The Media Impact on Youth Violence

The Media Impact on Youth Violence

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Linda Perez
The Media Impact on Youth Violence When we were children, there were only thirteen channels on television, only one house phone, there was no cellular phones and no computer but a typewriter in the house. We played outside, hopscotch, jump rope and stickball. Was not allow to watch primetime Television including the news, we was told it 's was for grown-ups. My, how times change from then to now, everywhere you turn you have access to some sort of media outlet, television with over hundreds channels in every language, almost everyone has a smart cellular phones, hand held video games, computers are made portable as laptops, tablets and iPads. Not to mention every social media you can think of, Facebook, twitter, Instagram, Myspace, and so forth. In today`s world the media is like a double edge sword and has been blamed for numerous of society’s down falls including youth violence, that has become one of the largest discussions in America. The media outlet have been accused for starting street arguments among rap artist, youth homicides, gun violence in schools and street gangs’ wars. Even though society shouldn’t be held accountable for the behavior of youth people, the media increases violence behavior because of the availability of media access and lack of parental control on the media.

Youth violence can start at a very early age and continue onto adolescence and young adulthood. This behavior can be harmful to the youth involve in the violence or the victim. Youth violence is define in the CDC report, bullying, slapping, hitting, and causing physical and bodily harm to another person with or without weapons. Rampantly, youth violence is sweeping across United States becoming the second largest killer of youth (Prevention, 2012) ages 15 to 24. According to the recent study done by the CDC, “Understanding Youth Violence” (2012):
“4,828 young people aged 10 to 24 were victims of homicide—an average of 13 each day—in 2010.1”
“Over 707,000 young people aged 10 to 24 years had physical assault injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments in 2011—an average of 1,938 each day.1”
“In a 2011 nationwide survey, about 33% of high school students reported being in a physical fight in the 12 months before the survey.”
“About 5% of high school students in 2011 reported taking a weapon to school in the 30 days before the survey.”
“In 2011, 20% of high school students reported being bullied on school property and 16% reported being bullied electronically.”
“Each year, youth homicides and assault-related injuries result in an estimated $16 billion in combined medical and work loss costs.”
“Understanding Youth Violence” (2012):

In the past, the two famous rap artists were victims of violence that led to their murders because of propaganda that generated finance in the music media and taken serious by the listening audience, which was mostly adolescence and young adults. The two victims were Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace and Tupac Shakur. These artists lived two coast apart. Tupac was from the West Coast and Christopher was from the East Coast, which turned into an “East Coast and West Coast Beef.” As we take off the vial of truth, of how this started the bottom line is gang related. These artists used the music media as a source for their personal turf war. Music, a weapon for the war to fuel the misrepresentation and represents their gangs, “Bloods and Crips.” Street gangs are the response to direct interferences and indirect factors. People react differently to gangs; most people are in denial or in shock (Justice, 1999). Gangs are the urban answer to the community trying to solve an economic and demographic problem that they think, can be solved with violence. Their community is in a state where children grow up with no father and seek male guidance from the gang leader that in their eyes seem like the answer because he has money, and respected in the streets; this is what children in the urban community thinks is the way of life, money, power, and respect. Behind this concept, violence seems to be the answer to all problems. As, stated above the media would take this economic problem and call it “Black on Black Crime” and make it look like the people are just killing each other and the media sometimes glorify and make the gangs look like the thing to be because the street credit the media created for the person/s is rampant.

Recently, school across the country in suburban America has been face with the increase in school violence. Let us look at the recent school shooting in Sandy Hook Elementary, CT, a community that was not affect by the inner city demographic such as impoverish neighborhoods, but are not invincible to the social and public media as this tragic news went viral throughout the airwaves. Cyber bullying also has become a source of youth violence, through the Internet, and cellphones, young people has found ways to hurt their peers by sending threating messages, posting rumors and harassing messages on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Cyber bullying can cause anxiety, depression, and been link to suicides. Young people has found this new platform in the media to humiliate there friends and impose emotional violence on another (Prevention C. f., 2012). My son was victim of cyber bullying that was also gang related. Facebook was as the medium to instigate and carry out actions that resulted in my son being shot. He was victimized electronically, which made him react with words in a rap and the counter-reaction resulted in gun violence. The media can be blame for the increase in youth violence especially, living in today`s cyber revolution, with ready available wifi and news at your fingertips. It difficult to block out and stay ignorant to the violence in the world around us, children’s cartoons, movies, video games and music videos has become the entertainment for adolescence and young adults, with action fights, aggressive behavior, and foul language which basically co-sign the glamorous world full of acceptable bad behavior.

