Sample Format

Running head: YOUTH AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 1

What is the Effects of Media Violence on the Youth?’’

Shayan Mohamed
1017623
Thursday October 4 th , 2018

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 2

Introduction

The access, as well as the use of media, form a significant part of all people living in the
world. Media is currently integrated into our lives since a day can rarely go without having
interacted with any kind of media. Media is used for both entertainment purposes as well as for
entertainment purposes. Despite the several media advantages of media, violence is the primary
view associated with media. This research paper will address the question ‘‘what is the effects of
media violence on the youth?’’ The discussion explores the overall impact of media violence
among youths in the society, that is, the positive and negative impact media violence on youth.

The ways in which violence are promoted and the overall influence on youth violent
The exposure of young kids to violence is rapidly increasing in the world due to
widespread video gaming as well as a television that is used widely in the world (Melde &
Esbensen, 2013). It is appalling to observe what the video games and programs on television are
no longer depicting violence to have a negative impact on the youths (Sousa, et al, 2011).

The National Television Violence Survey evaluates the volume of violence content among the
televisions in the united states for last three years to continue increasing. According to the
survey, more than 60% of all the shows on television have violent content for the youths whereas
only 4% of the programs are anti-violence to the youths viewing them (Sousa, et al, 2011).

Humour is observed to involved and over 75% of violent activities were not punished.
My first argument would be to explain the different types of media sources that promote
violence such as video games, TV and music, in addition, I plan to specifically discuss the ways
in which these sources of violence are displayed and how they influence youth based on the
social theories. I will then be using statistics that show both the long-term and short-term impacts

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that exposure to a violent media has on a younger audience. Furthermore, I will be addressing
how small or large that impact television and video games have on the youth. This topic is
crucial since there are both positive and negative effects of violence shown by the media and so
it is important to justify that violence in the media isn’t a major influence on youth aggression.

The positive impact on youth

Although the use of media and internet among the youths exposes them to violence risk
that negatively affects their reasoning, media as well have a positive influence on the kids. Social
media, for instance, assist in building the social relationship among the youths as the making of
new friends is easier through platforms such as Facebook. Youths are able to build a relationship
by knowing one another better as they share ideas over the internet. Media also acts as a good
source of entertainment to the youths as the majority of them love songs. Keeping kids updated
on the current issues happening in the world is promoted by media and use of the internet (Melde
& Esbensen, 2013).

The use of social media sites allows faster communication among the youths in a fluent
manner and references can be made in case of any abuse of platforms such as WhatsApp, twitter
and Facebook. Writing of updates takes seconds for them to feature across the social media
networks (Sousa, et al, 2011). Youths education is also enhanced through the use of internet and
social media networks.

Facebook and WhatsApp groups formed by the youths allow them to share ideas that are useful in improving their education standards. Academic groups are used by the teenagers for updates on their study programs as getting in touch with one another is easy.
My second argument would be describing the positive effects that media violence has on
youth. Then, I plan to discuss the factors that influence teens from avoiding violence such as fear

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 4

of not feeling accepted by others, and the trend of treated exactly the same as everyone else.
Next, I tend to use the catharsis theory to explain that being exposed to a certain amount of
violence such as by playing video games or by watching gruesome films would actually allow a
person to vent of his or her frustration (Huesmann, Taylor, 2006). Furthermore, I plan to discuss
the concept of costs and benefits and how the media usually shines a light on violent behaviors
as being wrongful against society.

The negative impact on youth

In the world today, media and internet have become the source of attention for both the
kids and parents. Parents continue to become more concern with the negative impacts of media
violence on the mind of the kids (Melde & Esbensen, 2013). Violence as well as pornographic
materials available over the internet form the primary concerns of the parents about the children
getting access to internet materials.

Several individuals believe that the increase media violence on both television and video games are not fun since the rate at which the young people commits violence is rapidly rising. Reviewing the materials that the youths get access to is necessary for reducing the negative effects of media violence in the society among the kids (Huesmann,
Taylor, 2006).

