What to Do With Media Violence
991226443 00 1
102-039
Spring 2014
What to Do With Media Violence The definition of media violence is research done to see if the violence in media results in aggressive and violent behavior by those who watch it. Some scientists support the link between the two, while others say that the results could have been exaggerated. Media violence and the debates about its effects are not anything new, Plato was even concerned about violent plays on the youth in his day. The reason why this topic has increased in debate today, is because younger and younger children are being drawn to violence in entertainment and by the amount of graphic violence in entertainment. The amount of media violence content today has exploded compared to the 50’s. Today there are hundreds and thousands of movies and video games that have excessive violence. Think of the last movie you watched, I would bet in that movie there was a scene where there was either a fist fight or a shooting battle. Even if that movie you watched had no violence at all, you can still name at least five movies or video games you’ve seen that have some type of violence in it. Along with the amount of media violence, modern technology has let filmmakers to enhance their fight scenes to make it look as real as possible. CGI or computer-generated imagery allows filmmakers to draft their images on a computer rather than having someone act it out. This allows fight scenes and other graphic components to look as real as possible when filming. Besides content, the main reason why media violence is heavily debated, is because more and more children are drawn to violent movies or video games. Sasha Emmons reported in her CNN story that
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“kids 8 and under watch an average of 1 hour and 40 minutes of TV or DVDs a day; older kids watch an average of 4 hours daily, and kids start playing video games at the age of 4” (Emmons 1). She goes on to say that “Ninety percent of movies, 68% of video games, and 60% of TV
102-039
Spring 2014
What to Do With Media Violence The definition of media violence is research done to see if the violence in media results in aggressive and violent behavior by those who watch it. Some scientists support the link between the two, while others say that the results could have been exaggerated. Media violence and the debates about its effects are not anything new, Plato was even concerned about violent plays on the youth in his day. The reason why this topic has increased in debate today, is because younger and younger children are being drawn to violence in entertainment and by the amount of graphic violence in entertainment. The amount of media violence content today has exploded compared to the 50’s. Today there are hundreds and thousands of movies and video games that have excessive violence. Think of the last movie you watched, I would bet in that movie there was a scene where there was either a fist fight or a shooting battle. Even if that movie you watched had no violence at all, you can still name at least five movies or video games you’ve seen that have some type of violence in it. Along with the amount of media violence, modern technology has let filmmakers to enhance their fight scenes to make it look as real as possible. CGI or computer-generated imagery allows filmmakers to draft their images on a computer rather than having someone act it out. This allows fight scenes and other graphic components to look as real as possible when filming. Besides content, the main reason why media violence is heavily debated, is because more and more children are drawn to violent movies or video games. Sasha Emmons reported in her CNN story that
2
“kids 8 and under watch an average of 1 hour and 40 minutes of TV or DVDs a day; older kids watch an average of 4 hours daily, and kids start playing video games at the age of 4” (Emmons 1). She goes on to say that “Ninety percent of movies, 68% of video games, and 60% of TV
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