Term paper on Media Violence

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Median Voter Theorem
Median Voter Theorem: A Unavoidable Reality Leaving No One Truly Satisfied On the spectrum of politics (or any other ideologically-based matter), personal opinions will inevitably vary from one extreme on the left to the opposite on the right. In a governing system such as that of the United Stat

Media/Violence
Committee on Communications American children and adolescents are being exposed to increasing amounts of media violence, especially in television, movies, video games, and youth-oriented music. By age 18, the average young person will have viewed an estimated 200 000 acts of violence on television

Media Violence and “Real-life” Violence

There is a general consensus among people that media violence fosters deviant behavior in children. However, some argue that media violence has no effect on its audience. Nevertheless, there has been a tremendous amount of research that proves that violence on television and other forms of mass media profoundly influences the minds and actions of children.

Some may argue that violence in the media does not have a detrimental effect on children. Instead, it is believed that other factors, such as biological, psychological, and social, effect children more than media. The biological factors that have an effect on children and their capability and likeliness to perform violent acts are central nervous system malfunctions, vitamin or mineral deficiencies, chromosomal abnormalities, and a genetic predisposition toward aggression. Psychological factors are psychopathic personalities, unhealthy relationships with parents, and mental illness. Social factors that contribute to aggression and violence among youth are their social surroundings, ethnicity, poverty level, religion, family structure, and upbringing. None of these factors include the possibility that violence in the media may be conducive to violence in the lives of children.

However, studies done on the effects of media violence have proved that violence on television does in fact have destructive consequences in the lives of children. American children watch an average of three to fours hours of television a day. Television is a dominant influence in cultivating values in children and shaping their behavior. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming is violent. Many studies on the effects of television violence on children and teenagers have found that children can become “immune” to the revulsion of violence, accept violence as an acceptable way to solve real-life problems, imitate the violent acts they see, and begin to identify with the characters on television.

The National Television Violence Study and thousands of others have proved that media violence can lead to aggressive behavior in children. These studies have found that 61 percent of all television programming contains violence, and that children’s shows are the most violent of all which is very frightening. The study has also found that by the time an average child leaves elementary school, he or she will have witnessed 8,000 murders and over 100,000 other acts of violence on television. The amount of violence during Saturday morning cartoons is higher than the amount of violence during primetime programming. Media violence is especially damaging to children under the age of eight because they cannot distinguish between real life and fantasy. Violent acts on television may seem real to young children, and can thus...