In my third argument, a discuss on the negative repercussions of media violence on youth
is presented. I will be using the social theories that describe the effect of how seeing violence on
TV can be learned and mimicked, as well as the normalization belief that certain teens believe
violence is accepted due to the fact that other people can get away with it (Sousa, et al, 2011).
Furthermore, I will explain the aggressive cues theory, which states that the youth will try to
relate to certain character or wrongdoers and would act just as violent as those characters.

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 5

Conclusion

In summary, there is an inverse association between media violence and individual level
of sensitivity. The average sensitivity among the youths is lower since they are not widely
exposed to media violence. Therefore, it is considered appropriate to conclude that media
violence does not make the youths to become desensitized. Youths education is also enhanced
through the use of internet and social media networks. Facebook and WhatsApp groups formed
by the youths allow them to share ideas that are useful in improving their education standards.
From the National Television Violence Survey, the volume of violence content among the
televisions in the United States for last three years is shown to rise.
Annotated Bibliography

Khalid, Hakim. Bhat, Akhtar. Mehra, Hakeem. 2014. ‘‘Impacts OF Media on Society: A
Sociological Perspective.’’ VI Media Effects: 59-62. Accessed October 4 th , 2018.
http://www.ijhssi.org/papers/v3(6)/Version-4/L0364056064.pdf
The topic of this article is based on both the negative and positive impacts that the
electronic media has on society. Furthermore, it finds that there are many different versions of
electronic media such as video games, television, cell phones apps such as Instagram that affect
different types of segments.

The existence of the long-term media effects is due to the learning process leading to the negative interpretation schemas that support the belief associated with social behaviors thus reducing the sensitivity of violent act in society. Another finding of this article is that it provides different sociological theories showing how the media has a way of
either helping people cope with their problems or encouraging them to act violently. This article

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 6

is useful for my paper because it shows statistics showing how society is several in a number of
different ways as well as showing both the negative and positive benefits on teens.
Huesmann, L. Taylor, Laramie. 2006. ‘‘THE ROLE OF MEDIA VIOLENCE IN
VIOLENT BEHAVIOR.’’ DEFINITIONS AND DISTINCTIONS: 395-400. Accessed October
4 th , 2018. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144640

This article shows how the electronic media influences a person’s behaviour through
visually seeing violent acts by watching television or playing aggressive video games. The
findings of this article describe the long-term and short-term consequences of being exposed to
the violent media and that this not only affects the youth, but also adults too. Also, the
methodology for this study involves surveys of the number of people who act violently
depending on the type of electronic exposure based on cross-sectional surveys held in the United
States.

I find this article to be quite useful for my paper, because its show not only theories
explaining the repercussions of violent media sources, but it also provides scientific evidence
showing that violence can be encouraged through visually seeing aggressive behavior on screen.
Felson, Richard.1996. ‘‘MASS MEDIA EFFECTS ON VIOLENT BEHAVIOR.’’
THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS INVOLVING SOCIALIZATION: 116-123. Accessed on
October 4 th , 2018. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.103

The article explains the different outcomes of watching television as well as the negative
and positive effect it has on an audience through several sociological theories. It finds that there
is a point of view of watching TV, where some people are too fearful to behave violently due to
how it is sometimes promoted, whereas it could also encourage a type of ‘‘copy cat’’ behavior
based on learning certain unwanted skills. Further it finds that television has a way of educating

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 7

an audience by providing them with an idea of whether or not acting a certain way is worth it
(the consequences). The article is useful to my paper, because it provides me with the pros and
cons of watching television.
Nevins, Tara. 2004. ‘‘The Effects of Media Violence on Adolescent Health.’’ III. Effects
of Media Violence: 6-11. https://pgs.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2008/03/effectsofmediaviolence_final.pdf

This article describes the benefits and issues of media violence through means of visual
imagery as well as the sociological interpretations of violence for the youth. Furthermore, it finds
that violence can be interpreted differently based on the different theories such as the learning
theories while stating that it encourages fear and anxiety which thus reduces violence and
confidents. The methodology for this article includes an experiment called the General Affective
Aggression Model (GAAM), which tests how aggression is amplified by the exposure to the
violent media in the form of television and video games which testing for long-term and short-
term impacts of media violence.

