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  • Essay / Violence in Music and Media and Its Effects on Children

    We always wonder why bad things happen, maybe the answer is right in front of us, but we are simply too blind or naive to see her. Most would like to think that everyone knows the difference between right and wrong. The problem is that we grow up surrounded by bad, highly valued things. The music we listen to, the things we watch and play are all things we find enjoyable. Some people want to experience or experience these things because they admire them. As humans, we learn from those around us, so why do we continue to support violent video games, violent films, and sexual behavior? Why do we continue to let children be surrounded by these things? We should have stricter rules regarding violence and sex because children are known to have a negative effect on this phenomenon and we can take steps to control these behaviors. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayViolent media has caused many harmful actions in the past. Devin Moore, an eighteen-year-old from Alabama, was arrested in 2003 for shooting and killing two police officers and a 911 dispatcher before fleeing the scene in a stolen police car. Devin's lawyers claim this violent behavior was due to his excessive exposure to the video game Grand Theft Auto. This popular video game has achieved worldwide sales of almost $2 billion. After police captured Devin, he told them, “Life is like a video game. Everyone has to die one day (Leung, 16 years old). » Overexposure to violent media gave Devin Moore this mindset, the perspective that it's OK to kill police officers, steal cars, and act on sudden impulse. Devin Moore is not the only teenager whose susceptibility to violent crime has diminished due to his heavy exposure to violent media, including video games. The shootings of two teenagers in Tennessee and the murder of six people in California are also linked to the game Grand Theft Auto. Video games are not the only violent media exposed to young people through the media, television also contributes significantly. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average American child will witness approximately 200,000 different acts of violence on television before the age of eighteen (NCCEV, 1). Since most of these crimes are observed without parental supervision, children are unaware of the negative consequences of these actions. Scientific studies have proven that exposure to violence, including on television, causes many immediate and long-term changes to the body. Examples of short-term changes are physiological arousal, which includes increased heart rate and blood pressure, and new facts and behaviors are also exposed to those who witness violent crimes. Long-term exposure often reinforces these behaviors and reduces the negative connotation associated with violence. Since children's brains are not fully developed, they are extremely impressionable and are more likely to act on their sudden thoughts. Exposure to violent television shows shows adolescents that violence is common and that these children sometimes try to imitate what they have just witnessed. Nathan Martinez is a child who acted out in response to a violent television show. He was an eighteen-year-old boy who shot his stepmother and stepsister. It was said thatMartinez frequently watched the television series Natural Born Killers and watched it six more times before its filming, when he imitated what he saw on the television show (CAN, 1). Music has also become an important part of children. and adolescent life. Music such as rap, rock and heavy metal often contain lyrics describing violent actions. This type of music is becoming more and more common and is often heard on the radio by young children. The provocative lyrics of these songs contribute to increasing the violence present in currently popular music. Not only does this music alter the listener's opinion of what is morally acceptable and what is not, but it also promotes violence towards those who listen to it. A study was carried out in 2003 by the American Psychological Association. This study proved that violent lyrics in songs directly increase thoughts and emotions related to aggression on the part of the listener (APA, 1). Those who listen to violent music are more likely to act impulsively after listening to this music. Not only does the rhythm and tone of the music make it violent, but so does the meaning of the lyrics. The lyrics of the most popular rap songs describe shootings and other violent crimes, disrespect for police and other authority figures, illegal activities, and vulgar sexual acts. Hearing this repeatedly through music conditions people of all ages to believe that this crude language and attitude is acceptable. Along with the violent music being played, music videos are also being played. Students at Harvard University conducted a study in 1998 on the extent of violence shown in television music videos. 76 video clips lasting two to three minutes were examined and each video showed an average of six acts of violence. The number of shootings, stabbings, and fights in these seventy-six video clips reached a total of 462. This study took place in 1998 and, as society probably indicates, media violence has not only increases. These frequently viewed music videos give teens visual instructions on how to respond to violence and, most of the time, escape without getting caught. Video games, television, music and music videos introduce and familiarize violence in the adolescent brain. This constant media coverage has been the cause of many violent crimes committed by consumers in the past and if the trend of increasing media aggressiveness continues, the number of violent acts due to the exposure of violent media will increase exponentially. According to the idea that violence and sex in media should be subject to stricter regulations, we should also consider evidence from studies of social learning and imitation. In our case, supporting evidence of course means evidence that demonstrates the claim that humans, as social creatures, do in fact imitate the actions and ideas that they see and hear. Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura's famous "bobo doll experiment" is an excellent example of the effects social learning and vicarious conditioning has on children. In the original experiment, Bandura and colleagues compared the effects on children of watching a real-life model, a human film, and a cartoon film depicting aggressive and non-aggressive behaviors. The children after observing these behaviors were taken into a room alone or accompanied by an adult to observe the effects that thepresentations had on children. To observe the effects, the children were asked to simply play with the toys in the room, particularly the bobo doll. The bobo doll being approximately the same size as the child represented a hypothetical person. “Children who observed the aggressive models exhibited a large number of precisely imitative aggressive responses, whereas such responses rarely occurred in the nonaggressive model group or in the control group” (Bandura and Walters 61). Their results showed that the children in their experiment imitated the behaviors that had been presented to them earlier. Children who imitated the aggressive behaviors demonstrated verbal aggression and physical aggression toward the bobo doll similar to the person or movie they were watching. Children who observed nonaggressive behaviors spoke and played calmly with the bobo doll, just like the person or movie they observed. Using these studies and the ideas of observational learning as a guide, we can clearly see how media violence and sex have impacted impressionable humans. Knowing the effects of observational learning, media content should be reformed to decrease the harmful psychological effects its content can have on people. A compelling factor when it comes to imitative behavior, regardless of age, is the model who presents the behavior or idea. Of course, models differ depending on each person's lifespan. Typically, a young child's role models would be their parents or others in their immediate social environment. However, we do not focus on young children because of their role models, but on older children, adolescents and impressionable young adults. "American children ages 2 to 18 spend an average of 6 hours and 32 minutes each day using media (television, commercial or self-recorded video, movies, video games, print media, radio, recorded music, computer and Internet)” (Haugen 16). Although young children can watch media just as much as adolescents, identification is important in determining role models. Identification, as it relates to human psychology, is the mechanism in humans that leads us to imitate the attributes or actions of the models around us. If you can imagine a person who identifies with a negative role model in the media, can you see how potentially dangerous that is? Everyone identifies with a role model, no matter who you are, but if you like a negative role model, you will reflect their negative attributes as positive ones. The media does a good job of portraying a good role model on the surface, but in reality, they have detrimental attributes. There are "stuff" in the media that may or may not be encouraged, but still have an effect on teens and young adults. “Attractiveness is also assumed to extend the influence of controllers' power over a wide range of behaviors” (Bandura 95). An attractive or sexually attractive model can cause a person to identify with them in hopes of becoming more like them. For example, if all of your role models exhibited aggressive behaviors, it is likely that you would experience less cognitive dissonance from engaging in these behaviors. Although some models are attractive, their attractive physical qualities should not mask their negative attributes. Another "trick" is the way violence and sex are sometimes depicted in the plot of a video game or movie. If violence and sex are necessary for the greater good of