Violence in the media - How does it affect families?

Question

You may think that those sexy sitcoms or violent dramas are just entertainment and shouldn't really have serious effects. For any single show that's probably correct, but for too many people, we're not talking about a single show every so often, and it is a problem.

Child psychologist, Dr. Debra Kowalski, explains, "With children having so much exposure to the media, the messages that come across… are very important and they shape how a child sees the world and what a child sees as important. …A lot of the messages related to violence and sexuality can negatively impact a child."

The repetition of violence causes children to become desensitized. The same thing happens to adults, but children are more vulnerable. It also holds true for explicit sexual content. In fact, relatively little exposure to pornographic material at an early age can significantly disturb a child and interact with their sleeping and other behaviors. It can also affect the way they interact socially with peers, as well as foster anxiety and fear in other situations.

Michael Suman, coordinator of The Center for Communications Policy at the University of California at Los Angeles, is doing a three year analysis of the effects of violence on television. He makes the following observations:

"Violence on television, basically, has three types of negative effects on people."

INCREASES VIOLENCE. "…Many studies show that violence on TV actually leads to aggressive, violent behaviors in the world, most prominently through imitation. They see people being violent on TV and they copy them as models. They imitate them."

DESENSITIZATION AND CALLOUSNESS. "People become desensitized. This includes being callous towards people who've been victims of violence." (Ted Baehr, movie and television specialist and publisher of the Christian "Movie Guide", comments, "We say 'it's ok, we've seen it on television. That behavior is fine.' We no longer object to behavior [and language] that a few years ago we would have been insulted by… We've become very desensitized, and it's corrupting.")

FEAR. "It makes them more fearful." Children may have the false notion that violence or abuse is around every corner and that there is no good in this world. While this may be partly true, it is misleading and can cause much damage during the developmental stages of life.

Do you allow your family to watch programming riddled with violence? Does your heart lead you down the path of worldliness, seeking violence? Or are you active in showing your family that true followers of Christ are known as peacemakers in this violence-scarred society? As the old proverb goes, your actions speak louder than your words. What do your actions say?

Answer 1

Since I work with the Media machine I know that it doesn't give a rat's meaty butt about families... and I've fought that for a while... But there is no mind shifting going on. No guilt. No shame.

Answer 2

I believe this 100%.

My family watches TV together. My husband & I are the censors.
We don't rely on the media to decide what is right or wrong.
The movies and video games are also included in this.
The computer is also under our control.

I am a Pagan, but I agree with you. How can a child of any religious background to become a compassionate and ethical person if they are subjected to casual sex & violence?

Answer 3

i think of that general exposure to media violence impacts each and all ages. One incident broadcast 4-5 situations in one day on radio/television leaves us with the subconcious impact of quite a few incidents having got here approximately. The greater generally we journey the exposure to violence, the greater "general" it seems to be and, hence, greater ideal - a factor of our on an standard basis existence. We then grow to be familiar with, as a replace of being shocked by using, what could be called strange behaviour. little ones, have a shorter historic memory than adults and settle for what happens around them as general; they could't learn "how issues was once" with how issues are today.

Answer 4

I know what it does to ME. I don't even watch shows with violence in it. I can't stand to see people murdered or hurt..it's too real. if those acts of violence haven't been done already to someone in real life..they most likely will.Any tv show that hurts a person gets turned off by me..I'd rather read or play on this computer. Same with shows that have too much sexual content. I agree with my Mother who taught me that Sex needs to stay behind your closed doors and not shown to the world.

Answer 5

My actions say in this country we have freedom of choice. If you don't like what is on television and you do not want your family to see it, then turn the channel and use the Vchip since that is what it is for. Everyone is different and different things appeal to different people. It should not be your job to direct what everyone should and should not watch on television.

Myself, I think for the most part television overall is boring. I rarely watch it.

Answer 6

Then keep kids from watching it!
As adults we can have our own opinion.
You can't censor everything you hate.