August 24th, 2013, Louisiana. A 90 year old woman, Marie Smothers, was brutally shot in the back of the head while peacefully watching TV. The culprit? Not your average middle aged adult, but rather, an 8 year old boy. This unidentified boy claims that it was an accident while playing with a pistol, however, police report Smothers was in fact targeted and killed intentionally. Only after playing Grand Theft Auto IV, arguably one of the most violent video games in the America, was this tragic crime committed. In our country today, crime has only risen since the exposure of violent media, particularly in children and adolescents as of late.
Often times, individuals will question what exactly violent media is. To answer that question, turn on …show more content…
Dating back during the Vietnam War was when families got a good in depth view of what was really going on, bombings, blood and all. Since then, it’s as if America has grown accustomed to it. Since the 80’s, however, it seems that crime has only risen and media violence could potentially be the blame. When juveniles are desensitized to violence, it often leads to the worst. It’s understandable to use the violence as a way to handle one’s identity, Batman being an example once again. Young children will portray Batman while playing with siblings or using their imagination. Some parents will see it as a way of telling their children it’s okay to be violent when they feel rage or down on themselves. They’re more likely to take risks and grow comfortable with their possibly rough life. On the other hand, when children are often exposed to violence through television, it alters their sense of right and wrong. Being entranced by the gore and combat or possibly killing will give an individual happiness or even pleasure. “When it comes to viewing violent pornography”, Bok clarifies, “levels of aggression towards women have been shown to go up among male subjects […]” (226). More times than not, an adolescent will have the urge to do dangerous things when they’re going through a rough patch. With the negative desensitization, and if worse comes to worse, not only will a murder be committed, but the chances are highly likely of even a copycat murder to be executed. Bok sheds light on the situation when she describes “Bill Savage had been killed by nineteen-year-old Sarah Edmonson and her boyfriend […] the two had gone on a killing spree with the films murderous, gleeful heroes expressly in mind.” (225), referring to Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers. As for measures that aren’t so extreme, children will cause
Often times, individuals will question what exactly violent media is. To answer that question, turn on …show more content…
Dating back during the Vietnam War was when families got a good in depth view of what was really going on, bombings, blood and all. Since then, it’s as if America has grown accustomed to it. Since the 80’s, however, it seems that crime has only risen and media violence could potentially be the blame. When juveniles are desensitized to violence, it often leads to the worst. It’s understandable to use the violence as a way to handle one’s identity, Batman being an example once again. Young children will portray Batman while playing with siblings or using their imagination. Some parents will see it as a way of telling their children it’s okay to be violent when they feel rage or down on themselves. They’re more likely to take risks and grow comfortable with their possibly rough life. On the other hand, when children are often exposed to violence through television, it alters their sense of right and wrong. Being entranced by the gore and combat or possibly killing will give an individual happiness or even pleasure. “When it comes to viewing violent pornography”, Bok clarifies, “levels of aggression towards women have been shown to go up among male subjects […]” (226). More times than not, an adolescent will have the urge to do dangerous things when they’re going through a rough patch. With the negative desensitization, and if worse comes to worse, not only will a murder be committed, but the chances are highly likely of even a copycat murder to be executed. Bok sheds light on the situation when she describes “Bill Savage had been killed by nineteen-year-old Sarah Edmonson and her boyfriend […] the two had gone on a killing spree with the films murderous, gleeful heroes expressly in mind.” (225), referring to Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers. As for measures that aren’t so extreme, children will cause