MediaViolenceResearchPaper

Crime,murder,explicitlanguage,thesesubjectsallmayseemlikefarawayconcepts.
Subjectsthatonlypeopleinbrokenneighborhoodsareexposedtoo,butinfacttheyareliving
justinsidethehomesofalmosteveryone.Wherearethey?Insideyourtelevision,computer,
videogamesandmusiceveryoneisexposedtoviolencethroughthemedia.Mediaviolenceis
presentinalmostallhomesandissomethingnoonecaneveravoidcompletely.Evenif
someoneisinnocentlywatchingtelevisionorplayingaroundonthecomputer,theyarestill
exposedtoviolencewhentheyflipthroughthechannelsorscrollthroughanadonthecomputer.
Somepeoplebelievethatthisviolenceismakingpeoplemoreaggressiveandthinkitshouldbe
censored,buthowcansomethingthatisinoureverydaylivesberemovedcompletelyor
restricted?Aretheseclaimseventrue?
Thedecisiononrestrictingorcuttingviolencefromthemediashouldbebasedon
concretefacts,likeanyotherchangeinlawshould.Eveniftherewasresearchtoprovethat
mediaviolenceisaffectingpeople'sbehavior,changingtherestrictionsonthemediaindustry
wouldviolatethefirstamendment,thefreedomofspeechandexpression.Theindustryitself
wouldbechangedforeverandcouldcausesomeofourfavoritemediatobechangedorbanned
fromthemarket.Howcanitbeokaytotakeawaypeoplesfavoritemedia,justbecauseacouple
oftoddlershaveanattitudeproblemthattheparentsneedtoblameonsomeone?Itistheparents
themselveswhoneedtoberesponsibleforwhattheirchildrenseeiftheyfeelthisway.They
needtoparenttheirchildren,notthegovernment.Theregulationsonmediaviolenceshouldstay
astheyarebecausetheyarenotthecauseofanycrimeorincreasedaggressioninanyone.

Mediaviolence,asstatedbefore,isnotthecauseofincreasedaggressioninanyone.
Theseclaimsarejustassumptionsandnotbasedonresearch.Researchhasbeendonetotestthe
claimedlinkbetweenaggressionandmediaviolence,buthasneverproducedaconsistentresult
(Nakay,22).Thewaythatthestudiesarebeingconductedcouldbeimprovedtohelpget
consistentanswers.By,perhaps,usingmorechildrenandmorethanonetypeofmediainthe
testing.Untilthesestudiesareimprovedandconsistentresultsareobtaineditisimpossibleto
makeacorrectdecisionthatisbasedonfacts.
Fromotherstudiesandstatisticsthatarebetterconductedandobtainedithasbeenshown
thatmediaviolenceisnotcausingmoreaggressivebehavior.Itisshowninthechartthatthe
amountofviolenceinthemediahasinfactincreasedoverthepastdecade(Nakay,85).This
doesnotseemtobecausingmoreaggressioninpeopleormakingthemwanttocommitmore
crimes.Infact,accordingtotheDepartmentofJusticesgraphofviolentcrimesintheU.S.the
numberofcrimeshasactuallydecreasedby9%from1993to2003(Nakay,33).Ifviolencein
themediaiscausingpeopletobemoreaggressiveandwanttocommitmoreviolentacts,how
couldthecrimeratepossiblyhavegonedown?Theratecouldnothavedecreasediftheseclaims
weretrue.Alloftheanswersareevidentinthefactsandresearch.Somestudiesmaynothave
cometoaclearconclusion,butthereareotherresearchstudiesandstatisticsthatprovethat
mediaviolencedoesnotcauseaggressionandthatthecurrentrestrictionsonmediaviolencedo
notneedtobechanged.
Whenpeopleseethepeoplewhousethistypeofviolentmediaanassumptionmightbe
madebetweentheiractionsandthemediatheyenjoy.Peoplemightseesomeoftheroughand
toughpeoplewhoenjoyitandthinkthatthemediacausesbadbehaviorandaggressivehabits,

