Violence Doesn’t Always Negatively Affect a Child

Television, movies, and video games are a big part of children’s lives in today’s technologically advanced society. Much of society claims to have proof for the belief that media violence affects children negatively. However, I am skeptical of the evidence that is stated to prove that claim. I feel that society has placed the blame on these mediums for the violent acts, however serious or trivial, that children commit way too easily, before they even begin to examine the parenting of today’s society. Television, movies, and video games are not the primary causes for acts of violence and other crimes committed by kids. They are only singled out due to the violent images and plots that they depict which leads one to believe that since children view these violent scenes they will imitate unconditionally for lack of better judgment.

When a kid commits a violent act, the crime is often blamed on the television program that the child watched, the movies the child saw, or the video game the child just played. But if one were to actually go about censoring television shows, cartoons should be censored first. People will start trying to stop kids from viewing violent images such as shows like the Power Rangers or The Ninja Turtles. I do not think that shows like this should be censored so a kid can’t watch them. I think that by censoring the images it will just make kids want to see them more. Kids are attracted to violence and if they can’t see it on television or in movies, they will easily see it outside when they play at the playground.

Violent television, movies and especially video games offer a way for kids to see what violence is without actually committing any crimes or hurting anyone. Before humans could see or engage in virtual violence, we watched or committed real violent acts. Take, for example, the ancient acts of the Romans. They would watch gladiators fight and kill each other before they could find their violent entertainment in television. Most people won’t admit that they like violence in television, movies, and video games, but I think that they offer a way to see the violence without actually hurting anyone. If we censor or ban it, we will be forced to find our violence elsewhere. Ever since I can remember, people have been arguing over the content of what we see. These three forms of entertainment have become huge over my generation and the will become even bigger with the ones to come.

Many children are spending most of their time in front of a television screen or in front of a video game and who knows how many acts of murders or violent crimes an average kid witnessed even before the age of 12. My question is what does seeing these images actually do to a kid. Many people seem to think that seeing these images will make the child more aggressive and make them more violent. But, that doesn’t mean that the kid will go out and murder someone. Some people think so because they believe that what kid’s see on television will want to make a kid hurt someone else. Often when a kid commits a violent crime, the blame goes to television or movies or video games. I think this happens because they are a source of violence and many people believe that media violence will cause real life violence. They also blame these sources of media because it seems to be the easiest thing to blame it on. When people are shocked by a crime committed by a kid, such as the one recently committed in Chicago, where the two boys raped and killed a little girl for no apparent reason, they want an excuse for why it happened. When one can’t be found, they are quick to blame it on the violent television shows or the video game with the most blood in it.

My belief is that people will single out violence on television, movies,