screen; several are content to these effects via direct experience and disclosure. Without the objectionable substance of real life to draw upon, there would exist no stimulation for objectionable substance in media.
References
Federal Trade Commission. (2006). Makers of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas settle FTC charges. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/06/grandtheftauto.shtm
Greenspan, S. (1999). Movie madness: how the silver screen affects your teen. iParenting. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.preteenagerstoday.com/resources/articles/movies.htm
King, S. (1999). The bogeyboys. Stephen King's Keynote Address: Vermont Library Conference. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.horrorking.com/interview7.html
Mathers, M. (2000). I'm Back. On The Marshall Mathers LP [CD]. New York City: Universal Music & Video Distribution, Inc.
Mrug, S., Loosier, P., & Windle, M. (2008). Violence exposure across multiple contexts: Individual and joint effects on adjustment. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 78(1), 70.
Orpinas, P., & Horne, A. (2006). Preventing violence: research and evidence-based intervention strategies. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
Caldwell, I., & Thomason, D. (2004). The rule of four. New York: Dial Press.
Stein, M. (2003). An interview with Allan Guggenbühl on adolescent violence. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from http://www.cgjungpage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=151&Itemid=40
Vivian, J. (2009). The Media of Mass Communication (9th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Walter, S. (2001, June). Delinquents in suburbia. The American Enterprise, 12.
