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Who remembers when the only sources of media were the phone which was a landline or television (whose screen was only about 19 inches in diameter and the outside of our television resembled a coffin) or if you were really lucky, an Atari for entertainment? I can officially say I am old because to me, that was the good ole days. Media in 2014 now includes a wide array of state-of-the-art communication outlets which include television, movies, advertising, magazine, music, video games and the Internet. In the last twenty five years, life as we know it has constantly changed and created new ways to live better and communicate with people even more so. But with anything, the more media available, the more negative effects can occur. Media violence can have lasting negative effects on children and the society. Did you know that by the time children reach 18 years of age, they will have seen just on television 200,000 acts of violence and roughly 40,000 murders ( Lurie, n.d.) That’s an astounding number.
Who could ever forget the awful December day in Newton Connecticut when Adam Lanza killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary? The fact that Adam was infatuated with violent video games such as Grand Theft Auto IV, Left 4 Dead or Hack//Sign may definitely be a factor in this heinous crime (McShane, 2013).The chilling picture of Adam as a very young toddler holding a small hand-gun to his mouth along with a row of bullets laying on his lap is a bit disturbing, in my opinion. Obviously, with these crimes there isn’t just one component, but there may be some association between mental instability and video games which put them into a “virtual reality state.” In this example, the “Network models of memory” are used in that a “gun” is then linked to “violent criminal act” and will always be correlated with this story (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012). While numerous studies have been found that violence in television and video games promotes violence in young people is exemplified when an 8 year old boy from Louisiana deliberately shot the elderly woman, Marie Smothers who was taking care of the boy after he played a violent video game. He was not prosecuted because a child who is under the age of 10 can’t be held responsible for a crime because he didn’t understand the magnitude of the results of what he did. Findings lead to the boy being in a “violent virtual world.
Another way that media shapes our thoughts is it influences how we perceive other people, especially those who we may look up to or believe in. Take for instance, how news during an election may influence our thoughts and emotions (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2012). I remember during the 2008 election, there were so many thoughts about President Obama, both good and bad. It honestly can be so overwhelming during the elections because with all the information, each individual has to process what is correct and what is false. I remember watching President Obama’s speech when we finally found Osama Bin Laden and that speech made me feel happy to finally have found the person who was most responsible ( in my eyes) to 9/11. During his speech, he was calm and a sense of pride was shown throughout the entire speech. I felt an overwhelming sense of pride to be an American and I truly felt united once again as one strong country that fights for our freedom every single day, even if we sometimes lose sight of how lucky we are to have this freedom. If you are ever on You Tube and want to take a look, it’s from May 1, 2011 and is only about 9 minutes and 28 seconds. The only thing missing in my opinion is the song by Lee Greenwood, “God Bless the USA!”
With this ever-changing technology, we need to make sure our children, adolescents, and adults understand that there are differences between what is actually real life and what is not reality. Some research has found a correlation to viewing television at an early age to issues in attention in later years (Lurie, n.d.). Take time to understand what is suitable for specific ages and monitor what the individual is seeing. If children are exposed to enough violence, then they tend to think that it is “universal.” Children between the ages of 8-18 actually spend around 44.5 hours a week watching television, playing games or on the computer. Media actually is the activity that they do the most, besides sleeping. Don’t get me wrong, I am so spoiled with media that I don’t know what I ever did without it. But truthfully, when I do take a few days whether it’s on vacation or to just take a few days to not focus on the internet, television, constantly looking at my phone , I actually feel more clearer ( at least for a couple of days and I think why do I even need this in my life)? However, then I go right back to everything. I think we all need to focus more on our surroundings and sometimes face-to-face contact is what we really enjoy! What do you think?
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Lurie, Michelle. (n.d.). The Effects of Television on Your Child: What You Can Do. Pediatric Neuropsychology Services.
McShane, Larry. (2013). Newtown killer Adam Lanza wrote tales about ‘hide and go die’ game, graphic violence: documents. Daily News.
Russell, Lauren. (2013).Police: 8-year-old shoots, kills elderly caregiver after playing video game.CNNU.S.
Schneider, F. W., Gruman, J. A., & Coutts, L. M. (2005). Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. SAGE Publications.
Lurie, Michelle. (n.d.). The Effects of Television on Your Child: What You Can Do. Schneider, F.W., Gruman, J.A., & Coutts, L.A. (2005). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.