Activity 12 ~ Pages 123-125
Part 1. Introduction
Title: The Debate over Violence in the Media
The complaint that the media are filled w/violence media critics say—if you watch TV and cable, you will see people getting shot by big weapons, fighting, car crashes and other confusion.
If you want MORE, go to the movies where expensive special effects more sophisticated violence.
OR play a video game, listen to gangsta rap w/violent lyrics, watch the news or look @ a newspaper w/pictures of bombings, murders, and wars daily
Academic studies support the critics; many are concerned about the consequences of media violence
stories about people who do horrible violent acts that they saw on TV or in a movie
many academic experiments and surveys to support their idea that media violence is harmful to individuals and society
over the decades, scholars have a # of findings about violent media = scary
Part 2. Critics of Media Violence
4 arguments the media critics have
§ Argument #1 = Researchers have found that even young children learn aggressive behavior from TV.
o some kids copy the behavior right away; others later in life
o timing depends on child’s family, personality, and situation
o EX: children from families who are encouraged to be aggressive OR not discouraged will likely transfer violence from media into their real lives
§ Argument #2 = People exposed to lrg. amts of violence can be desensitized
o DEF desensitized = watching a lot of media violence can dull our reactions to real-life violence; we might not react as strongly to violence as we normally would and might even think that violence is not so bad
o Researchers claim that if we are desensitized to violence, it might be easier for us to act violently.
§ Argument #3 = Children who consistently watch a high # of violent TV programs are more likely to act aggressively when they get older than children who don’t
o related to argument #1
§ Argument #4 = Long-term negative consequences of media violence is that overexposure to media violence makes many Americans believe that the U.S. is a mean and scary place because of what they see on TV
o these researchers use statistics from the FBI to show the #s of real murders, robberies, and rapes and that these #s show that the quantity of violent acts on TV exceeds the actual # in the U.S. = more violence on TV than in real life
o people who watch a lot of TV almost always overestimate the amt of actual violence in the world & are more afraid
o they conclude that media violence reinforces the idea in many people that the world around them is more dangerous that it really is
o this thinking can lead to a general fear and suspicion of people and a willingness to give up individual freedom for more police protection
Part 3. Defenders of Media
§ Argument #1 = Aggressive behavior has been around since the beg. of time
o EX: The Bible, classics like Homer’s Odyssey or Beowulf
o the violence in these books makes TV look calm
o it is wrong to say that we are in a media violence crisis
o American mass media are simply telling stories (a basic instinct)
§ Argument #2 = Research about violence sometimes isn’t defined realistically-- “What is violence?” acc. to the research
o EX: When Bugs Bunny hits Elmer Fudd in a cartoon, is this defined as violent?
o No, these are simply comic acts that every child understands are not real
o If critics define this as violence, they are severely exaggerating the amount of violence on TV, videos, or movies
§ Argument #3 = For the majority of people, media violence doesn’t instigate or cause violence.
o Some kids might already have an aggressive personality and if they see violence on TV/movie, they might imitate it.
o If the violence wasn’t seen on TV/movie, something else in their home life or background would probably cause them to act in this way anyway
§ Argument #4 = Defenders say it is a fact that the world is a violent place.
o FBI statistics don’t tell us the whole story anyway
o We should think that the media help us to protect ourselves
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