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Media violence
MEDIA VIOLENCE
A) The Internet
B) Television,movie,advertising
C) Video games, computer games,mobile phones
What is media violence?
Media violence can have long-term negative effects on our youth and society as a whole. Disturbing images and hateful messages are eating away at our children’s innocence. The amount of violence that children see affects them negatively, according to psychological research.
‘Media’ includes the whole range of modern communication tools: television, the cinema, radio, photography, advertising, newspapers and magazines, recorded music and lyrics, computer and video games, the Internet (blogs, chats, podcasts, Skype, webcam, social networks online, Facebook, YouTube, Second life), and cell phones.
All of these are changing the way children and adults communicate with each other. Young people are largely driving the changes. They are very attracted to be basic components of media, music, storylines, images and graphics. They quickly acquire skills in new media and are more ‘media-savvy’ than their parents. www.media-awareness.ca/english/issues/violence/violence_entertainment.cfm
The media is without a doubt, a highly significant aspect of contemporary children’s lives. It constitutes their most significant leisure-time pursuit by far. Over the last quarter-century, violence in television programs, video games, Internet and other entertainment products for children has gradually increased. After decades of debates, there is now a general consensus that media violence is a risk factor that contributes to the development of aggressive behavior, fears and anxieties.
Did you know?
° Media violence gives children a sense that violence is everywhere. This environment contributes to a greater risk of abuse and violence in our homes, workplaces and communities
° Children (8 to 18) in the West spend more time (44,5 hours per week – 6,5 hours daily) in front of computers, television and game screens than any other activity in their lives except sleeping.
What you can do. Make the difference!
- Know, use and share the guidelines to surf the Net. www.actioninnocence.org
- Join ‘Voices of Youth’ (a Unicef website), dedicated to harnessing the educational and community building potential of technology to ensure that all children and young people can know more, say more and do more about the world they live in
- Know about the risks that your participation in the media, in advocacy, or in political events can provoke, particularly high in conflict situations and in non-democratic societies where public expression of opinions can result in reprisals
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A) The Internet
The Internet is a fantastic resource and can be used for research and learning, however, it also can provide quick and easy access to content that is not appropriate for children. Take the time to learn what your kids are doing and where they go while online. Knowledge is the key, you need to keep them safe. With the existence of chat rooms, children can be easily exposed to pedophiles. www.ec.europa.eu
What you can do. Make the difference!
- Visit www.childnet-int.org
- Report hateful content on the web to your parents who should contact the police or the service providers
- Know and share the 10 recommendations Internet use by young people
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B) Television, movies and advertising
Television and online movies often cover violent or deadly incidents, such as accidents, wars, terrorist attacks, crime, natural disasters and other events. The coverage may be preceded with a warning, stating that the footage may be disturbing to some viewers. Blurring or blocking a portion of the image, cutting the violent portions out of an image sequence or by removing certain portions of film footage from viewing, censors sometimes graphic images.
Did you know?
° By the time a child is eighteen years old, he or she will witness on television (with average viewing time) 200,000 acts of violence including 40,000 murders www.mediafamily.org/facts/facts_vlent.shtml
What you can do. Make the difference!
- Complain if you see violent imagery in advertising. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigates complaints made about ads, sales promotions or direct marketing. Anyone can complain to them. Most complaints are made through the complaints form on this website. www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/public
- Propose to your school to join parents and staff’s efforts to motivate students in reducing TV and videogames consumption
- Request that national associations for the education of young children limit children’s exposure to violence www.naeyc.org
- Introduce “10 days without TV” that is a great exercise of responsible consumption, mental health and social mobilization. It makes verbal and physical violence go down as well as obesity.
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C) Video games, computer games, mobile phones
Violent video games can cause children to have more aggressive thoughts, feelings and behaviors and decrease empathetic, helpful behavior with peers
High level of violent video game exposure have been linked to delinquency, fighting at school and during free play periods, and violent criminal behavior (e.g. self-reported assault, robbery) www.apa.org/science/psy/sb-anderson.html
Related forms of media, video- and computer games have been the subject of debate and censorship, due to the depiction of graphic violence, sexual themes, ‘advergaming’ (a form of advertising in games), consumption and abuse of drugs, alcohol or tobacco, propaganda, addiction, crime, nudity, profanity, or thematic content in some games. Critics of video games sometime include parents’ groups, politicians, organized religious groups and other special interest groups, even though all of these games can be found in all forms of entertainment and media. Various games have been blamed for causing addiction and even violent behavior.
One of the most important examples of the effect that some video games can have on children and teenagers is the Virginia Tech University massacre that happened in April 2007 in the USA.
What you can do. Make the difference!
- Learn about the rating systems for video games and follow recommendations. For details on the ratings go to www.esrb.org
- Get informational brochure that pediatricians offer to parents and children to help them use the various ratings systems to guide better media choices
Did you know?
° Cell phones are the new drug for children, and there have been some cases reporting children being admitted to a mental health clinic because of addiction to their phones
° More and more mobile phones are web-enabled, allowing users to download to their cell phones. The use of uploading text, photos, films and sound to websites is popular with young people, and YouTube, DailyMotion and Sitcam have created a movement of ‘broadcast yourself’ and on-line-social networks. SMS text messaging and other forms of wireless communication are creating new opportunities for social networking and political mobilization.