butthisisnottrue."Itismorelikelythataggressivepeopleareattractedtoviolentmedia.
Blamingviolentmediawouldbelikegoingtotheopera,noticingthatmostpeoplethereare
rich,andconcludingthatoperamakespeoplerich."saysAndreaNakayauthorof
MediaViolence
(Nakay,40).Thisquoteperfectlyexplainsthatallusersofviolentmediaarenotaggressive.
Fromallofthisitiseasytoseethatwhendebatingregulationsforviolentmediathereareno
factstobackuptheargumentthatitcausesanincreaseinaggression.
Afterseeingthatmediaviolenceisnotthecauseofaggressioninchildrenwhichhasbeen
provenbyresearch,theremustbesomethingelsecausingit.Sincetheclaimsthatmedia
violenceisaffectingchildrenarecomingfromparents,coulditbetheparentsthemselveswho
arecausingthebehavior?Iftheparentsarenotkeepingacloseenougheyeontheirchildtosee
thatthecontentofthemediatheyareusingisageappropriate,justhowclosearetheypaying
attentiontotheirchild'sbehavioringeneral.Theyarenotpayingattentiontotheirchildenough
torealizewhatcontenttheyarebringingintothehouseandwhentheydoseethemactingup
theyblameitonthemediabecausetheyareblindtothefactthattheycouldbethecause.
69%ofchildren1316yearsoldwillbuyanmratedgamewithoutparentsupervision
(Nakay,71).Thisisanunacceptableamountofchildrenwhoseparentsdonotmonitortheir
mediause.Notonlyaretheynotmonitoringwhatcontenttheyareusing,butforhowlongthey
useit.Theaveragechildspends4hoursadaywatchingTV(TVFactsandStatistics),that'sa
crazyamountoftime.WhiletheywatchtheyareexposedtothisTVviolence,eveniftheyare
watchingchildren'sshows.Childrenarealwaysgoingtoseesomeinappropriatecontentonthe
television,evenifthatisnotwhattheywereoriginallylookingtowatch.Violencealsoexistsin
commercialsandchildrenaregoingtoseeitwhentheyflipthroughthechannels.Thereisno

waytoavoiditaltogether,butbydecreasingchildrensallottedtimeforviewingmediaparents
cancontroltheamountofviolencetheyareexposedtooiftheyfeelitisactuallyaffectingtheir
children'sbehavior.
Eventhoughparentsareblamingtheindustryforhavingviolenceintheirproducts,the
mediahasnotleftparentswithoutoptionstocensortheviolenceintheirownhomes.Since
January1,2000,theFederalCommunicationsCommission(FCC)hasrequiredallnewtelevision
sets13inchesorlargertocontainaVchip.(TheVChip:PuttingRestrictionsonWhatYour
ChildrenWatch).TheVChipsystemisaparentalcontrolsystemthatallowsparentstocontrol
whatchannelstheirchildrencanwatchandatwhattimes.TheVinthenameVchipactually
standsforviolence,meaningitwasdesignedtokeepparentsincontrolofhowmuchmedia
violencetheirchildrenareexposedtoontelevision(Parents,children&Media).Mostparents,
however,donotknowthattheirtelevisionhasthissystemalreadybuiltin.Infact57%of
parentsareunawarethattheirTelevisionevenhasVChip.TheVChipisnottheonlyparental
controlsystemthatisavailableeither,mostcableprovidershavetheirownversionthatisfree
forcustomerstouse.
Alongwithtelevisionparentalcontrols,computeralsohavefiltersthatallowcertain
contenttobeblocked,aswellassafesearchersthatonlyallowcleancontenttoshowupin
internetsearches.Also,alltypesofmediahavetheirownratingsystemsthatallowparentsto
seewhetherthecontentofthemediaisageappropriatefortheirchildrentouse.Eachsystem
hasdifferentsymbolstorepresentdifferentratings,forexampleinvideogamesMmeansfor
matureaudiences(What'sItRated?UnderstandingtheMediaRatingSystems).Mostparents
findtheseratingsveryhelpfulandusethemtoselectappropriatemediafortheirchildren

