Media Impect Essay

IntroductionChildren and adolescents prevail entryway to and consume a variety of different media forms, including television, the Internet, harmony and euphony videos, film and video games, many of which contain high levels of fiery guinea pig. The commercial enterprise (and the controversy) lies in whether unfounded content in media affects a young roughbodys beliefs and behaviors, and more specific in ally, if frequent picture show contri scarcees to increased aggression and tied(p) hysteria in young people.Much of the research on the kinship in the midst of media exposure and aggression supports such a connection. Although critics maintain challenged the hardihood of these findings, suggesting that the studies focused only on short-term cause and were conducted in controlled testing ground settings, one strike suggests that exposure to violent media in home environments has long implications.1Promising st set outgies for cut down exposure to media hysteria ar available and embarrass limit setting by parents/guardians, technological innovations such as the v-chip (which blocks unconnected shows or content from being viewed by tiddlerren), and media literacy information.Scope of the Problem nigh American homes (99%) have a television set, and over half(prenominal) of all nipperren have a television set in their bedrooms. After sleeping, watch television is the most frequent activity of pip-squeakren. The aver epoch child spends 28 hours a week watching television. By the time the average child is 18 historic period old, he or she will have witnessed 200,000 acts of violence, including 16,000 murders. Up to 20 acts of violence per hour occur in childrens programming.2Movies, music videos, video games, and the Internet also contain high levels of violent content correlated with youth violence. Internet websites showing violence (killing, shooting, fighting, etc.) correlate with a 50% increase in reports of seriously violent behav ior. effect on the internet is also possibly the most damaging and in demand of more research.3 In 2003, about 12.5% of roughly 22 million adolescents (10-14 years old) saw 40 of the most violent movies.4 One recent study showed a physiological connection with desensitization to violent video games.5 in that location is little research on the effect of music videos and behavior, but there is limited information on rap videos and their effect on pugnacious attitudes.6Media as a Risk FactorThe blood between exposure to violent media and aggression has been researched extensively over the past 30 years. antithetical types of studies have confirmed a correlation.2 A review of almost 600 studies shows trinity main results of media violence aggression, desensitization, and fear.7 Exposure to media violence also has been correlated with changes in youth attitudes about the use of violence in interpersonal relationships.8 firearm the evidence may be compelling, translation of the se findings to the real world has been problematic.6 Findings are criticized on the grounds that most studies were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions and focused on short-term changes in behavior. It is unclear whether violent media has similar personal effects when viewed in home or fellowship settings and whether such exposure has long-term consequences.8 query involving the Children in the Community Study addressed these limitations and demonstrated a relationship between consistent expending of media (3 hours a day) in the home/community and an increased likelihood of aggression toward others. Researchers followed 707 families for a 17-year period and examined the relationship between consumption of media and aggression, using youth self-report, parental report, and criminal arrest selective information. 42 percent of males who viewed television more than 3 hours per day at age 14 were reported to have been involved in strong-growing acts that resulted in injur y when they were 16 or 22 years old, this compared to 9% of males who viewed slight than 1 hour of television per day.This relationship persisted until now after tyrannical for other factors such as prior history of aggressive behavior, child neglect, neighborhood violence, family income, psychiatric disorders, and gender.1 Social learning theory provides an explanation for how violent media may influence childhood aggression. Social learning theory posits that a child learns how to act and forms his or her attitudes from observing important role models in his or her life. Characters portrayed in the media may become models that influence the childs attitudes, beliefs, and behavior. He or she may learn to see violence as a part of everyday life and an acceptable elan to solve interpersonal problems.Because violence in the media is so frequently presented without shun consequences, youth may fail to accurately assess or even understand the real-life consequences of violent actio ns against others.8 Children 7 years and younger do not understand the difference between reality and fantasy, according to research.9 Developmentally, they are less(prenominal) able to discern reality from fantasy and are more seeming to be emotionally and cognitively affected by the violence they observe.8Finally, the effects of violent media appear to be race-, class-, and gender-blind. Violent media influences both males and females (although some data suggest that males may be slightly more affected), and while some studies suggest a connection between socioeconomic and community factors and picture to the effects of media violence, most research shows that all groups can experience the effects of media violence on attitudes and behaviors.8Promising StrategiesAt present, little research exists on the effectiveness of different interventions for reduction the effects of violent media on children. around common sense approaches such as limiting childrens access to violent med ia and teaching them to be informed media consumers have gained support from paid and legislative groups. Despite the lack of research, available interventions have both transcendent and theoretical appeal.Limiting Access To and Consumption of Violent MediaResearchers have engraft that limiting media consumption, including television cover and video game playing, can flinch short-term aggressiveness in