Feliz Ramirez
COM 2000
30, April 2012
Media and Child Violence
It was a beautiful
spring Friday in Brooklyn, NY. I had just finished my classes and received a
phone call from Elise, the stepmother of two kids that I often babysit. She
asked me if I was able to pick up the kids from school in Brooklyn Heights and
spend a couple of hours with them at the school’s playground. I thought, “okay,
this should be fun; I get to spend some time outside with the kids.” As soon as
I picked up Barr and Elika they ran to the playground and began playing with
their friends. I sat on a bench next to the jungle gyms and began observing.
A group of boys
and girls around the age of twelve were playing together near a basketball
court. “What the F*** was that?” “Hey, you’re a F*****.” I could not believe my ears. Nearby,
there were toddlers and young children with their mothers who could hear this
as easily as I could. One of the 12-year old boys wanted to hang on the
basketball rim so he grabbed a large trashcan, dumped out all the trash onto
the floor and flipped it over to stand on. “Who does this kid think he is?” I
thought to myself. It seemed like he was the leader of all his other friends.
He was cussing the most, and he was acting the most inappropriate. When I was
his age, I did not remember my friends or myself acting as immature and
aggressive as he was. I could not decide if I was over-analyzing the situation,
or if I was really witnessing a major issue of child/teen violence. According
to studies from the University of Virginia, the number of bullying reports
increased significantly in 2005 compared to the numbers from preceding years. In
2008, US computer and video game sales increased from 2.6 billion dollars in
1996 to 7.0 billion dollars in 2005 and the most popular genre of video games
are action games (Pro Con). Where do kids learn about video games? The media.
The media is a major influence in child/teen development and most children and
teenagers have infinite access to it.
Before going
deeper into media and it’s toll on children we must first understand the way
children work. As we all know, we learn our essentials at a very young age.
Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist, founded a psychosexual development
theory. According to Freud, early experiences around the age of five play a
large role in development; it is when your personality is mostly established.
There are stages in the development process that must be completed successfully
to result in a healthy personality. If a fixation on a certain stage occurs,
the child becomes dependant on that stage and will develop with that dependency.
For example, “a person who is fixated at the oral stage may be over-dependent
on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking, or eating,”
(Cherry). Child susceptibility is the very reason why media can be so
unhealthy. The American Academy of
Pediatrics says that children at or under the age of 2 should not be watching
television (Health Beat). In America, the average 3-4 year old watches
television 4 hours per day. Parentstv.org posts, “Children younger than 8
"cannot uniformly discriminate between real life and
fantasy/entertainment” (Parents TV). Children learn that it is okay to use
violence to solve problems, which is why estimates show that 30% of youth in
grade 6-10 are involved in bullying, and 33% of high school students where in
at least one physical fight within a 12 month period (Teen Help).
“It seems today
that all you see is violence in movies and sex on TV…” Do these lyrics sound
familiar? Yes, it is true that much of the media is consumed by violence and
material that is not suitable for children. Media has become a very dangerous
place for young minds to focus on. According to the American Psychiatric
Association, by the age of 18, a U.S. youth will have seen 16,000 simulated
murders and 200,000 acts of violence, and kids with higher exposure to
television were almost twice as likely to have sex than kids with lower
exposure (Parents TV). Family Guy is one show that can be observed under a very
indecent light. The creator, Seth MacFarlane, says, “We aren’t actively looking
to be shocking. We’re just looking to see if it’s funny.” Family Guy just wants
to be funny. But the “funny” jokes all have something to do with sex, racism, assault,
bullying, hazing, stealing, killing, and many other negative actions. Young
children cannot tell the difference between reality and fabrication, so cartoons
on television are real to these children. If cartoons are acting in violence,
children will understand that violence is accepted.
Even live events
broadcasted on television have been guilty of explicit material. During 2004
Super Bowl, an estimated 6.6 million kids (ages 2-11) were watching at about
the time that Justin Timberlake ripped off a piece of Jackson's bodice,
exposing her right breast to the nationwide audience. Another 7.3 million teens
12-17 were tuned in at that time as well (Parents TV). The most popular
broadcast-network television show is Desperate Housewives. Aside from the
revealing wardrobes given to the wives, the kids that are involved in the show
are ages 9-12. Kids watching this show and seeing other kids that are the same
age can understand that this show is acceptable and “real.” It is as if there
is no escape to the violence and sex on television.
There are many
parents who believe that broadcast television should be monitored more
strictly. 75% of the 1,505 adults polled from March 17-21 would like to see
tighter enforcement of government rules on broadcast content, particularly when
children are most likely to be watching TV. 60% want broadcast TV’s indecency
standards extended to cable TV, and 69% want higher fines for media companies.
Not only that, but in a Time Magazine Poll, 53 percent of respondents said that
they think the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) should place stricter
controls on broadcast-channel shows depicting sex and violence (Parents TV). Concerned
parents are also controlling how long kids are watching television and what
channels they are watching.
Don’t get me
wrong; I enjoy the shows on television. I am guilty of watching Family Guy on
occasion and I would not be American if I did not watch the Super Bowl. But for
the sake of children, media needs to be monitored. If the FCC chooses to allow
shows of violence and sex, then as adults, we should be aware of what children
are watching. Like Sigmund Freud explained, children need to be guided at a
young age in order to become fully able and developed. If media violence
continues to manipulate children that violence is a real way to solve issues,
then the violence rate will increase. Personally, it breaks my heart to see
young children using foul language or bullying another child. Let’s work to
protect their minds from “real” television so that we can see a brighter future
for them and for their children.
Works
Cited
Cherry, Kendra.
"Child Development Theories." About Psychology. N.p., n.d.
Web. 30 Apr 2012. <http://psychology.about.com/od/developmentalpsychology/a/childdevtheory.htm>
Cherry,
Kendra. "Freud’s Stages of Psychosexual Development." About
Psychology. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr 2012.
<http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/ss/psychosexualdev.htm>
.
"Facts and TV Statistics." Parents Television Council. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 30 Apr 2012. <http://www.parentstv.org/ptc/facts/mediafacts.asp>.
. "Family
Life." Healthy Children. N.p., 01/05/2012. Web. 30 Apr 2012.
<http://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Pulling-the-Plug-on-TV-Violence.aspx?nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR:
No local
token&nfstatus=401&nftoken=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&nfstatusdescription=ERROR:
No local token>.
. "Family
Life Video." Health Children. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr 2012.
<http://www.healthychildren.org/English/family-life/Media/Pages/Media-Violence.asp&xgt;.
.
“Health Effects of Excessive TV Watching by Childern.” LimiTV. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 30 Apr 2012. <http://www.limitv.org/health.htm>.
.
"22 Charts & Graphs on Video Games & Youth Violence ." Pro
Con. N.p., 02/18/2010. Web. 30 Apr 2012.
<http://videogames.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=003627>.
. “Teen Violence
Statistics.” Teen Help. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr 2012.
<http://www.teenhelp.com/teen-violence/teen-violence-statistics.html>.
Other Links
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4jlk3nrtNQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqxLl9gU9GI&feature=related
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