(Nakay,56).Ifparentsdonotunderstandtheratingsystemsorareconfusedastowhateach
ratingmeans,theexplanationsareonlineforreference.Insteadofcomplainingthatitisthe
industry'sfaultparentsshouldeducatethemselvesonwhattheycandotoprotecttheirchildren.
Anotherreasonthatmediaviolenceregulationsshouldnotbechanged,orinthiscasecan
notbechanged,isbecauseofthefirstAmendment.ThefirstAmendmentprotectsonesfreedom
ofspeechandfreedomtoexpressoneself.Itdoesnotjustprotecttheindividual,itprotects
organizations,clubs,religions,andindustries.Themediaisanindustrythereforeitisprotected
bythisamendmentandisallowedtopresentthecontentitwants.Ifrestrictionsweretobeput
onthemediaitwouldbeunconstitutionalandcouldleadtomorechangesandunfairrestrictions
oneverydaypeople.Changingtherestrictionswouldjustcausemorefightingoverlawsthan
therealreadyisanditsnotworththetrouble.
Thebiggestpartofthemediathatisbeingprotectedbythislawisthemusicindustry.
Somepeopleclaimthatmusiclyricsthatarecrudeandoffensiveneedtobecensoredorchanged,
butthisisagainunconstitutionaltotelltheartisttheyhavetochangetheirlyrics(Espejo).It
violatestheartistsfreedomofspeechtoforcethemtochangetheirlyrics.Artistswithsuchcrude
songshavethechoicetomakecleanversionsoftheirmusicforthosewhodonotwanttohear
suchthings,butitisuptothem.Evenifsuchmusicoffendsapersontheyneedtorespectthe
artistsrights.Howwouldtheylikeifsomeonetookawaytheirfreedomofspeech?Each
argumentneedstobethoughtaboutfrombothsidesbeforeadecisionismade,andcensoring
musiciscertainlyoneofthosearguments.
Ifsomehowtherewererestrictionsputonmediaviolencenotonlywouldthemedia
industryfeelcheated,buttheconsumersofitsrestrictedmediawouldtoo.Somepeopleusethis

mediatoexpresstheirinterestsandfeelings.Violentmedia,likeviolentvideogames,canbean
outletforpeopletoexpresstheirangerandexpressitinasafewayratherthanactingout.The
violentmediaallowsforcontrolledaggression.Withoutthistypeofmediathecrimeratecould
spikebecausethereisnootherwayforthesepeopletotakeouttheiraggressioninacontrolled
way.Puttingrestrictionsonmediaisunconstitutionalandcouldcausemoreproblemsanddebate
thantherealreadyis.
Fromtheinformationaboveitiseasytoseethatmediaviolenceisnotthecauseof
aggressioninpeopleandshouldnotberestricted.Thosewhofeelthatithasnegativeeffects
shouldprotectthemselvesfromitinsteadoftryingtotakethistypeofmediafromeveryone.
Changingtherestrictionsonmediashouldbebasedonfactsthatitisabadinfluenceonpeople,
andsofarthereisnotclearevidenceofthis.Eveniftherewereevidencetosupportthis,itis
unconstitutionaltoviolatethemediasfreedomofspeechandexpression.Changingrestrictions
wouldcausemorefightinganddebateratherthanfixinganything.
Whatshouldbedoneisnotsomethingthegovernmentcandoforpeople,butsomething
theycandoforthemselves.Whenpurchasingmediaortalkingaboutitwiththeirchildrenpeople
shouldsetlimitsonratingsandwhattypeofcontenttheyallowintheirhomes.Parentsneedto
monitortheirchildrenandtakeadvantageofthetoolstheyhavetosetmediarestrictionsifthey
feeltheyneedto.Insteadofwastingtimetryingtodealwithcomplaintsaboutthemedia,that
timeshouldbeusedtoeducatepeopleonhowtouseparentalcontrols,liketheVChipsystem.
Also,researchshouldcontinueonthelinkbetweenaggressioninchildrenandmediaviolence,to
ensureparentsthatthemediaisnotaffectingtheirchildren.Everyoneneedstounderstandthat
themediaisforentertainmentandinformation,nottoinfluencepeople'sideasoractions.

WorksCited
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