This article is extremely useful for my paper, because it not only contains several theories describing the negative and positive impacts of media violence, but it also describes the different ways in which violence is promoted for the younger audience.
Ferguson, C. J. (2011). Video games and youth violence: A prospective analysis in
adolescents. Journal of youth and adolescence, 40(4), 377-391.
Ferguson, (2011) discusses the potential evidence of the violent video games among the
youths as a major area of concern among the psychologists, policymakers as well as the
general public. Many prospective research regarding the video games violence make use of the
validated measures of youth violence. This study identifies the effects of video games among

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 8

the youths. According to the research, Violence as well as pornographic materials available over
the internet form the primary concerns of the parents about the children getting access to internet
materials. However, Youths are able to build a relationship by knowing one another better as
they share ideas over the internet. Similarly, media also acts as a good source of entertainment to
the youths as the majority of them love songs

Anderson, Craig. 2016. Media Violence Effects on Children, Adolescents and Young
Adults. ‘‘AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE’’, 60-61. Accessed October 4 th , 2018.
https://public.psych.iastate.edu/caa/abstracts/2015-2019/16A2.pdf
This article describes several topics including the short-term and long-term effects of
media violence on aggressive behavior, the ways in which violence is promoted, and the
magnitude of influence that media violence has on youth. In addition, it finds that children
exposed to long durations of the violent TV or video games will be led down a violent path,
leading inevitably to committing crimes, as well as the fact that violence shown on the media can
potentially have the same outcome as having abusive parents.

This article can be useful to my paper because it not only describes how big of an influence media violence has on the aggressive behavior of teens, but it also shows the different ways the media violence impacts children.
Ferguson, C. J., & Dyck, D. (2012). Paradigm change in aggression research: The time
has come to retire the General Aggression Model. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(3), 220-
228.
Ferguson & Dyck, (2012), research shows that rise in media violence in the world is
increasing the aggressiveness of the behaviors adapted by the youths. The study examines the
existing correlation between media violence in the society and aggressive behavior among the

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 9

youths. The research concludes that, the short term exposure of youths to violence causes the
aggressive behaviors among the kids in the society. The result shows that the exposure of youths
creates aggressiveness and not violence.

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 10

References

Anderson, Craig. 2016. Media Violence Effects on Children, Adolescents and Young Adults.
‘‘AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE’’, 60-61. Accessed October 4 th , 2018.
https://public.psych.iastate.edu/caa/abstracts/2015-2019/16A2.pdf

Felson, Richard.1996. ‘‘MASS MEDIA EFFECTS ON VIOLENT BEHAVIOR.’’
THEORETICAL EXPLANATIONS INVOLVING SOCIALIZATION: 116-123.
Accessed on October 4 th , 2018.
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.103

Huesmann, L. Taylor, Laramie. 2006. ‘‘THE ROLE OF MEDIA VIOLENCE IN VIOLENT
BEHAVIOR.’’ DEFINITIONS AND DISTINCTIONS: 395-400. Accessed October 4 th ,
2018.
https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.26.021304.144640

Khalid, Hakim. Bhat, Akhtar. Mehra, Hakeem. 2014. ‘‘Impacts OF Media on Society: A
Sociological Perspective.’’ VI Media Effects: 59-62. Accessed October 4 th , 2018.
http://www.ijhssi.org/papers/v3(6)/Version-4/L0364056064.pdf

Melde, C., & Esbensen, F. A. (2013). Gangs and violence: Disentangling the impact of gang
membership on the level and nature of offending. Journal of quantitative
criminology, 29(2), 143-166.

Nevins, Tara. 2004. ‘‘The Effects of Media Violence on Adolescent Health.’’ III. Effects of
Media Violence: 6-11. https://pgs.ca/wp-
content/uploads/2008/03/effectsofmediaviolence_final.pdf
Sousa, C., Herrenkohl, T. I., Moylan, C. A., Tajima, E. A., Klika, J. B., Herrenkohl, R. C., &
Russo, M. J. (2011). Longitudinal study on the effects of child abuse and children’s

YOUTHS AND MEDIA VIOLENCE 11

exposure to domestic violence, parent-child attachments, and antisocial behavior in
adolescence. Journal of interpersonal violence, 26(1), 111-136.