According to the American Medical Association, by age 18 the average U.S. child will witness over 200,000 acts of violence on television, including 16,000 murders. In 1998, 88 percent of the world's 12-year-olds were familiar with Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Terminator," according to a UNESCO study. Mediascope reports on some of the effects of this constant bombardment of violent images, How Violence Manipulates Viewers: "Learning aggressive attitudes and behaviors; becoming desensitized toward real world violence; and becoming afraid of being victimized, leading to a mistrust of others."
|
|
Media Mayhem: A MediaChannel Special Report
One of the first MediaChannel Issue Guides, this article collection explores the issues of violence in entertainment and news media worldwide. From The Media Channel
|
|
|
Video Game Violence
Responding to recent U.S. school shootings, some critics blamed violent video games for turning kids into killers. Paul Keegan investigates the culture of these enormously popular and gory games. From Mother Jones online
| |
|
|
Insidious 'Fun': Kids Need Help To Process Sex And Violence Messages
What is the effect of repeated viewings of violent fantasy entertainment on viewers' responses to real violence? Media Studies teacher Michael Redfern looks at the responsibility schools have to help students critically examine violence in media. From Media Awareness Project
| |
|
|
The Media Violence Debate
Media violence is not what we need to worry about, says Todd Gitlin in this 1994 article. Persecuting the media for violent acts has become the "playground of moral prohibitions and symbolic crusades." Gitlin warns that the emphasis placed on the evils of the media has diverted attention from the real issues at the roots of violence: poverty, homelessness and drugs. Critics respond. From The American Prospect
| |
|
|
AS THE MEDIA WATCH THE WORLD, WE WATCH THE
MEDIA.
|
|
|
Teachers' Toolkit