Influences of Teenage Violence

Does the entertainment industry influence teen violence? Many experts say yes to this question. One person who says yes is President Bill Clinton; We cannot pretend that there is no impact on our culture and our children that is adverse if there is too much violence coming out of what they see and experience. In the entertainment industry there are several factors in which influence teenage violence. The single most prominent factor is television. Violent television has been shown to influence teenage violence. Another factor influencing violence by the entertainment industry is violent music. Violent music is shown to affect teens in many ways such as social behaivor.

Some violent television programs, such as South Park, encourage violence. Violent programs on television lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch those programs (APA). This is suggesting that violent television programs influence teenagers. The National Television Violence Study (NTSV), conducted from 1994 to 1997, confirms previous suspicions that violence is often portrayed in a contextual manner. This same study also found that more than 70 percent of the bad guys receive no penalty. Furthermore, the NTVS concluded that 40 percent of the violence was perpetrated by attractive (hero) role models (Shifrin). If you have violence hidden within the program you are promoting or encouraging violence. When the bad guys commit crimes and then receive no penalty you are basically saying you do the crime you don’t do the time. Additionally, when you use attractive heroes or heroines to battle crime, using violent methods you are promoting that violence is the right answer for the do-gooder when violence should not be an answer.

Television is emotionally and psychologically harmful to teens. Television is the number 1 leisure activity, noted Shifrin. Watching so much violence on television causes children to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place (APA). A teen or child spends more time with the television rather than talking to parents, writes Moody. It is a known fact that teens or children who do not talk with their parents are psychologically unstable. Kaufman pointed out; viewing large amounts of TV violence can contribute to promoting a view that violence is a commonplace in everyday life as well as creating a heightened fear of being assaulted on the street. This is a direct result of emotional and psychological instability. Watching excessive amounts on television has a direct mental affect on people as a whole. Being mentally unstable is a fact that leads to, even triggers teenage violence.

Violent television programs add to teenage violence. A viewer learns more than aggressive behavior from televised violence (NIMH). A study funded by CBS reported that teenage boys in London, according to their own accounts of their activities, were more likely to engage in serious violence after exposed to television violence (NIMH). The CBS study shows a clear correlation between TV violence and teenage violence. TV violence that is glamorized, trivialized and sanitized teaches that violence is a solution (Shifrin). To teach violence as an answer to a situation is simply adding the teenage violence. The child applies to a real-life situation the kind of solution he has seen used on television (Freedman). Freedman is saying when a child is confronted he or she goes back to what they have learned from watching TV; in some cases children using what they learned off the TV is very violent. Its a fact that we learn from doing something over and over, so its the same for watching violent situations over and over. Teens learn them and react in a violent manner. TV programs influence teens, therefore TV influences teenage violence.

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