Media is the main cause in showing violence to the community. So much violence, that it is becoming normal to witness day by day. News have come up showing how there is people getting beat up in front of other people and they simply watch and don’t do anything. Also there was a seventy eight year old man that gets hit by a car and he is lying on the ground and no one is helping him, people just drive past him. Researchers claim that this is the Medias fault because of all the violence that is being exposed.
There is research from Professor GeorgeGeorge Gerbner that violence has gone through the roof. He studied on action movies and he counted how many people died in the movies and found that each movie that comes out more people are being killed and the exposure to violence is being seen. “Gerbner argues that the media conglomerates know this effect very well. Therefore, they treat the fans of violent imagery the way drug traffickers treat drug addicts; that, is they add more and more violent imagery to have the same effect on the viewers.”(pg.1) when the professor talks about they he means the media. This is very concerning and the effect that Professor George Gerbner is talking about is the mean world syndrome. Violence is being exposed everywhere from movies to television to video games, and it doesn’t stop. Because of all the exposure to violence it is becomeing normal to people which is very concerning.
There have been strong allegations toward the media that they are showing violence purposely targeting young children now to get more publicity. “Before young children even enter kindergarten they are exposed to over 4,000 h of television viewing (American Psychological Association 2005) and by the time they leave elementary school children will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on just television alone” (Erwin 1). This is very concerning that children are being exposed to violence at such a young age. This can confuse children into thinking that violence is okay because of what they have see in news, internet, movies, and TV shows. The outcome of children being exposed to violence at such a young age can be very harmful because studys that J. Erwin has done, shows that children become less fearfull, reduced sensitivity to pain, greater aggresion, and violent behavior towards others. This can result to fights happening in school, lack of concentration etc. There are many things that can affect children and could have a bad outcome.
“We must first teach the basics of media literacy to help people distinguish between genuine feelings of excitement born from true fulfillment and the seductive pseudo-excitement of empty consumable stimulation. Successful media literacy education counters people's susceptibility to manipulation by violence's hypnotic effects. It provides both insight into how these effects work and an emotional climate that supports people's natural desire to be in charge of their lives, to escape harm and to avoid manipulation.” (Johnston pg. 2) In my opinion I believe that Johnston is right because in order to find a solution to this issue we first must educate people but more importantly parents because they will the know what to do to help their children not to be exposed to violence, to block shows that leaks violence and to buy educational games to nurture their children In a better way rather them being exposed to violence.
Reference
Erwin J. ( 2008, August 14). Exposure to Media Violence and Young Children with
and Without Disabilities: Powerful Opportunities for Family-Professional Partnerships pg.1-9
Johnston, MD. ( N/A) Addicted to Violence: Has the American Dream Become a Nightmare? pg:1-2
http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/addicted-violence-has-american-dream-become-nightmare
Arsian J.(2010, November 27) How the Media Normalizes Violence (Graphic Video) Pg:1
