In another study, this one involving a survey that was completed by 365 pediatricians in the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), revealed that first of all, most pediatricians agreed with and were familiar with the three AAP recommendations. Those three are: a) limit children's media time; b) discourage any television viewing for children under the age of 2 years; and c) "encourage alternative entertainment for children" (Gentile, et al
Levermore writes in the Forensic Examiner that violent video games should be brought into the discussion as well. When it comes to terribly violent video games like "Mortal Combat" and "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" the goal is always "murder and theft" and the skill level that these games teach children is based on a criminal code of ethics "that purports specific rules and norms" (Levermore, p
The researchers reviewed 50 sporting programs (the NFL, Olympics, NBA, NCAA College Basketball, the Rose Bowl, among other sporting events). The survey's ground rules were broken down into categories including the product that was being advertised, and "unsafe behavior" was defined as "any action that could have harmful consequences or that contravened the injury prevention recommendations of national organizations" (Tamburro, 2004, p
And the attachment theory says that low parental attachment produces cold, hardened children who tend to turn delinquent (Farrington). Conclusion Juvenile courts in King County report on the prevalence of family violence in their caseloads (Buel, 2002)
The social learning theory explains that children in these families are unable to learn appropriate behavior because of the opposed parental examples or models provided. And the attachment theory says that low parental attachment produces cold, hardened children who tend to turn delinquent (Farrington)
These define their roles and contribute to developing habits like cruelty (DESA). A cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,943 Korean adolescents of whom 707 were juvenile delinquents to explore the causes and effects of juvenile delinquency (Kim & Kim, 2008)
When young adults are developing themselves into the person they wish to become, they learn by observing, imitating, and making behaviors their own. As easily accessible sources, magazines, comic books, posters and advertisements, movies, music, and videogames all provide as samples (Dahl & DellaVigna, 2002)
. stop beating, raping and injuring their children and others if we simply censor what is shown on television and other media," meaning that those who express concerns over media violence are using the media as a scapegoat for the overall problem of violence in America (Berkowitz, 101)
Television violence, along with violent video games and films, affects youngsters of all ages and at all socio-economic levels. The effect is not limited to children who are already disposed to being aggressive and is not restricted to the United States" (Cline, Croft and Courrier, 362)
A prime example can be found in the Columbine High School incident in 1999 in which two teenage boys killed thirteen students with semi-automatic weapons. The perpetrators of this crime, at least according to some sources, "were addicted to violent television programs and movies and thus acted out their aggressions on innocent persons, thinking that violence was the way to solve their problems" (Lightner, 257)
Others continue to argue that violence in the media does not negatively affect young children, at least not to the point of creating and manifesting violence in their personal lives. Overall, research conducted within the last ten years has come to the conclusion that repeated exposure to high levels of media violence "induces children and adolescents to settle their interpersonal problems with violence" and while under the control of the power of the media, "children at younger and younger ages are using violence as a first, rather than a last, resort to solve conflicts in their lives" (Singer, 805)
Ross cautions in the November 2005 issue of the Journal of Sex Research that these new technologies, namely the Internet, have opened a whole new world for pornography, for now there is privacy and secrecy, thus parents, in particular, should be aware that their children can easily fall victim to not only exposure to pornography but may easily fall victim to sexual predators through innocent online chat rooms (Ross). According to Azy Barak in the November 2001 issue of the Journal of Sex Research, spectacular growth in availability of sexually explicit material on the Internet has created an unprecedented opportunity for individuals to have anonymous, cost-free, and unfettered access to an essentially unlimited range of sexually explicit texts, still and moving images, and audio materials (Barak)
While no studies have examined the link between verbal aggressiveness and exposure to and liking of violent television, Krcmar believes that people who are verbally aggressive are probably attracted to media violence because it may provide a type of validation for aggression (Krcmar). Krcmar's study found that sensation seeking did predict exposure to and liking of violent and horror movies, yet did not consistently predict television viewing and liking variables, however the findings do suggest that argumentativeness is related to violent movie exposure, real crime television and violent television exposure, while "neither verbal aggressiveness nor argumentativeness predicted media liking" (Krcmar) According to George Comstock of Syracuse University, analyses of some 217 studies assessing the relationship between exposure to television violence and aggressive and antisocial behavior concludes irrefutably that children and adolescents who watch greater amounts of media violence are more likely to behave in an aggressive or antisocial manner, and that girls and boys alike are affected (Comstock)
According to Smith, overall, "violence in wrestling is not only unremitting but is more likely to be portrayed as justified, unpunished and lacking extreme harm" (Smith). Investigative reports that emerged from the deadly killing that took place in 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado, suggested that the repeated viewing of violent films, having access to various hate sites on the Internet, and playing violent video games were all factors that are thought to have contributed to the deliberate manner in which Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold planned for and conducted the shooting at the Colorado high school, according to Michael D'Andrea in the June 2204 issue of the Journal of Counseling and Development (D'Andrea)
Jensen of Vanderbilt University notes that by focusing on concepts such as desensitization and imitation that it is easy to ignore the fact that human behavior is a learned behavior. As one researcher stated: "Human behavior is learned; precisely that behavior which is widely felt to characterize man as a rational being, or as a member of a particular nation or social class, is acquired rather than innate" (Jensen)
Thus, researchers need to understand more about how the public interprets violence in programming and media scholars must do a better job of highlighting the differences in interpretations and convincing the public about the faulty nature of how it makes its interpretations (Potter). According to Marina Krcmar in the March 2005 issue of Communication Studies, the desire to consume media is influenced by a number of social and psychological factors, such as sensation seeking and neuroticism that have also been used to explain problem behaviors (Krcmar)
The ratings include TV-G, TV-PG, TV-PG14, and TV-M, while the motion picture industry has ratings of V-violence, S-sexual situations, D-suggestive dialogue, and L-language (Signorielli). Mary Muscari reports in the November 2002 issue of Pediatric Nursing that American children watch an average of 28 hours of television per week, and by the time they reach the age of 18, they will have seen 16,000 simulated murders (Muscari)
Barak notes that "the 'goodness of fit' of antisocial personality characteristics with antisocial sexual content will promote a tremendous depth of involvement in antisocial sexual stimuli," thus individuals may lose awareness of the constraints of reality regarding enactment of antisocial sexual behavior, and uniquely strong negative effects of antisocial sexual content on the Internet may be seen among those predisposed to access such material (Barak). Between 1980 and 1994, murders of children ages 12-17 years increased 95%, this equates to a rate of seven child death per day (Myers)
Media Violence/Social Deviance Media Violence and Social Deviance For decades, there has been concern over media violence and its influence or potential influence on public behavior, and while there have been countless studies and volumes of research devoted to this topic, the issue appears still open for debate. Ever since television began becoming popular in the 1950's, the pubic has been complaining that there is too much violence in television programming, and has continually put pressure on Congress and the television industry to reduce the amount of violence (Potter)
Michael W. Ross cautions in the November 2005 issue of the Journal of Sex Research that these new technologies, namely the Internet, have opened a whole new world for pornography, for now there is privacy and secrecy, thus parents, in particular, should be aware that their children can easily fall victim to not only exposure to pornography but may easily fall victim to sexual predators through innocent online chat rooms (Ross)