Violence has always been an issue of concern for the public. All over the news media, there are at least five cases of violence a day. We encounter violence at work, in our homes, and public gatherings, and mostly, we experience it directly as sufferers (Alvarez & Bachman, 2019). This paper discusses the correlation between media violence and violent behavior through television and video games and the way they affect children.
Television programs, for instance, TV shows and action movies, have been primary facilitators of media violence in children. Children are exposed to movies that contain scenes full of violent acts. By the time an average kid reaches 20 years of age, they would have viewed over 200,000 violent scenes and more than 15,000 murders (Alvarez & Bachman, 2019). According to a study, more than 60% of families in America have television sets and pay for many programs, which means that kids have unlimited access (Fitzpatrick et al., 2016). The same study said that most kids spend a lot of time watching television. Behavioral growth and mental development occur at tender ages and so an early exposure to these scenes of violence may catalyze the increase in hostile and violent behavior in the children as they grow.
Violent computer games are another type of significant stimuli causing media violence in children. The rates of violence quantities shown in some video games are appalling. Nowadays, children enjoy seeing violence in computer games and sports (Alvarez & Bachman, 2019). Some of the games contain missions like using firearms in shootings, raping, executing murders in daylight, or ethnic games in which a player commits a particular race like Chinese (Fitzpatrick et al., 2016). Through such games, children are exposed to violence as a regular thing.
Children are most likely to relate to and partake in what they see and learn at a tender age. At those early ages, the children develop their cognitive abilities and are very sensitive to what they see. Parents need to monitor and regulate the kinds of TV programs and computer games that their children watch and play to curb this media violence menace.
References
Alvarez, A., & Bachman, R. D. (2019). Violence: The enduring problem. Sage Publications.
Fitzpatrick, C., Oghia, M. J., Melki, J., & Pagani, L. S. (2016). Early childhood exposure to media violence: What parents and policymakers ought to know. South African Journal of Childhood Education, 6(1), 1-6.