Blaming
the Media for Youth Violence.
The fact of
skyrocketing cases of violence among the youths has sent shivers up the spine
of most of the responsible authorities. There are different researches that
have been done and that are aimed at reaching a comprehensive conclusion on who
is responsible for their behaviors. Some of the researchers blame the media
while others blame the different aspects of the society. These societal aspects
that are blamed for failing in their responsibilities involve the parenting
skills, the culture among other related factors. This study will aim at critically evaluating
the role played by either the media or other various aspects. This will assist in coming up with a
comprehensive resolution concerning the issue of violence among the youths. It
is after a careful examination and evaluation of both sides that an informed
conclusion will be attained.
Media does not account for violence among the youths. For
instance, claiming that desensitization is one of the methods that can be used
to reverse the negative influence that the media has on the individual is quite
superficial. This would be masking the
significant role that other avenues such as personality have on aggressive
behavior. For example, there can also be
the possibility that aggressive people are normally attracted towards violent
or aggressive contents. In addition to
this, those who are prone to viewing the violent content may not necessary
dispose these characteristics to the real world. The contention behind this is
that, youths who may involve in viewing of violent content may only reflect a
priming effect. In this case, what they watch may not necessarily be
transferred to the real world. It only
lasts for a short period. There is the
evidence of Harris and Klebold who used media images as vehicles to
their antisocial behaviors, maladjustments and justification to harm those
who have hurt them. (Jenkins ,pg.363).
More
media is being introduced everyday at a very astonishing rate. It is therefore
the duty of each and everyone to know the kind of media to follow and the kind
of material that they want to consume.
They should also know the kind of culture to follow and those that
reward or result to negative repercussions. Whatever the youths consume as
violent images or behavior may not necessarily make them violent. What makes
them violent is the way they consume the materials that reflects on their
destructive attitudes. The symbols that
are normally portrayed by the media have no definite meaning. The individual
are the ones that give meaning to the images and symbols that they find on the
media. When the youths have an urge to portray a particular meaning, then they
are quite resourceful at knowing where to get the material that best fits their
needs. (Jenkins, pg. 364). The evidence
in this case, is that some of the violent video games that are thought to have
contributed to violence among the youths may not necessarily be the most marketed.
However, the issue at hand is that getting rid of the feelings that drives the
youths to viewing aggressive behaviors is even more hard than getting rid of
the violent games themselves.( Jenkins, pg.364).
The
media play games used by the children do not show or make them aggressive,
rather it is already stripped off the reality bit and what is only left is
fantasy. Children use the play games to manipulate power. They want to feel as if they are in a reality
world where they manipulate their power and exert control over nature. (Jenkins,
pg.367).
The
greatest influence that can drive the children is the one that they experience
directly. This means that factors such as the culture of the people are part of
the influences that can subject the youths to violence. Rather than blaming the
media therefore, the kind of materials that the youths are in direct contact
with should be scrutinized. Those that form part of their environment.
From
another insightful example, we can shut down the TV programmes that portray
violent images. It is however hard to shut people in our environment. Media
images may have only given Harris and Clebold in the Littleton shootings
symbols to express their rage and frustrations (Jenkins,pg.368). The media did not create their frustrations
or the alienation. What sparked off
their attitude was not what they saw in the media but their feelings and
intentions that they had.
It
is the duty of the responsible authority to be able to show and direct the
youths on the better ways to use diversity and media. This will greatly assist
them to be able to learn more than to assume responsibilities. For instance the
teachers, parents among other authoritative members of the society are
responsible for directing the youths on the right kind of content to consume
rather than blaming the media.
The
evidence of youths engaging in violent behavior after watching violent acts in
the media can be shown in a research that was carried out between August and
September, 2006 as part of the national online survey in the United
States. The research involved 1588
youths who were reported engaging in violent acts within a period of 12 months.
38% of those were reported to have had an exposure to the online violent
acts. Those who witnessed violent
behaviors both online or offline were reported to have acquired seriously
violent behaviors in their life. 6% of the youths who were reported to have
viewed more than one of violence online were reported to acquire violent
behaviors. On the others side, only 4%
of the youths who portrayed violent behaviors were not exposed to online
violence (Mitchell et.al, 2008).
