Media Violence and Children Essay

Your children are surrounded by wildness. From exposure games and telecasting to the news itself, bloodshed is everywhere. legion(predicate) parents and educators fear that madness seen on the media allow at the very least(prenominal) desensitize children, and that it whitethorn even stag children to a greater extent likely to commit atrocities themselves. Other people claim the personnel seen on the media is not real, and that children understand this. So whos right? In order to better understand this crucial issue, we need to examine the biography of violence in entertainment as well as revelations make possible by modern science.Violence in entertainment is not new. Even in ancient Rome, people gathered to remark gladiators. In gladiator combats, two trained men (usually criminals or slaves) would fight all(prenominal) other in front of a cheering crowd. Some terms, men would as well be forced to fight wild animals. These shows were incredibly popular in order to acco mmodate the huge masses of people eager to watch the combat, Roman officials built the Colosseum, which could seat 50,000 spectators, in 80 CE. The opening of the Colosseum was famed with 100 days of games, during which thousands of men and animals were seriously injured or killed. considerable before children watched reddened cartoons, they listened to violent stories. Even our most cherished faggot tales often contain bloodshed. In fact, modern versions of fairy tales tend to be a lot less violent than the originals. For example, in Hans Christen Andersons The Little Mermaid, the little mermaid has her tongue cut out, almost stabs her prince, and dies Disneys famed version of this classic tale is signifi spatetly happier and less violent. But why is violence such a popular form of entertainment? in that respect are several possible answers, and they are probably all confessedly to some extent.People like ceremonial violence because it is, at least to some degree, forbidden all functioning societies need to have laws against murder. sightedness other peoples pain also makes your own problems seem insignifi female genitaliat. Finally, some violence in the media was meant to give instruction a practical lesson. Many gladiators were condemned criminals, so their violent and entertaining death served as a type against would-be criminals. Public executions have served the same purpose throughout history. ottoman tales also warned children against the dangers of misbehaving.For example, the little mermaid disobeyed the rules of her father and her people, and she suffered as a result. Modern violence in the media is not that different from what occurred in the past. People enjoy ceremonial occasion violence because it is forbidden, distracting, and it can teach lessons about reality. At the same time, violence is becoming more and more prevalent. Additionally, overmuch of the violence shown in scene games, movies, and television is completely unrealis tic real consequences are very rarely shown, especially in cartoons.As a result, the violence may be too glamorized to teach real life lessons. Even if violence does teach a morality lesson, children may still be negatively affected. Vincent P. Mathews, a professor of radiology at Indiana University School of Medicine, discovered that ceremonial occasion violence on the media might actually alter genius function. functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) showed that watching violent images decreased head-on lobe brain activity in children whether or not they had previous problems of aggression. decreased frontal lobe activity is associated with attention and self view as problems.Also using fMRI, Klaus Mathiak at the University of Aachen in Germany discovered that playing violent video games and thinking about actually participating in real violent activities arrive at the same part of the brain. In other words, an case-by-cases brain cannot distinguish in the midst of violent actions that are committed by the individual and violent activities that are purely make believe. Additionally, violent video games may be training the brain for real life violent behavior. So what does all of this mean for parents?Children, like adults, are naturally drawn to violent images, and it is possible for children to learn valuable lessons from violent stories. However, exposure to too much violence, especially glamorized violence, probably does have a negative impact of children. Although more scientific research needs to be conducted before conclusive answers can be given, children may have a hard time distinguishing between real violence and fake violence, and simply watching violence may lead to increased behavioral problems. If you are worried that your children are watching too much violence, you should monitor exactly what they are watching.Movies and video games twain have rating systems, and all televisions 13 inches or larger that were construct in t he United States since January 2000 contain V chips. V chips allow parents to control what programs are watched, even when the children are unsupervised. You could also limit the amount of time that your children are allowed to spend watching television or playing video games, regardless of whether or not the programs or games contain violent content. Finally, you can discuss the reality of violence with you children to make sure that they can tag between make believe and reality.