Mass Media's Impact on America's Youth

Many of America's youth have cut their teeth on violence and grew up on immoral behavior in the media. They are being bombarded with violent images on a daily basis. Now, he or she has developed behaviors which imitate art. According to Escobar-Chaves and Anderson (2008), children and youth have witnessed violence and have become more aggressive. Most children. However, children and teens can be sensitive to what they hear on the news. They may even believe what they hear on the news, which may be taken out of the context. Researchers believe that the youth of America is vulnerable to life around may not realize that it is a biased opinion. For example, during this recent election year, many schools have been letting children hold mock elections.

This required them to pay attention to the media a lot more, in order to understand the issues that would. Unfortunately, our youth were bombarded with types of biased media about the Democratic and the Republican Presidential candidates. A person may never see a terrorist, yet they will see violence at school or in their own neighborhood. Even video games, movie, and television programming includes violent images that show violence. According to (Escobar-Chaves and Anderson, 2008), these types of images are believed to be desensitizing the impressionable youth.

Movies Glorify Violence

Many blockbuster and other movies show several forms of violence, where movies show "gang violence" or "sexually implicit images". According to (Dieser, 2008), a these images are poisoning our children's mind. In addition, these authors feel that the "government should regulate" the types of "mass media" children are exposed to daily. They are perceived by some to be "desensitizing America's youth" Schwartz (2007). Many parents feel that Hollywood producers cross the ethical line, when making movies for all ages.

The movie industry tends to glorify the violent behavior of the nemesis. In addition, they also believe that this kind of "violent images" can make the youth "more aggressive." Currently, this remains a hot button issue among parents and many organizations, which are fighting on each side of the issue at hand. Each day the violence among our youth's violence is spreading, as the youth imitate what he or she has seen in different forms of media. According to Entertainment Weekly (2008), three controversial movies are United 93, A Birth of a Nation and Natural Born Killers.

The critics believed that these movies would incite violence among their audiences. Each movie did have its own controversy, which affected the marketing and opening on the movie. Many parents feel that Hollywood producers cross the ethical line, when making movies for all ages. Nevertheless, millions still watch their movies and beg for more, from the famous movie producers. So, they are working hard to keep up with society's appetite for violence on the big screen.

Television Programming Promotes Violence

Children's cartoons have an element of violence in it, as the characters fight to reach their ultimate goal. According to Rebecca, (2005) the popular youth cartoons like "Family Guy", who have raised controversy by "showing offense" or "violent" content. This type of program is angering many on both sides of the issue, due to its content. Additionally, the political parties and organizations stand up for what they believe and endorse it. Some politicians fight to end the airing controversial programming, while other fight for ratings on each show. Many television networks have allowed racy shows that may show violence or nudity. In addition, some people have the use of parental controls to block these types of content.

Yet, many parents don't know how to activate them, since they can be complicated to set up. According to the Patterson (ND), the show Beavis and Butthead was launched into the media spotlight by a five year old that caught his house on fire. The mother claimed that the show has "two characters" that "play with fire" and this is what caused her son to behave that way. However, "MTV" and "Anna Quindlen" seem to "question" why a "five-year-old" is watching this violent show. They believed that it was the parent's job to control what the child watches on television. In addition, they believe that the parents were irresponsible, but MTV did reformat the cartoon and continued airing. Unfortunately, the violence remained and many people are passionate about the both sides on this hot debate.

Sex and Violence in Video Games

Many games involve killing something, whether alien or fantasy. The youth have become desensitized by these games, according to Schwartz, K. (2007). Their behavior begins to mimic art and cause society harm, as a whole. Some teens have been arrested for re-enacting what they have seen, while playing the video games. One of the most controversial games is the "San Andreas: Grand Theft Auto" Fecal, (2008). Some kids have committed crimes or hurt themselves in the quest to reconstruct their fantasy world.

According to Dieser, R. (2008), the impact of violence will have an emotional and physical effects, along with making a lifelong impression. Parents and critics have called for ratings on labels, but it doesn't stop children from seeing these games through friends. Nevertheless, critics say parents can be proactive and stop this stuff from reaching their children. Yet, parents allow their children to spend hours playing these games. The mass media must help parents in this fight to reclaim our youth, before it's too late and the epidemic spreads.

Conclusion

In conclusion, parents and mass media will continue to remain in controversy as long as blame each other for the violence of America's youth. In addition, the critics will continue to state that both parties are responsible. However, media and parents alike must stop this damage or the future generations will suffer. The youth of America will become lost in this madness, some call art or free speech.

Parents and media must work together in stopping graphic images from reaching their child's eyes. Video games, movies, and television shows should work together to help stop the desensitizing of America's youth. Unfortunately, they have turned blind's eye to this issue, which has parents scrambling to protect their child. Therefore, the epidemic will grow, until the Mass media stops feeding the children violence and sex as entertainment.

References:

Entertainment Weekly (2008) The 25 Most Controversial Movies

Retrieved January 15, 2009 from the World Wide Web.

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1202224_2,00.html

Escobar-Chaves, S., & Anderson, C. (2008, March). Media and risky behaviors. Future of Children, 18(1), 147-180.

Retrieved January 15, 2009, from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database.

Fecal, J. (2008) The Seven Most Controversial Video Games and Why they are Complete crap

Retrieved January 15, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.

http://www.gamerhelp.com/article_viewer.cfm?article_id=132040

Jackson, G., Rod, L., & Dieser, R. (2008, June). Research Update: The Danger of Anger. Parks & Recreation, 43(6), 22-27.

Retrieved January 15, 2009, from MasterFILE Premier database.

Patterson, P. (ND) Beavis and Butthead: The Case for Standards in Entertainment

Retrieved January 13, 2008 from the World Wide Web.

http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/dl/free/007288259x/151122/beavisandbutthead.pdf

Rebecca L. (2005) THE 'FAMILY'CAN'T BE KILLED.

Retrieved January 13, 2008 from the World Wide Web.

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/2005/04/28/2005-04-28_the__family_can_t_be_killed_.html

Schwartz, K. (2007) Chronic violent video game exposure and desensitization to violence Behavioral and event-related brain potential data. Journal of Youth Ministry, 5(2), 95-98.

Retrieved January 15, 2009, from Academic Search Complete database.