Different
researches have been carried out and theories have been developed regarding the
use of the computerized games such as Wii games and the effects that they pose
to the development of the youth’s brains.
The process of desensitization to violence can be one of the methods
that can be used to get only the information that one wants while disregarding
the one that is not important. There are
so many studies that have proved that exposure to media violence have in most
cases resulted to aggressive behavior (Bartholomew et.al, 2006). The effects associated with media are skewed
in favor of their interests. Furthermore, the media tends to desensitize the
youths on the effects of the violent or aggressive behavior.
Although the first viewing of the aggression
or violent content in the media may produce fear or avoidance attitudes, this
may later change. For example, continues viewing of the content may
consistently reduce the psychological impacts of the individual and they come
to view the content as normal. This in
the long run means that the aggressive behavior will continue to escalate with
continued viewing. The P300 component of
the event- related brain potential is normally elicited by viewing of the
violent images and thus the individual becomes desensitized. Therefore, the
contents of the media act to encourage aggression among the youths behavior (Bartholomew
et.al, 2006). Other cross sectional studies carried out have proved that there
is a significant positive correlation between violent TV shows and aggressive
behaviors among the youths. For instance, a research carried out in Maryland
and Wisconsin high schools junior students found significant positive links
between exposure to violence in the TV and aggression for both boys and girls.
Another group of researchers found out that there were 49% cases of violent
heavy viewers of violence in the TV as compared to the light viewers (Mitchell et.al,
2008). .
There
is an established link between the rates of violence among the young children
but an equal link has not been established for the older children and
adolescents. This means that there has not been sufficient evidence to prove
that violence content in the media is a positive factor in influencing
aggression among the youths. An in-depth research requires to be undertaken in
order to get the underlying factors that are hitherto responsible for the
youthful criminality more so the chronic violent disorders.
Research
has also shown that there are other factors that are equally important in
influencing aggressiveness among the youths. Therefore, the issue of violence
among the youths is a product of interplay of differing factors such as the
environment that the individual is, the family, the individual personality,
schools, peer and generally the community risk factors. Community violence can be
seen to be an influencing factor to youthful aggressiveness similar to those that
result from consumption of violent content in the media. The only differences that arises is that the
community-based violence is out of control of
the responsible authority such as the parents while the media one
especially influence from the websites can be controlled through controlled
viewing.
A
longitudinal study carried out from a time period ranging from less than one
year to 15 years attempted to study a group of children aged 6-10. They found
out that children who viewed more violent acts in the media committed more
violent acts such as physical and verbal (Jenkins,pg. 334). The study also came
to a conclusion that viewing of violence during the childhood days culminated
to violent acts in the later part of adulthood. However, aggressive behaviors
during childhood did not lead to viewing of violent content during the
adulthood.
An
experimental study that was carried out to investigate the effects of violence
on the video games. Children and college
were assigned randomly to play either a children’s video or game that involved
shooting a cartoon-like character or a non-violent video game. The ones who
played the violent children’s game displayed a high level of aggressive
behavior than those who played a non violent game (Jenkins, pg.335). Similar
researches done proved that the serious aggressive behaviors emanated from a
convergence of factors such as the genetic factors, the parenting styles,
peers, schools and others. The researches that have been carried out have not
effectively been able to link the extremely violent youthful behaviors with
media influence. The only evidence that
has been provided is the short term effect of media on the emotions, thoughts
and feelings of the individual. Therefore, little research has linked violent
behavior with chronic aggression/ violence among the youths.
A research carried out by Escobar Chaves and
Anderson examining the effects of youths spending their time in the electronic
media; the study came to one conclusion that media violence increases chances
of youth violence. Experimental studies have also proved that even a single
view of the media violence consequently causes aggression among the youths in
the immediate situation. For instance, KajBjorkqvist exposed 5-6 years old
Finnish children to watch violent movies. Another watched the non violent movie.
Raters, who knew not on the kind of movies that they watched, observed them as
they played together in a room. The ones who had watched the violent movies
were more prone to violent acts as well as demonstrated other aggressive behaviors.
In addition there are also other researches that have shown that exposure to
violent content in the media is likely to increase on aggressive thinking,
aggressive emotions among others(Escobar-Chaves And Anderson,2008).
