Violence in Media and affect on children

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Violence in Media and Effect on Children

Unlike past generations where violence in media was restricted or limited , today 's generation of children have unlimited access to television , video games as well as the internet , which depict violence in various ways (Anderson 97 . Parents in today 's society are having a hard time controlling what their children are exposed to and the media is not doing much to help the situation (Anderson 98

In the 1940s to around 1980s , for example , few people

had access to or were able to afford the luxury of owning television sets (Chamberlin 43 . The internet as well as video games was not yet advanced , hence children in that era were not exposed to violence in media , as compared to children of today . Due to little or no exposure to violence by the media , children of past generations lived long and healthy lives and did not portray aggressive behavior at a later life (Gadow Sprafkin 40

Violence in the media has greatly affected children in a negative way and the society seems to have realized it when it is too late . Due to advancement in technology and introduction of internet , violent video games , movies and programmes are becoming a craze among today 's children aged between 7 years and 12 years , as well as teenagers aged between 13 years and 18 years (Anderson 100

The media is to blame for increase in violence in children since it puts forward the notion or mentality that the use of violence to solve issues , use of substances such as cocaine is morally acceptable as long as it is controlled and justified (Duncan 42 . Children have a higher capacity of absorbing what is being presented to them and since it is presented by adults , then to them it is the right thing to do (Chamberlin 57 . They also try aping what they watch on televisions or video games . Due to lack of proper judgment and ability to re-think whatever information is being presented to them , children end up being more vulnerable to the information as compared to adults (Duncan 45 They cannot easily tell good motives from bad motives of violence (Anderson 115

Today 's media is portraying a lot of violence as being an act of heroism hence cases whereby shooting by young people in schools occur (Duncan 40 . It has also been observed that instead of spending the better part of their day sleeping or resting , children aged 7 years to 18 years spend most of their childhood and teenage life glued to the television or video games (Gadow Sprafkin 52 . The approximated time has been 6 ? hours a day (Chamberlin 56 ! At these ages , it is not easy for them to differentiate reality from fantasy , hence imitate almost everything they see (Duncan 45

Children who are exposed to violence through media or video games have been known to develop aggressive behaviors and attitudes not only to their peers but their families...