VIOLENCE IN MEDIA

Essay

Violence has always played a role in entertainment. But there is a growing consensus that, in recent years, something about media violence has changed. Children and adolescents are exposed to more media depictions of violence than ever before. Such depictions pervade not only television, but film, music, online media, videogames, and printed material. Commercial television for children is 50-60 times more violent than prime-time programs for adults, as some cartoons average more than 80 violent acts per hour. With the advent of videocassette sales and rentals, pay-per-view TV, cable TV, videogames, and online interactive media, many more children and adolescents have greater access to media with violent content than had ever been available in previous decades. Again, these depictions desensitize children to the effects of violence, increase aggression, and help foster a climate of fear.
Corporations that produce and distribute media depictions of violence cannot be allowed to state that they are simply "giving the public what it wants." In a survey commissioned by the American Medical Association, two-thirds of all adults and 75% of adults with children have walked out of a movie or turned off the television because the content was too violent. Clearly, the public doesn't want what the media thinks it wants. While fiercely protective of free speech, Americans still want to be informed about the levels of violent or sexual content in television programs, computer games, music, and movies to which their children could be exposed.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be exposed to no more than 1 or 2 hours of television a day. Particularly where young people are concerned, limiting exposure to violence in the media, limiting overexposure to the media in general, and teaching and encouraging critical viewing, listening, videogame-playing, and reading habits can help set the pattern for more positive values, and, ultimately, a less violent, more humane society. Media literacy skills are vital. Rather than allow the media to promote unchallenged the quick fix of violent solutions, conflict resolution skills involving patience and negotiation should be taught.
On the one hand, there are those who blame media violence for societal violence and want to censor violent content to protect children. On the other hand are those who see regulation as the slippery slope to censorship or a smokescreen hiding the root causes of violence in society.
One thing is certain: the issue of media violence is not going away. Increasingly the debate is focusing on the "culture of violence," and on the normalization of aggression and lack of empathy in our society.