From
the foregoing discussion therefore, although the media plays a part in
influencing the youths due to the fact that the youths get a lot of information
from it, the idea may not neccesality wanting to understand what the media is
doing to our children but rather what the children are doing with the media. This means that all the relevant factors must
play their part to reduce the cases of youth violence without necessarily
blaming the media as a single factor.
In
a nutshell, the media seems to partially blame for the escalating cases of
violence among the youths. For instance, the P300 component of the brain is
elicited when violent images are viewed by the youths. Furthermore, the media causes violence among
the youths through the desensitization and disinhibition processes. For
example, a research carried out on Finnish children where some were exposed to
violent contents while others were not. Those who were exposed to violent
contents manifested aggressiveness when they went to play with others. On the
other hand, those who were not exposed to violent content did not manifest
aggressive behavior when they went to play with others. This shows the significance of the media
especially in its contribution to violence among the youths.
Media’s
interests are mostly geared towards making profits. With regards to this fact, the ethical
contents are not the most prioritized in almost all media. This therefore means
the ethical value of whatever content they deliver to the public is not taken
into consideration. What the youths get from the media is therefore taken as
reality. Since the development of youths is comprised of complex processes
involving a lot of innovation and invention, they may portray copy-cut behavior
similar to what the media displays. In
addition, the media which serves as one of the most trusted sources of getting
information has brought about cognitive priming to most of the youths. In this
respect, the youths trust all the information given by the media as reality. Furthermore, the fear that individuals have after
watching violent contents only lasts for a short period. However, continuous
viewing will make the youths to be used to it. They come to see violence as
normal. This increases their aggressive behavior rapidly.
On
the other end, media is not the only factor that contributes to the violence
manifested among the youths. Firstly, it is the responsibility of the
individual to know the kind of content that they are meant to view. Secondly,
it is possible to control youths viewing violent content in the media than
controlling real violence in the environment. This means that, the
environmental violence, which is mostly difficult to control, is likely to
influence the youths more than the media violence. Thirdly, the symbols claimed
to influence the youth behavior do not have a general meaning. The individuals using the media are the ones
who give the symbols meaning. Fourthly, there is also the possibility that
violent youths normally seek violent content from the media for instance the
case of the Littleton shooting. The two
young people can use the media to justify their rage and frustrations to the
community. Fifthly, the games played by the children do not necessarily cause
aggressive behavior among the youths.
These games are normally stripped off the real effects they may be thought
to bear living only fantasy in them. In addition, the children only use them to
exert their power but not to influence them negatively.
In
conclusion, the interplay between different factors is the major contributor of
youth violence. Media cannot be solely be blamed for the violence prevalent
among the youths. There are several intertwined factors that contribute to the
violent behavior among the youths. It is the duty of the parents therefore as
the primary socializing agents to guide their children on the right contents to
watch on the media. In addition, the
community should refrain from portraying aggressive behaviors among the youths.
It is the duty of both the media and the environment to work to shape the
youths to acquire positive behaviors. If
media was to be the only factor to blame for violence among the youths, then it
means that a great proportion of the youths were to be violent which not the
case is. In addition, not all people are able to access violent content from
the media yet they are aggressive. This means that they get this quality from
the environment. Furthermore, the growth of media takes place at a very high
rate, yet there is no evidence to prove that violence has been growing at a
similar rate among the youths. This means that there are other factors
responsible for youth’s violence. Therefore it is the question of the meaning
youths attach to the media and not what the media does to the youths.
Works
cited
Bartholow, B. D.,
Bushman, B. J., & Sestir, M. A. (2006). Chronic
violent video game exposure and
desensitization: Behavioral and event-related brain potential data. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology,
42, 532-539.
Henry Jenkins .Testimony On Media Violence.
Michele L. Ybarra.
Et.al. Linkages Between Internet and
Other Media Violence With Seriously
Violent Behavior by Youth. Pediatrics Vol. 122 No. 5 November 1, 2008 pp. 929 -937
Soledad Liliana Escobar-Chaves And
Craig A. Anderson. Media And Risky
Behaviours: Aggressive And Violent
Behaviour. 2008.
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