The violence in the media has because an enormous entertainment business, from Monday Night Raw on cable television to Assassin’s Creed, one of the top ten bestseller video game. The video games industry in the past decade only has become one of the largest part of world entertainment industry. The numbers tell us in grossing over twenty something billion dollars in 2011 in American sales alone, which make it clear that this industry is one of the key player in media entertainment environment. From the first release of Atari, game system in the early in the mid-70s to Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStations, and Microsoft Xbox, video games has definitely come a long way. The household entertainment budget show over forty percent of American households has a gaming system and because of the inappropriate and violence content, such as shooting, murders, theft and fighting. Some experts like David Welsh believes that video games can be bad for children`s health increasing the heart rate and blood pressure in children who spend more than eight hours a week on the game console.{The impact of Media on Children and Teens}. As well as increasing aggressive behavior among youth, for example the recent story in Washington in the media, about a fourteen-year-old boy shooting his parents, because they took away his video games. Most parents today toil to find a suitable balance between keeping up, and staying ahead of the children`s entertainment agenda with an ever-growing worlds of technology and media this has become quite difficult. With devices like smartphones and video game console that can access the Internet like a computers, and with the constant availability to media, parents are face with the struggle of not know whether or not their children is being exposed to appropriate content. This twenty first century has become more difficult to raise a child than the nineteen century, back then society was about up bring, decency and respect. Today`s society has though out yesterday`s value and is focus on what sells, indecency, profanity, sexuality and violence makes money and that’s the bottom line. This new society, most parents are single and overworked, lacking the resource of childcare, are force to use the media as a 24 hours babysitter. We do needs to protect our children from the money hungry media that is victimize our children at the expense of lining their pockets, by setting limits of television, gaming and not give a children a cell phone until they are mature and responsible enough to use it, but how can we be without being in two places at once.

In conclusions as the media impact on youth violence will continue to be an ongoing discussion in America, whether it`s lack of parent superior or the media has no consideration and has no respect for society. We trusted the media for years and have brought them into our living rooms to entertain and some cases educate our families. Simply, due to evolution they have fell short of that responsibility, the constant changing technology of electronic gadgets and the overwhelming access to the media via the worldwide web giving entree to social networks, video games and cyber bullying and unlimited access to movies. With this new age society, we have forgotten how to raise our own children and left them in the hands of technology. As well as myself, have been guilty of handing my toddler the iPad to keep her quite at times. If we continue to depend on technology to raise our children, not spending that one-on-one time that is needed, our children would not have any social skills and a lack empathy for others which; leads to actions without thinking logic of consequences, which is not learned on television and the video games. A parent has to take the responsibility back to raise his or her own children and not use technology as babysitters. Furthermore, wasn’t that the way our parent was raises fifty to sixty years ago and there was very low crime and little to none youth violence, because there was limited or no media access.

References
Gentile, D. A., Humphrey, J., & Walsh, D. A. (Jun 2005). Media Ratings for Movies, Music, Video Games, and Television: a Review of the Research and Recommendations for Improvements. Adolescent Medicine Clinics.
Walsh, D. (2002). A Normative Study of Family Media habits. (Parentfurther.com, Interviewer)

Justice, U. D. (1999, August ). Addressing community gang problems: A model for problem solving. Retrieved from Office of Jusitce Programs: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/programs/yvp_gangs.htm

Prevention, C. f. (2012, October 23). Electronic Aggression. Retrieved from CDC.gov: www.cdc.gov/volienceprevention/youthvolience/electrionicaggression

Prevention, C. f. (2012, Oct 19). Understanding Youth Violence. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/voilenceprevention: http://www.cdc.gov

References: Gentile, D. A., Humphrey, J., & Walsh, D. A. (Jun 2005). Media Ratings for Movies, Music, Video Games, and Television: a Review of the Research and Recommendations for Improvements. Adolescent Medicine Clinics. Walsh, D. (2002). A Normative Study of Family Media habits. (Parentfurther.com, Interviewer) Justice, U. D. (1999, August ). Addressing community gang problems: A model for problem solving. Retrieved from Office of Jusitce Programs: http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/programs/yvp_gangs.htm Prevention, C. f. (2012, October 23). Electronic Aggression. Retrieved from CDC.gov: www.cdc.gov/volienceprevention/youthvolience/electrionicaggression Prevention, C. f. (2012, Oct 19). Understanding Youth Violence. Retrieved from www.cdc.gov/voilenceprevention: http://www.cdc.gov