Debates of TV violence
By: Patrick Oratmangun, 3 IPS SMA
Should violence be shown in TV, games and cinema? Throughout the years many violence occurs around us, such as in TV’s, games, and in the movie theatres. Even though we only watch even as little as an hour of television a day we are more likely to get into fights, commit assaults or engage in other types of violence later in life, according to a provocative new study. What concerns us is that, is it us that gets the aggression or is it the TV and games that causes the aggression.
Is the concern about violent video games justified? Concern about violent video and computer games is based on the assumption that they contribute to aggression and violence among young players. That conclusion was originally based on the extensive body of research about the effects of television violence on children’s behaviour. Research indicates exposure to violence in video games increases aggressive thoughts, aggressive behavior and angry feelings among youth. Based on this research, video games have an even greater impact for the following four reasons.
1. Children are more likely to imitate the actions of a character with whom they identify. In violent video games the player is often required to take the point of view of the shooter or perpetrator.
2. Video games by their very nature require active participation rather than passive observation.
3. Repetition increases learning. Video games involve a great deal of repetition. If the games are violent, then the effect is a behavioral rehearsal for violent activity.
4. Rewards increase learning and video games are based on a reward system.
Studies have been made and found that measuring the physiological responses to playing violent video games have shown that violent games increase physiological arousal. Hence, TV and visual entertainment are a much bigger risk in involving the violence given to us. Guns, shootings, murders, hitting, punching, slapping, screaming, kicking, stabbing, explosions, car chases, car smashes, disasters and death are shown daily throughout TV programming.
It showed that men and women who watched violent TV programming as children were more inclined to show violent tendencies as adults. Results show that men who were high TV-violence viewers as children were significantly more likely to have pushed, grabbed or shoved their spouses, to have responded to an insult by shoving a person, to have been convicted of a crime and to have committed a moving traffic violation. This mean that is not only the children that watch violence and act it, is also the adults that re-enacts it.
Children who watch the violent shows, even ‘just funny’ cartoons, were more likely to hit out at their playmates, argue, disobey class rules, leave tasks unfinished, and were less willing to wait for things than those who watched the non-violent programs.
Through the understanding of what I have said it is clear that essential movement should be make so later on in life violence should be banned,
THANK YOU