Media Violence: Brainwashing Our Youth

Laura Stockdale presented her work on the effects of media violence and the effect that it has on members on of society. According to the studies she quoted, the effect of media violence on society may be more prevalent than most people are currently aware of. Due to the extremely high amount of time adolescents spend using media (adding up to approximately 11 hours a day for the average American child), violence seen in media has a prevalent presence in their lives (Anderson 2002). The studies that Stockdale quoted show that there is a positive correlation between exposure to violent media in early childhood, and aggressive behavior later in life. In fact, Stockdale’s article showed that many of the studies showing relation between media violence and future aggression have a stronger correlation than even studies done between the relationship of calcium intake and bone mass.

One large aspect that is brought up by Stockdale, is just how common violence really is in media. Many may believe that although children are exposed to a lot of media, it is only a small percentage, which is considered violent. In reality, it has been shown that over 60% of media contains some kind of violence, and in most cases this violence is shown as justified, rewarded and with very few or no consequences (Anderson 2002). This teaches children the violence is a positive trait, and often makes them believe that it is more prevalent than it actually is, in the real world.

An article I found, written by the American Psychological Association, shows how exactly both visual violence, and video game violence affect aggressive behavior in children. Video violence is passive, allowing one to simply view the content, whereas video game violence causes one to be an active participant in the acts. Television and video violence have been should to cause children to be less sensitive to the suffering of other people, become more fearful of the outside world, and act in a more aggressive way toward others (Violence in the Media 2013). This finding supports Stockdale’s claims that violent video in children can lead to more aggressive adults. One interesting thing that was found during this study was that aggressive children were not more likely to watch violent shows or movies. This shows that, violent television leads to aggressive behavior, not that already aggressive kids have a higher tendency to watch violent television.

            Video game violence was put into a different category by the American Psychological Association than video violence, because of the active involvement of the user in the process. Surveys show that 97% of young adults between the ages of 12 and 17 play video games, and most play for an hour or more a day. This means that this type of media is affecting an extremely large percentage of our youth. Since this is a relatively new form of media, there are not as many longitudinal studies to observe the long term affects of violent video games. Studies by psychologist Craig Anderson have suggested that children who play violent video games are at risk for “increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition, aggressive affect and decreased empathy and prosocial behavior, (Violence in the Media 2013). These effects are very similar to that of being exposed to violent video content as well. No clear indication was given of whether playing video games, as opposed to watching violent television would cause a greater increase in aggressive behavior later on in life.

            Although violent media is not the only factor in developing into an aggressive adult, there is clear evidence supporting the correlation. A child who partakes in violent media will not necessarily be more aggressive, but when combined with other risk factors, could be detrimental to a child’s thought process. We now know more about the effects of violent media on one’s future behavior more than ever before, and the negative effects are greater than we could have imagined. Although in the case of video games, we do not have enough research to have conclusive data on the extent of the effect, I do believe that it should be limited, especially in younger children.

Sources:

Anderson, C. A. "The Effects of Media Violence on Society." Science295.5564 (2002): 2377-379. Print.

"Violence in the Media - Psychologists Study TV and Video Game Violence for Potential Harmful Effects." Http://www.apa.org. American Psychology Association, Nov. 2013. Web. 25 Apr. 2014.