Stop violence in media

Why are we glorifying violence and depravity in media? Our children will grow up in a world in which
they will constantly be exposed to inappropriate subject matter which will no doubt influence their
life and the decisions they make. Do we really want to live in a world in which violence is normalized
and considered a valid method to get your way? According to an article by Pravleen Chugh, there are
studies which show that violence in media has an effect on the people watching, and movies
featuring crime have been cited as inspirations for real-world criminals. This is a big problem which
seems to have an easy solution – since violent media is a cause for violence we have to protect our
children from this influence before they turn to a life of crime.

That leads me to my own children, which have turned very unruly after playing the popular war game
Call of Honor. Their play has become very focused on violent conflict where the “winner” is the one
who “kills” the other. Is this really something that we want for our children? Should we not raise
them to appreciate friendship and cooperation rather than exposing them to filth like that at such a
young age?

Some would say that violent films and games are just entertainment, but this is not the case. A study
(Anderson, 2010) investigating the effects of violent media says: “evidence strongly suggests that
exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive
cognition, and aggressive affect and for decreased empathy and prosocial behavior.” There have also
been studies which show that over half of school shooters in the US have expressed interest in
violent media in some form (Kaplan, 2012). This means that we could stop over half of school
shootings by simply removing violent media from society, saving hundreds of lives.

All of this cements the fact that violence in media causes violence in society; it is clear from the
evidence that getting rid of violence in media will make society better. I believe that our women and
children deserve to live in a world in which they can feel safe and that their concerns are taken
seriously. We cannot sacrifice the well-being of society simply because some of us want to be
entertained.

B Stockman

Printed in the Downtown Gazette, 2018-09-26

Sources

Anderson C.A., Shibuya, A., Ihori, N., Swing, E.L., Bushman, B.J., Sakamoto, A., Rothstein, H.R.,
Saleem, M. (2010). Violent video game effects on aggression, empathy, and prosocial behavior in
eastern and western countries: a meta-analytic review. Psychological bulletin. 136(2), 151-173.

Chugh, P. Does Violence in Films Influence Society? Retrieved 2018-09-26 from

http://www.caleidoscope.in/art-culture/violence-in-films

Kaplan, A. (2012). Violence in the Media: What Effects on Behavior? Psychiatric Times. Retrieved
2018-09-26 from http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/child-adolescent-psychiatry/violence-media-
what-effects-behavior