Does Violent Media Make People More Prone to Committing Violent acts? Mathew Knudson, Shawn Sawyer, Thomas Chen, Jared Rosenholtz, Alexander Shumski

Definition of Violent Media Violence: An exertion of physical force with intent to injure, or Injury by or with distortion, infringement or profanation Media: The means of communication, as radio and television, newspapers, and magazines, that reach or influence people widely

Violent Media Causes Violence Key Points Repeated positive reinforcements for violence teaches the action. People virtually enacting violence become desensitized to it. Users of violence media experience heightened aggression when playing or using the media.

Support For the Teaching Process Studies have proven that children imitate violence behavior, even if it is clearly unreal. 3,000 studies made which provide anecdotal reference to violent acts imitating media. Repetitive violence enhances learning Reward game player for violent acts and destruction. Newer games boast of realistic weapons, gore and brutality reinforcing that violence will reward them in real life.

Desensitization Evidence The games allow for identification with violent characters. These games Rarely show negative social consequences. An already angry and unstable individual is trained in violence by playing violent games over a long time period. In a related crime two teens attempted crimes similar to those committed in the video game Grand Theft Auto.

Heightened Aggression Research suggest exposure increases aggressive behaviors, thoughts and feelings. Brain activity recorded when playing video games is higher in areas that control fear and anger. The prefrontal cortex in the brain of a minor is not fully developed until their early 20's, thus they have poor foresight and judgment. Children have been shown to imitate violence in media and in real life.

Violent Media Doesn’t Cause Violence Key Points Violent media use are a symptom of violent tendencies, not a cause. The historical context is often only involving already unstable individuals who used violent media. The rate of game purchase is going up while the violent crime is falling.

Proof of Violent Media Being a Symptom Not a Cause Millions of people play violent videogames yet never commit violent acts. Real life influences children more than media; children whose parents fight respond with more distress to domestic fights in media. APA stresses bad temperament, parental abuse or neglect, poverty, cognitive impairment and lack of role models affect children more. Children with foster homes, divorced parents or with social issues are more likely to be violent, these children are also more likely to watch a lot of television or play violent games because of this.

Historical Context The students from the infamous Columbine shooting were shown to have been socially abused and were driven by that. Taken in historical context, the media concern about video games mirrors concern about books, comics, TV shows, and any other form of new media. Previously feared media included the Printing press, radios and movie theaters, which are now acceptable media.

Violent Media is Increasing but… In the years between explicit content tripled, but juvenile crime dropped 30% An average child leaving elementary school has viewed 8,000 murders on television Sales grew 6% in 2007 to 9.5 billion annually, tripling sales since 1996 Just 2% of children who play videogames become violent based on crime rates of children to game playing community.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice statistics Violent Crime Rates are Falling