children.10 Since the majority of childrens media exposure occurs in the home, parents/caretakers play a pivotal role in limiting consumption both by monitoring their childs conceive habits and by regulating what and how much media they consume. Parents/guardians should engage their children in discussion of this issue but realize that they may not share their childrens opinions or interpretations of violent programming and content.8 In 1996 Congress passed the Telecommunications Act, which was intended to assist parents and caregivers in reducing childrens exposure to violent m edia.11 The legislation calls for the inclusion of V-Chips in all new televisions and for the development of a rating system to change parents/caretakers to assess the violence content of specific shows.11,12 The ratings system, however, is voluntary and networks are allowed to rate their own shows.9 To some extent, the industry is responding with devices such as Weemote and TVGuardian, which can get through out certain television channels and even offensive language, thereby providing some level of parental control over childrens viewing preferences.12Developing Media Literacy in Parents and YouthAnother strategy to reduce the effects of violent media is media literacy training. Parents/caregivers and children are taught to critically appraise the media they consume and develop strategies for reducing exposure to violence. They are taught to distinguish between real and fantasy violence, advert the real-life consequences of violent acts that occur in the media, critically asses s the motivations of the producers in do the media product, and describe nonviolent alternatives to the violent actions contained in the programming. Despite this training, more than half of Americans do not know their television is equipped with a V-Chip and two-thirds have never used it.9 Media literacy training resources include the Just conceive of Foundation, which focuses on children by providing educational programs that can be utilized during or after school and on-line13 the focalise for Media Literacy, which offers media literacy training for teachers, parents, and community, civic, and youth leaders through exercises and activities in small group settings14 and the American Academy of Pediatrics Media Matters program, which provides training for health care professionals in media literacy and educational materials for use in the health care setting.15 References1. Johnson Jeffrey G., Patricia Cohen, Elizabeth M. Smailes, Stephanie Kasen, and Judith S. Brook. 2002. Tel evision viewing and aggressive behavior during adolescence and adulthood. Science295(5564)2468-2471.2. Beresin, Eugene V. 2009. The jounce of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents Opportunities for Clinical Interventions. American Academy of Child Adolescents Psychiatry. Retrieved February 16, 2010(http//www.aacap.org/cs/root/developmentor/the_impact_of_media_violence_on_chi ldren_and_adolescents_opportunities_for_clinical_interventions). 3. slang Ybarra, Michele L., Marie Diener-West, Dana Markow, Philip J. Leaf, Merle Hamburger, and Paul Boxer. 2008. Linkages between Internet and former(a) Media Violence with Seriously Violent Behavior by Youth. Pediatrics 122(5)929-937. Retrieved February 23, 2010 (www.pediatrics.org/cgi/inside/10.1542/peds.2007-3377). 4. Worth, Keilah A., Jennifer Gibson Chambers, Daniel H. Nassau, Balvinder K. Rakhra, and James D. Sargent. 2008. Exposure of U.S. Adolescents to Extremely Violent Movies. Pediatrics 122(2)306-312. Retrieved February 23, 201 0 (www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2007-1096).5. keep in line Carnagey, Nicholas L., Craig A. Anderson, and Brad J. Bushman. 2007. The effect of video game violence on physiological desensitization to real-life violence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 43489-496. Retrieved February 23, 2010 (http//anderson.socialpsychology.org/).6. US Department of Health and Human operate. 2001. Youth Violence A breed of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for infirmity Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Substance handle and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services and National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health.7. Murray, John P. 2008. Media Violence The make Are Both Real and Strong. American Behavioral Scientist 51(8)1212-1230.8. Bushman, Brad J., and L. Rowell Huesmann. 2001. effects of Televised Violence on Aggression. In Sin ger DG, Singer JL, eds. Handbook of Children and the Media. gigabyte Oaks, CA Sage Publications.49. Federal communications Commission. In the progeny of violent television programming and its impact on children statement of Commissioner Deborah Taylor Tate. MB docket No. 04-261, April 25, 2007. Available athttp//fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-07-50A5.pdf. Accessed February 23, 2010.10. Robinson, Thomas N., Marta L. Wilde, Lisa C. Navracruz, K. Farish Haydel, and Ann Varady. 2001. Effects of reducing childrens television and video game use on aggressive behavior a randomized controlled trial. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 15517-23.11. See http//www.fcc.gov/telecom.html12. See http//www.familysafemedia.com/v-chip.html13. See http//www.justthink.org14. See http//www.medialit.org15. See http//www.aap.org/advocacy/mediamatters.htmRelated Publications on Media ViolenceAnderson CA, Dill KE. Video games and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in l ife. J Personality Social Psychol. 200078772-790. Bushman BJ. Effects of television violence on memory of commercialized messages. J Exper Psychol Applied. 19984291-307.Council on Communications and Media. 2009. Policy Statement Media Violence. Pediatrics 124(5)1495-1503. Retrieved February 23, 2010(www.pediatrics.org/cgi/doi/10.1542/peds.2009-2146).Tangney JP, Feshbach S. Childrens television viewing frequency individual differences and demographic correlates. Personality Social Psychol Bull. 199814145-158. Willis E, Strasburger VC. Media violence. Pediatr Clin matrimony Am. 199845319-331. Internet ResourcesAmerican Academy of Pediatrics Media Mattershttp//www.aap.org/advocacy/mediamatters.htmThe Center for Media Literacy http//www.medialit.orgCenter for the Prevention of School Violence http//www.ncdjjdp.org/cpsv