Year 9 Philosophy & Ethics

* Grades E-D – To be able to refer to one case study on violence in the media and a basic Christian response to violence * Grades C-B – To be able to use a case study to support the argument that violence in the media influences people to do bad – have a personal response and a Christian response to violence * Grades A-A* - To be able to discuss both arguments about whether violence in the media influences people to be violent - using case studies to support each case – a detailed personal response and a Christian response to violence

* Can you remember the last film you watched? * How violent was it? * When was the last time you saw violence on the telly/movies? * Do you think violence in the media makes society more violent? * What did Jesus teach Christians about violence?

Agree: The media has a negative influence on people. Disagree The media does not have a negative influence on people.

Agree: The media has a negative influence on people. Disagree The media does not have a negative influence on people. - Encourages violence e.g. film ‘Childs Play’ led to teenagers killing James Bulger; ‘Thou shalt not kill’. - Gives a distorted view of reality e.g. Big Brother - Influences people to commit adultery; against 1 of 10 commandments e.g. Eastenders. - Influences people not to ‘Honour your father and your mother’ e.g. Jeremy Kyle Show. - Influences people to worship celebrities e.g. newspaper stories on football players. - Encourages more gambling through internet and TV channels. - Can encourage greed e.g. adverts. - People don’t have to do what is shown by the media. - Media can have a positive influence e.g. comedies make us feel good. - Source of information; people make their own choices. - Media used positively to challenge injustice e.g. Comic Relief on TV. - Tells people about things in the public interest e.g. reports on world news events, wiki leaks about government secrets. - Radio 4 ‘Thought for the Day’ encouragers moral actions. - Adverts encourage people to buy products that are good for them e.g. Yeo Valley

* Here is a typical ‘e’ question concerning violence in the media and whether we should censor it

* Analyse the following case studies in your groups * Decide whether you think each case influenced people to be violent either because of the violence they witnessed in the media or because of some other issue * individually complete the table using the thoughts and ideas you come up with in your group

Case studyDid the violence in the film/video game influence the violence? Yes/No? Why? In your opinion, should this be banned/censored ? Why? #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7

* Severance – * A teen was tied to a tree, forced to drink petrol then doused in the liquid and set alight as a gang allegedly re-enacted a scene from this 2006 film * The gang members had a history of violence

* Saw – * Drug addict Benjamin Scott stabbed pal Gary Beech 120 times then boasted to his girlfriend that was like a scene from his favourite horror film * Characters in the films are regularly imprisoned, mutilated and killed for no apparent reason * Police said Scott, who has been diagnosed with a personality disorder, has shown no remorse following the killing last June.

* Scream – * Two schoolboys brutally stabbed a 13-year old and left him for dead just hours after watching the horror film Scream * Daniel Gill (14) and Robert Fuller (15) stabbed Ashley Murray 18 times. He survived. * Scream features a series of brutal stabbings * Jailing the teens for at least 6 years, the judge said the 18 film helped “blur the lines between fantasy and reality” * Fuller & Gill were experimenting with drugs

* Natural Born Killers – * This film showed teen lover killers who go on a murder spree * In 1999 at Columbine High School, Colorado, USA, Eric Harris (18) and Dylan Klebold (17) killed 12 students and a teacher on a murder spree in their school. Their code was “NBK” * Klebold had been diagnosed with depression and was on the brink of suicide

* Manhunt – * The parents of murdered Stefan Pakeerah (14), claimed violent video game Manhunt led to the death of their son * Murderer Warren LeBlanc (17) was ‘obsessed’ with the game in which players score points for killings. LeBlanc battered Stefan with a hammer and a knife. * Stefan’s parent’s called for the game to be banned (censored)

* Child’s play – * The murder of toddler Jamie Bulger in 1993 had chilling echoes of horror film Child’s play 3 * In the 1991 movie demonic doll Chucky is splashed with blue paint, punched in the face and run over on a ghost train track * Ten-year old Robert Thompson and Jon Venables abducted James and daubed paint on him before dumping him on a railway line * At the trial, it emerged that Child’s Play 3 was rented by Venables’ father a week prior to James’ murder * Thompson had come from a broken and violent home

* Daniel Bartlam beat his mother to death with a hammer and burned her body * Nottingham crown court heard the teenager had been inspired by a plot in Coronation Street in which one of the characters, John Stape, killed a woman with a hammer. * Bartlam has not yet been diagnosed with a mental health issue

Case studyDid the violence in the film/video game influence the violence? Yes/No? Why? In your opinion, should this be banned/censored ? Why? #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7

* Write a paragraph to explain your opinion about the influence of violence in the media * “I agree/disagree that violence in the media influences people to be violent in society because….” * Write a paragraph to explain what Jesus might say about violence in the media * You can use the following to help you – ‘treat others how you would want to be treated’/’those who live by the sword, die by the sword’