Media Violence And Crimes In The Real World

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In only 18 years, the offending crime rate of juveniles dropped from fifty-two to only six crimes per thousand juveniles according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. With a rise of violence in movies and other forms of media over the past twenty years, doubts have arisen about the correlation between on-screen violence and crimes in the real world. The majority of past studies have been centered on lab experiments and aggression which does not match well with real-life exposure (“No Link Found…”). Effective studies must be commenced before people can jump to certain conclusions. Violent media in television shows and video games are often quick to be blamed after “senseless shootings” occur. A British medical journal noted that “the link
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From long days at work or tragic neglect, parents can not possibly oversee their child’s activities all the time. This leads to children intentionally or without thought, stumbling into inappropriate violent content. Even cartoons and children’s shows are becoming increasingly violent and many parents can’t be there can’t protect their children. According to a survey run by Common Sense Media and the Center for American Progress “77 percent of parents nationwide worry that violence in TV and movies contributes” to real-world violence(Hanes). Sadly, there is already enough violence in the real-world and children’s movies should return “as innocent and appropriate” as they can be to not further this tragedy. (Sheehan). However, even with parents who try to monitor their children’s watching habits closely there are several problems. A compelling new study revealed “that the more parents watch violence and sex in TV shows and movies” the less mindful they are of what their kids should be allowed to watch(Hanes). This means that as adults become more and more desensitized to media violence, they are more willing to allow their children to watch inappropriate film. Although ratings may keep children from experiencing horrific acts of violence in theaters, they can easily access these inappropriate movies on Netflix or DVD (Sheehan). Society must make a decision to keep violence lower in various forms of media to protect the youth future. Debates over violence in media, however, brings concerns of the balance of safety and freedom of speech. Granted that media was found to lead to real-world violence, society as a whole might decide to continue the expression of violence. If the public wants to make the decision to put an end to excessive violence in the media, they should “rely on evidence, not instinct”(Pozios, Praveen,

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