Parents are the biggest influence on a child being that they can control every aspect of their lives, from TV shows to their friends. Parents have to start teaching their children from a very early age what life is all about. They need to learn how humans are acting and about the pain and suffering that violence causes. When parents do not raise their children right a lot of bad things can happen. Children might not learn how to control their frustration and anger, and using violence to solve their problems. The roots of violence may be found in many emotions: frustration, which is when people cannot get what they want. As frustration builds the urge to express it aggressively grows even stronger. Anger is a temporary feeling that often goes with frustration and sometimes causes aggression and violence. When anger becomes so intense that it is overpowering then violence can appear. Children have to learn how to control their emotions at an early age, which is usually the job of parents. For those children that do not have the luxury of a loving family, a good education, and a supportive community, life is different. Yet no matter how stressful childhood can be, most teenagers do not respond violently. The most powerful place to learn violence is in the family. Young people’s views on life are also beginning to take a turn for the worst. They are now more worried about social recognition, wealth and power that they realize the true journey of life. Many children are even missing the childhood stage of life, and moving on too quickly to adult worlds. This caused from TV, the media and video games for this tragedy. They are changing the chemistry of children when they are at such a weak age. At the ages of four till ten, children are beginning to form their principles as well as their physiological, psychological, and cultural makeup. With the large amount of violence viewing in their lives, children are forming a negative conscience.
The next significant topic to be discussed is the influences of the TV, the media and parents and how they can create the outcome of young people. The truth is that media violence primes children to see violence as acceptable. Studies show that children cannot realize the line between fantasy and reality, which is a clear line for most adults. In video games for example, violence is rather routine, and doesn't illustrate the true sensations of pain and suffering, but rather rewards you for the amount of pain you can give out. Video games are a big media to influence young people. Games are causing violence among young teens and adults. Video games cause some sort of aggression and added violence in that age group, but not to a point of someone killing another person. All we see nowadays on TV and video games is violence and killings. Some of the most popular video games and TV shows involve killings or trying to kill something or someone.
The media has grabbed the young teens and adults’ attention by making the video games extremely appealing to play. I mean, who else wouldn’t want to take part in running down a street, hijacking cars and killing policemen? (I.e. Grand Theft Auto) A lot of these games are so attracting to this age group, because they might feel a sense of belonging and that they have some sort of control over the video game. They practice retention by playing the games over and over again to reach perfection, or beating the game. By seeing other people play them, they get the appeal that they want to play them as well. Of course they have the physical capabilities to reproduce these acts if they pleased. A lot of young teens and adults play video games when they are bored or just have free time. Although is like an addiction.
When parents are violent around their children, children grow up at guarantees "ghetto children" of having a fat wallet as well as providing status and the chance to move their way up to even higher positions with more attainable cash. Juveniles are the ones now trafficking drugs throughout the streets, since they will receive lesser penalties than an adult. Children start trafficking drugs as early as eight years old, and these same children usually join a gang by the time they are twelve. The drug business is a very organized, structured, rule business with different job opportunities for different ages. As early as eight years old, they are employed as "lookouts," making up to 900 dollars a week. When children enter their teen years they begin to move up the ladder as " runners," making over 300 dollars a day. From here, if the child has not been shot he can become a dealer earning 3,000 dollars per day. Another drug causing violent behavior is alcohol.
Another media that can influence teenagers to crime is music. One of the most famous kinds of music that talks about violence and crime is Hip-Hop. There are many stereotypes and generalizations connected with Hip-Hop culture; the main criticism is that Hip-Hop promotes violence and negativity. Hip-Hop is offensive to many groups of people, an analysis that is based on rappers speaking about racial tension and the harsh conditions of living in black communities as the subject of most Hip-Hop songs. Since the commercialization of Hip-Hop it is the ‘Gangsta Rappers’ who have succeeded within popular culture, rapping about sex, drugs, violence and racism. The stylistic adaptations and cultural preferences of ‘Gangsta Rappers’ never present a complete picture of the traditional Hip-Hop culture, lending to the limitations placed on exposure and explaining stereotypes of rap, leaving violence and sexism as apparently promoted. The mass media are full of stories of social deviancy, from violence and murder through to a music star getting caught in possession of a gun. Since the notion of youth cultures first came about in the post-war years, the media as the personification of this deviance has singled out various sections of society’s youth. Organized crime is on the increase in the UK and many argue that much of the so called ‘gang crime’ is inspired by the Hip-Hop culture. Artists such as Snoop Dogg, Niggas With Attitude (NWA) and the late Notorious B.I.G are singing about intolerance. Their songs speak of acts of violence and render guns ideal. That is why they are often condemned about this. In addition, some rap artists gain greater recognition and reputation because of their personal gun convictions.
Youth crime is one of the biggest problems in our society. Fixing the problems of youth and television violence is not easy. There are many factors that have to be considered and people to be convinced. This problem will never go away and continue to get worse as the years go be. However, there are measures that can be taken to prevent the children and teenagers from ever being exposed to such things.
References and Bibliography
-
Howe, Michael J. A. (1997), Television and Children, London: New University Education
-
Carter, Douglass (1980), T.V. Violence and the Child, New York : Russel Sage Foundation
-
Howitt, Cumberpatch (1975), Mass Media, Violence and Society, London: Elek Science
-
Gonzales, Ciony (1984), Taking Films Seriously
-
Neal, M. (1999), Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture: What the Music Said, London: Routledge
-
Springhall, J. (1998), Youth, Popular Culture and Moral Panics, London: Macmillan
