By Matt Oberle THE EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VIOLENCE

WHAT IS VIOLENCE? Violence is defined as “behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something”

THE EFFECTS OF TV VIOLENCE

VIOLENCE CAUSES CHILDREN TO BE LESS SENSITIVE TO THE PAIN AND SUFFERING OF OTHERS Example This what this clip does not show is the aftermath, which includes possible psychological trauma for the officer who delivered the fatal shot. This could cause young children who see this scenario on TV to expect real police officers to react in the same way, because they believe what they see on TV.

VIOLENCE CAUSES CHILDREN TO BECOME FEARFUL OF THE WORLD AROUND THEM Example A study of children whose parents work in the emergency services showed that children who saw emergency service personnel who were the victims of violence on television were more fearful about their parents being harmed while on duty that children who had not seen such programming.

TV MAKES CHILDREN BEHAVE MORE AGGRESSIVLEY Equals

TV VIOLENCE’S EFFECTS ON SOCIETY Two out of three TV shows contain violence Only 5% contain an anti-violence message 69% of children’s shows contain some type of violence This shows that violence is dominant in today’s society, as a vast majority of TV shows (one of the most dominant forms of media) contain violence

TV VIOLENCE AND MASCULINITY TV can affect what society values, largely through the creation of stereotypes There is a correlation between TV violence and masculinity. TV shows men committing violent acts more often that women, which portrays men as the dominant sex because they are able to handle themselves in combat more effectively. While women are shown as the weaker sex, and as objects of sexual attraction. These stereotypes can affect what society thinks because TV has such a large influence on society Portrayed as the dominant member of the team. Is the one who gives orders and is the most violent The weakest member of the team. Often captured and rarely violent

EXCEPTION…MAYBE? Lara Croft is an exception to the dominant male stereotype. However, she is not an exception to the dominance of violence in society, nor the violence and masculinity stereotype of women being objects

TV VIOLENCE AND CULTURE

ABUNDANCE OF VIOLENCE ON TV The average person will see 200,000 acts of violence on TV by the time they are 18. This is because contemporary culture has grown to accept violence on TV and now regards it as a form of entertainment instead of a serious issue

Shows regularly show violence, torture, murder, and rape Shows focused on family values and rarely, if ever, showed any actual violent content AMOUNTS OF VIOLENCE ON TV 1950’s2010’s This increase of violence on TV over the years has helped make violence a large part of out culture, which causes people to become more violent and aggressive, which has a negative impact on society

EXAMPLE OF VIOLENCE IN CULTURE This ad was intended to capture the attention of people who don’t want to be watching a PSA, such as teens and children and the only way it could do this is by showing death and violence. This shows how culture now regards death and violence as acceptable