![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Media Violence
Jun. 1st, 2009 05:15 pmDreamwidthians and other bloggers represent a new generation in which computers not only surround us, but are practically essential in our every day lives. With the creation of websites such as Hulu.com, accessing television programs via the internet has become even more easy to accomplish. Those of us who may not have spent an hour or two per evening watching various television programs may now do so, thanks to the ease of such technology.
Bushman & Anderson, along with many other researchers, have conducted studies stating that media violence is responsible for a large number of crimes committed by children, teenagers, and young adults who watch a great deal of television shows that are "reality-based", such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, etc. Some networks, such as FOX, now have content ratings posted at the beginning of every program as well.
"About 350 characters appear each night on prime-time TV, but studies show an average of seven of these people are murdered every night. If this rate applied in reality, then in just 50 days everyone in the United States would be killed—and the last left could turn off the TV." ("Hollywood’s Three Big Lies," Reader’s Digest, Oct. 1995, 156–57.)
What are your thoughts regarding all of this? Do Bushman & Anderson make a valid argument, that there is too much violence in the present-day media? Or do you find yourself thinking that the amount of violence is merely a way to generate viewers' interest in the program? Should further requirements and restrictions be placed on television programs, so as to ensure that children are not exposed to such violence? Or do you feel that the networks have done enough by posting the content ratings at the beginning of every show that may be deemed too violent in nature? Finally, how large of a role do you believe the media plays in influencing a child's violent tendencies? 90%? 50%? 25%? 10%? What other factors (ex. abusive parents, dangerous neighborhood, negative peer pressure, etc.) come to mind when considering these percentages?
Bushman & Anderson, along with many other researchers, have conducted studies stating that media violence is responsible for a large number of crimes committed by children, teenagers, and young adults who watch a great deal of television shows that are "reality-based", such as Law & Order, CSI: Miami, etc. Some networks, such as FOX, now have content ratings posted at the beginning of every program as well.
"About 350 characters appear each night on prime-time TV, but studies show an average of seven of these people are murdered every night. If this rate applied in reality, then in just 50 days everyone in the United States would be killed—and the last left could turn off the TV." ("Hollywood’s Three Big Lies," Reader’s Digest, Oct. 1995, 156–57.)
What are your thoughts regarding all of this? Do Bushman & Anderson make a valid argument, that there is too much violence in the present-day media? Or do you find yourself thinking that the amount of violence is merely a way to generate viewers' interest in the program? Should further requirements and restrictions be placed on television programs, so as to ensure that children are not exposed to such violence? Or do you feel that the networks have done enough by posting the content ratings at the beginning of every show that may be deemed too violent in nature? Finally, how large of a role do you believe the media plays in influencing a child's violent tendencies? 90%? 50%? 25%? 10%? What other factors (ex. abusive parents, dangerous neighborhood, negative peer pressure, etc.) come to mind when considering these percentages?