Is Violence To Blame?Today, there is more violence on TV, in video games and in music than ever before. Many times, media violence is linked with kids and teenagers committing violent acts.
This is an attempt by parents and critics to eliminate violence in the media. Although, many think media violence is a cause of violence among children, they should be looking at what else causes violence. Many people believe media violence is not good and that it makes kids aggressive. Laboratory studies found that children who see violent programs, are more likely to be more aggressive than those who watch non-violent programs (“Doesn’t Cause Violence”). When people hear that, they believe children should not watch violent television shows.
The problem with studies like these, they take place in labs so they cannot be applied to the real world (“Doesn’t Cause Violence”). Also, this is just a short-term response to watching a violent TV show. This does not mean that they will be a violent person. Correlation studies show that watching violence at a young age affects them as teens (“Doesn’t Cause Violence”). The parents believe as teenagers they will be violent for the rest of their lives. Just because watching television programs is linked to aggressive behavior, does not mean the TV show causes violence (“Doesn’t Cause Violence”).
If parents are really worried about what their children are watching, than they should be more responsible and monitor what their kids are watching. One reason people blame the media for violence is poor parenting. Sometimes the way parents deal with their kids is not good. If a parent is aggressive toward their kids, the kid will also act aggressive (“Videodrome”).
Kids acting out their aggression causes them to commit acts of violence. Also, many parents do not monitor what their children are watching (“Doesn’t Cause Violence”). The parent should take the time to see what their children are watching, listening to or playing. If parents monitored what kids watched they would not blame the media. Mostly, parents should be more responsible and see what their kids are doing. There are many other factors causing violence with teen and children.
One thing that could cause violence is growing up in a bad environment. If kids are always seeing violence in their surroundings, that will make violence seem okay to do so (“Doesn’t Cause Violence”). Seeing violence in real life affects kids more than a television show. Another thing that could lead to violence, are kids with low self esteem (“Videodrome”). When they do something violent, they may just be looking for attention.
That kind of aggression does not come from watching TV, it is just part of who they are (“Videodrome”). People should look at what the real cause of violence is. There are many factors that cause violence, other than what kids watch, listen to or play. Parents and critics of violence think, because there are studies done in labs that they are right. If those people looked at what else is going on, they would not have to blame the media.
