Hallameyer
Megan Hallameyer
English 201-23
Kathy Rowley
May 15 2012
Argumentative Essay :Media Violence and its Effects on Children
“Times have not become more violent. They have just become more televised”
(Manson 1) This is a quote by Marilyn Manson from his article in Rolling Stones
magazine called “Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?” Recent studies show that Marilyn is
right about violence being more televised, but they also show that televised violence may
lead to violence in children. Media is a large part of life in these current and coming
years. Many parents have come to letting their children watch whatever they would like
without supervision. Due to violence in the shows and movies children watch, games
they play, and the language the world uses, children act more violent in life.
Media can be described in the Oxford English Dictionary as, “The main means of
mass communication, esp. newspapers, radio, and television, regarded collectively; the
reporters, journalists, etc., working for organizations engaged in such communication.
Also, as a count noun: a particular means of mass communication” (OED). It is regularly
used to describe news stations, newspapers, or even some types of video games. In
Charles Clark’s essay called “TV Violence”, the reader sees that children who watch
television are generally exposed to “8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence before
finishing elementary school” (Clark 1). There has been a link between the amount of
television violence children are exposed to and the amount of physical violence that child
shows in life. In Richard Felson’s article, “Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior” he
1
Hallameyer
critically reviews the effect of media violence on its audience. He finds there is evidence
that is discussed regarding short and long-term effects. It is shown that in laboratory and
field experiments exposure to violence is just as likely to affect aggressive behavior
(Felson 1). This aggressive behavior can become a problem with the child and in their
years to come.
The effect media has on children is greatly increasing as the years progress.
There are many current and past experiments on the effects and how the exposure reflects
on children’s behavior. The authors of the article “The Influence of Media Violence on
Youth” explore the idea of mass media violence on youths. There is some evidence to
show that youths with milder aggressive personalities tend to show larger effects from the
violence than those showing no aggressive behavior previous of the media violence. The
author allows the reader to know that the sample base was large, using different types of
experiments and people. The article then goes on to explain that in some people, media
violence shown in their childhood would lead to violence later in life. Media violence
tends to produce short-term increases of violence (Anderson 1). The article, “Violence in
the Media” written by Helen Shaffer goes onto explain what people see when watching
television. Shaffer allows the reader to know that there is violence in many forms of the
media. This includes the news, video games, and popular television shows. Shaffer states
that, “It was hard for many concerned persons not to believe that daily exposure to so
enticing a medium during the growing-up years, beginning typically at age two or three,
could fail to affect the personality formation, attitudes, concepts of right and wrong, and
behavior patterns of the first TV generation” (Shaffer 1). There has been a substantial
growth in television sets in each home every year. Almost all children grow up on it and
2
Hallameyer
tend to follow suit of the shows they watch or games they play (Shaffer 2). Most of the
articles touched on the point that violence has grown since first person violent video
games.
Aggressive behavior does not come just from children watching the violence
shown on television, it can also be learned from aggressively used language. In the
article, “Moral Panic and Moral Language in the Media”, written by Arnold Hunt, he
critiques the media in their use of the words ‘Moral Panic’. The article follows the words
‘moral panic’ from the first time it was stated in the media in 1972 to present day. Those
words were thrown out of the media multiple times and continuously brought back. It
also influenced journalists and other writers to use it when writing. The author believes
that ‘moral panic’ is an unsatisfactory form of language that can cause panic in itself
(Hunt 1). V. Held begins by talking in their article “The media and political violence”
about the definitions of ‘violence’, ‘political violence’, and ‘terrorism’. They then
consider the media responsibility in respect to political violence. They ask questions such
as how should violence be described, and whether the media should cover terrorism.
They then argues that media should decrease political violence and their aggressive
wording (Held 1).
The wrong words can lead children to behave and develop poorly. Barbara
Wilson, the author of the article called “Media and children's aggression, fear, and
altruism”, believes that mass media can have a negative effect on a child’s well-being and
development. She takes a closer look into this topic and finds that media influence
depends on the type of content the child likes and how much time they spend watching it.
She then goes on to look at the relationship between media and children’s emotions
3
Hallameyer
learning that children can learn their emotions from what they watch. She also finds that
strong evidence shows that violent television programming contributes to children's
aggressive behavior. Wilson finds that media can greatly effect children's altruism,
cooperation, and even tolerance for others and goes on to tell parents how they can
regulate and help their children (Wilson 1).
Though there is many studies going on that seem to prove that media violence has
a effect on children’s behavior, people like Marilyn Manson disagree. Manson was
accused of influencing Columbine. Columbine was a Massacre that took place in 1999.
