Are Children Victimized By Violent Mass Media?

In contemporary American culture, TV audiences are saturated with news reports about horrific crimes perpetrated by adolescents from Columbine to the Beltway sniper attacks to the Newtown, Connecticut School shooting. Parents across the nation tremble with fear and anxiety as pundits on every news station debate about the causes of juvenile violence. Most often, these experts blame violent mass media such as violent movies, gangsta rap and, especially, violent video games. When parents enter their children's bedrooms to find them engaged in simulated fighting and other destructive and delinquent behavior, it is understandable that such activities would become prime targets of culpability for the sudden increase in juvenile violence. However, is there enough scientific evidence to support the claims that media violence triggers violent behavior in children and adolescents? Such claims have not been fully proven beyond a reasonable doubt within the scientific community and parents and news pundits who suggest otherwise run the risk of exposing their general lack of understanding of how criminal behavior and psychology operate in actuality. Violent mass media is a convenient target of blame due to the fact that it is seemingly ubiquitous in the lives of the majority of adolescents in this country. However, evidence has shown that much of the violent and aggressive behavior in youths can most often be attributed to exposure to domestic violence as well as other factors such as a lack of education and inadequate parental guidance.

Researchers generally single out violent video games as a leading cause of an increase in violent and aggressive tendencies for a number of key reasons. According to Carll (2007), the chair of the Interactive Media Committee of Media Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association, violent video games have unique characteristics that set them apart from violent TV shows and films that make them a greater influence in causing violent behavior namely their interactivity and reward systems. She asserts that these games can act as practice lessons for violent acts. In addition, the means of winning these games often involve an increased mastery of simulated violent skills which may teach children and adolescents that such behavior is deserving of rewards. While there is evidence to suggest that playing these games may increase aggressive thoughts in young people temporarily, there is little evidence to suggest that these youths are more prone to act on these thoughts. Of course, an overwhelming majority of children and adolescents who play these games lead productive and peaceful lives. Considering that roughly 90% of teenagers in this country play video games at least on a moderate level, society would be unlivable if most of them committed an increase of violent acts as a result of these games. Therefore, there must be several other candidates to possibly blame for violent tendencies in certain juveniles.

One potential culprit that has emerged as a prime trigger in an increase in violent behavior in youths is the witnessing or experiencing of violent behavior in domestic situations. According to a Fehan (2007), approximately 70 percent of American teenagers have seen some type of violent act within their community or homes. Experts would agree that the witnessing of violent victimization is to be considered one of the most significant mental health risk factors for today's youth. As a result of witnessing such violent behavior, children tend to imitate what they see and later commit violent acts, themselves. Violence begets violence, as they say. Witnessing violent acts may have a significantly different effect on children's behavior than playing violent video games. For one, most children and adolescents are well aware that simulated acts are far different from real life acts. Most psychologically healthy and well-adjusted young people know better than to repeat actions they see in video games and in movies and TV shows. However, just as children learn language skills from the adults around them, children also learn behavior skills from adults as well. Children exposed to repeated viewing of acts of domestic violence, of course, learn no other alternative ways to deal with conflicts with others than through violence.

Aside from exposure to violence, the type of parenting children receive can also play a significant role in triggering violent tendencies. Criminal defense attorney Carl Alfrey (2009) states, “Children growing up in a single parent home run a much higher risk of criminal behavior than children in two parent homes.” A 1998 study concluded from tracking more than 6,400 boys over the course of 20 years that boys who had little to no contact with their biological fathers were three times more likely to commit crimes that would land them in the criminal justice system than boys from two parent homes. Children of divorced parents were also much more likely to commit crimes, up to six times more in some cases. With the current increase in babies born out of wedlock and the increase in the divorce rate, these factors will most likely affect the crime rate in the United States for decades to come. The erosion of the American household and traditional family values is much more likely to be the cause of the increase in juvenile violence than playing violent video games. However, this reality may be too harsh to face for many Americans because it would mean a painful re-evaluation of our beliefs and values would be in order. A more convenient alternative would, of course, be to blame violent video games.

If we are to be completely honest with ourselves, we must be willing to look beyond the superficial effects of video game playing and probe more deeply into the driving factors of violence. We must face into the abyss of a violent adolescent's soul and ask the honest question: what psychological forces would compel a teenager to assault or possibly murder a complete stranger? Gabor Mate (2004) distills the answer down to a single word: frustration. At the heart of every violent word or actions is a powerful, brewing cauldron of pent-up frustration. The victim of the attack is almost never the point. Such attacks are against life in general, years of isolation and neglect and a void of emotional and psychological support. As Hillary Clinton once reiterated, it takes a village to raise a child. Children need not only guidance from their parents but also mentors from their extended family and community. Unfortunately, in today's society, the extended family is most often at least a hundred miles away and members of communities across the United States simply keep to themselves, minding their own business. As a result of a lack of adult guidance, children and adolescents turn to each other for peer parenting. At this stage, the downward spiral begins. Adolescent peers teach each other to be "cool" which simply means emotionally distant and uncaring. It teaches a child that it is wrong to show any sort of emotional vulnerability. Therefore, when a child feels emotional pain, he or she is taught to hide it. These feelings fester inside and are eventually transformed into rage.

If we are to save vulnerable members of today's youths from a life of crime and a lifetime membership to the U.S. criminal correctional system, we must honestly face our social shortcomings and re-evaluate our society. It is time to stop blaming convenient targets such as violent video games and violent mass media, in general, and commit to the authentic social transformation needed to help our children. Despite their growing size and facial hair, teenagers are still children with the needs of all children: to feel safe psychologically and physically, to know that emotional support is there for them when they need it and to be made aware that there are a significant amount of mature people in their lives who genuinely care about their intellectual development and the development of their unique skills and talents.

References

Alfrey, C. (2009). Juvenile delinquency and family structure: Implications for marriage and relationship education. National Healthy Marriage Resource Center.

Carll, E. K. (2007). Violent video games: Rehearsing aggression. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(45).

Elsevier, pub. (2008). Is exposure to media violence a public health risk? Lancet, 271.

Fehan, D. C. (2007). From victim to aggressor: The cycle of youth violence. Psychiatric Times, 24.

Mare, G. (2004). Are violent teens suffering ‘the rage of the unparented’? Toronto (Ontario) Globe and Mail

Olson, C. K. (2007). Media violence research and youth violence data: Why do they conflict? Academic Psychiatry, 28. Academic Psychiatry