Fort Wayne Ink Spot Essay: Movies, Video Games, Television and Music Promote Violence in Youth

By James W. Hardy IV
fSenior New Haven High School
The issue of whether film, computer games, TV, and music lead youth to violence has nourished endless arguments and diverging opinions for a long time. In arguing that media does impact aggression amongst youth, my essay will seek to provide an extensive look into the complex connection between entertainment media and youth violence. I have witnessed an increase in the amount of media consumed amongst my peers. The severity of violence in media can lead young people to lose sensitivity to aggression and believe that violence is a good way to resolve conflicts as seen daily on the local and national news reporting stations. The concern is that repeated and prolific exposure leads to an attitude change, acceptance of aggression, and a social setting where violence is glorified.

Exposure to violent events can be traumatic and can negatively impact multiple factors such as development, academic functioning, coping skills and relationships (Sobko, 2020). The recurrent exposure to violent plots in films, video games, television, and music contributes to the development of attitudes and views that are then used to discern behaviors in the end.

While the media is not the only factor causing violence among adolescents, proponents of the idea that media influences violence in youth still emphasize the role media plays as a major contributor. The argument is that real-life violence perpetrated by youth on media consumption alone is simplistic and does not capture the messy web of factors that impact behavior (Zulfiqar, 2020). Among these are family environment, socioeconomic status, and mental health, which are the determinants of media exposure as they jointly affect an individual's likelihood to be aggressive.

Finally, the outcome of movies, video games, TV programs, and music on youth violence is clear and reasonable. Young people have lost sight of the importance of existing without