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Hayley Guillou

Mrs. Wall

ELACF40S (12)

14 September 2010

An Age of Media: Overexposure to Violence

It is difficult to turn on a television and not hear the sounds of gun shots, bloodcurdling

screams, and police car sirens. The amount of violence in television, movies, and video games

has negative effects on society. Images of violence obviously have direct aggressive

consequences, but they also desensitize viewers to brutality and create an atmosphere of fear.

The consequences of media violence exposure are directly linked to aggression. The

increasing amount of violence on television is causing children to be aggressive at an early age.

Violence is becoming more acceptable on primetime television networks on shows easily

accessible to young children. With minds as absorbent as sponges, children mimic the actions of

media influences in their lives. Unfortunately, these influences are not reliable and misguide the

child’s sense of right and wrong. The same way children act violently, adult members of society

are influenced to act out violently in gangs due to media violence. Video games aimed for young

adults, such as Grand Theft Auto, glamourize rape, theft, and murder. Prolonged playing may

influence adults, primarily young men, to join gangs to act out these violent fantasy worlds. The

media industry skews the perception of violence and shows a life without consequences.

Violence is not only present in gangs, it is also being experienced in domestic relationships. The

wrongful actions of hitting, slapping, pushing, and other aggressive behaviours are being seen as

acceptable by people influenced by the media. On soap operas, husbands who use force with

their wives are seen as powerful authoritative male figures. In reality, husbands who are violent
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toward their wives are weak, cowardly abusers. The perception of violence in the media has

destructive direct consequences for children and those involved in gangs and domestic abuse.

The people involved in violent acts are not the only ones impacted by constant images of

violence in the media; society has been desensitized from the brutal horrors of violence. Children

of this decade are misguided by regular violence. With media sources readily available for the

span of their entire lives, children are often desensitized to violence and believe it is normal

behaviour. Children who are bystanders to physical bullying are unlikely to report it because

they see the activity as normal. Along with a lack of sensitivity, children experience a lack of

empathy from violence in the media. Children do not blink an eye when they hear about a

murder in their neighbourhood. They are too excited about the ten kill streak they achieved in

Call of Duty this weekend. When children believe violence is natural and normal, they do not

possess the ability to empathize with an individual who is a victim of violence, therefore seeing

nothing wrong with the act itself. Desensitization is relevant in adults as well as children. Adults

already possess the ability to differentiate right from wrong; however, when being presented with

a positive emotional context (exciting background music, sound effects, and visual effects),

violence is easier to accept. After receiving visual rewards for violence, perception shifts and

brutal actions suddenly seem acceptable. Prolonged exposure to violence desensitizes both adults

and children, and discourages empathy.

A world with tolerated media induced violence also means a world of fear. Media causes

society to fear the world. People wake up in fear daily wondering if their workplace will have a

terrorist attack, or even if they will be mugged on the street. Media resources, such as the news,

focus deeply on terrorist attacks, war, and other violent things. The media does not accurately

portray the world in its entirety and allows violence to be the centre of attention. The past
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generation has been much more restrictive in parenting and the tolerated media violence is

causing parents to live in fear. Parents do not let their children out of sight for fear that they may

be kidnapped or murdered. Some parents go to the extreme of being “helicopter parents” who

constantly hover over their children even into the teen years for fear that someone will try to take

their baby. Oppose to the overprotective lifestyle, some people take their fear of the world

attitude and apply the “get them before they get me” mentality. Teenagers may feel the need to

join a violent gang before the violent gang attacks them. To people who cannot distinguish game

play from reality, video games portray gangs as a protective group without consequences. This is

far from true, but the fear of gangs is a great deciding factor. The media’s inaccurate portrayal of

the world is causing all types of people to live in fear.

Media is a powerful influence on society today and violence is becoming an all too

familiar. This overexposure to violence is increasing aggression, lack of sensitivity, and fear in

all walks of life. Media violence’s negative effects are harming society in ways which only lead

to destruction.