Two high school seniors brought guns to school and began to shoot many of their
classmates. They killed twelve students and one teacher before turning the gun and
shooting themselves. The media was lead by angered parents into a combined effort to
blame Marilyn Manson’s music as influence on the boys to murder. In the article Manson
wrote called “Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?” he stated, “Man's greatest fear is chaos. It
was unthinkable that these kids did not have a simple black-and-white reason for their
actions. And so a scapegoat was needed. I remember hearing the initial reports from
Littleton, that Harris and Klebold were wearing makeup and were dressed like Marilyn
Manson, whom they obviously must worship, since they were dressed in black” (Manson
2). It was proven later that Manson’s music had nothing to do with the murders; the
media even found out that “Harris and Klebold were not Marilyn Manson fans — that
they even disliked my music” (Manson 3). The columbine murders then looked towards
video games to explain why these boys would kill all their peers.
Manson is a great case to show that there are always mistakes when trying to
study the correlation of media violence and child aggression. According to Kevin Browne
4
Hallameyer
in his article “The influence of violent media on children and adolescents: a public-health
approach” there is a continuous argument about media violence and its effects on youths.
He also believes there is constant debate on how to measure or study this. He finds in his
research that “There is consistent evidence that violent imagery in television, film and
video, and computer games has substantial short-term effects on arousal, thoughts, and
emotions, increasing the likelihood of aggressive or fearful behavior in younger children,
especially in boys” (Browne 1). He then goes on to explain as the age of the child
increases, the studies become inconclusive. He never the less believes that there is
obviously a small correlation that can cause problems (Browne 2).
There are also studies going on about how media violence towards certain
sexualities and races are affecting violence among children. The article “Teenage
sexuality and media practice: Factoring in the influences of family, friends, and school”
written by J. R. Steele is about a study to find out how “mass media images and messages
about love, sex and relationships interact with what teens learn about sexuality at home,
in school, and from their friends” (Steele 1). The study uses Adolescents' Media Practice
Model as a starting point to find answers. Data is found through focus groups, media
journals, room tours, and in-depth interviews with middle school and high school teens.
Also, in the article “The context of violence for children of color: Violence in the
community and in the media” written by Sanders-Phillips and Jipguep explores the
difference between violence that can be picked up by colored people in the community
versus the type of violence that can occur from exposure to media violence. With
community violence colored people can experience psychological distress, greater risk
taking, aggression, and learning problems. In exposure to media violence, children of
5
Hallameyer
color may experience aggression, psychological trauma, and other psychological and
behavioral problems. The article goes on to explain though that these relationships have
not been completely analyzed (Jipguep 1).
There is still a large amount of controversy surrounding the topic of media
violence and its effects on child behavior. Although there is no conclusive answer, there
is still a large amount of evidence to support the idea that media violence does create
negative behavior in children. There is also evidence that this behavior can lead into
adulthood and continue to be a problem. Parents should take the time to watch what their
children are watching to help prevent the spread of violence through the generations.
They should also be aware of the type of wording their child is exposed to help prevent
bad behavior in both the present and future development. With the knowledge that media
can cause negative behavior there can be a bettering in children’s lives and futures.
Works Cited
Anderson, C. A., L. Berkowitz, E. Donnerstein, L. R. Huesmann, J. D. Johnson, D.
Linz, N. M. Malamuth, and E. Wartella. "The influence of media violence on
youth.”. Sage Publications, Inc. on behalf of the Associati, 2003. Web. 2 May
2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/40059680>.
Browne, Kevin. "The influence of violent media on children and adolescents: a
6
Hallameyer
public-health approach.” Centre for Forensic and Family Psychology, School,
2005. Web. 2 May 2012.
<http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673605179525>.
Clark, Charles S. "TV Violence." CQ Researcher 26 Mar. 1993: 265-88. Web. 2 May
2012. <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/>
Felson, Richard. "Mass Media Effects on Violent Behavior." Annual Review of
Sociology. 22. (1996): 103-128. Web. 2 May. 2012.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/2083426>.
Held, V.. "The media and political violence." Journal of Ethics. Springer, 1997. Web.
2 May 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/25115544>.
Hunt, Arnold. "'Moral Panic' and Moral Language in the Media." . N.p., 1997. Web. 2
May 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/591600>.
Jipguep, M., and K. Sanders-Phillips. "The context of violence for children of color:
Violence in the community and in the media." . N.p., 2003. Web. 2 May 2012.
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/3211190>.
Shaffer, Helen B. "Violence in the Media." Editorial Research Reports 1972. Vol. I.
Washington: CQ Press, 1972. 375-94. CQ Researcher. Web. 2 May 2012.
<http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre1972051700>
Steele, J. R.. "Teenage sexuality and media practice: Factoring in the influences of
family, friends, and school." Journal of sex research. Taylor & Francis, Ltd.,
1999. Web. 2 May 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/3813717>.
Warner, Brian. "Columbine: Whose Fault Is It?." Rolling Stone Magazine. N.p., 1999.
7
Hallameyer
Web. 15 May 2012.
<http://www.mansonwiki.com/wiki/Columbine:_Whose_Fault_Is_It?>.
Wilson, B. J.. "Media and children's aggression, fear, and altruism.." . N.p., 2008.
Web. 2 May 2012. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/20053121>.
8