Children and Media

This post has been inspired by the Naked Brother's Post. How much is the media responsible for the violence that now faces the youth of the world? How much is the media responsible for the corruption of youth? How much of it is art imitating life, or life imitating art?

I would like to get everyone's thoughts on this.

You watch too much tv. Go out and a have a beer, a couple of shots and get layed. Stop watching the tv.

My first year in college we had to write a paper addressing this very issue - back then, I had lead a somewhat sheltered life and could never concieve how anyone would take what had seen or heard through media outlets and try to reproduce the majority of the violence and/or ideology that they were exposed to in their average day to day...

But now - with the advent of the youtube phenomenon and the wealth of kids with video cameras, lack of parental guidence and influence - it's downright shocking how many of the nations youth will do just that - attempt to reinvent some viral video or trend in hopes of a few more hits to their videos and the chance at 15 minutes of fame.

Still - I've also noticed that the majority of these kids fit into a certain demographic, and not meaning to sound like an elitist (though I admittedly am in some areas) I find it's nothing more than modern social darwinism at work.

If these kids really are that stupid - let them learn the hard way.

*has a beer, a couple of shots, gets "layed" and hasn't watched television in over 10 years*

I don't think it's always the TV, music, or video game's fault. I do think the fact that they portray criminals, drugs, and sex as being cool, makes the influential ones susceptible to an increase of crime, drugs, sex, and violence. These are also usually the kids without proper guidance and parental support.

But I also believe that there are kids who will just do these things on their own, even without these tools. Some are just trying to gain attention in a world where, maybe, they feel invisible.

I found this website interesting, though it maybe biased.
Aggresion & TV

I would have to think that blaming the media is nothing more than saying you have no mind of your own and need to acuse anyone and anything for your lack of thinking for yourself. It sounds like a cop-out to me, but that is just my opinion.

I must also add that today's youth spends far too much time in front of the TV, either watching it or playing games. Obesity is also a rising factor attributed to this cause.

Whatever happened to having hobbies???

Something strange I noticed today was the trailer for the movie "The Messengers," when it played on TV. In the trailer, the narrator says that there will be a high frequency message that will be played that only children can hear, related to the movie. The movie is rated R, and has horror, murder, and ghosts, and the trailer never said what the high frequency signal was trying to send out as a message.

They could very well say something violent to children and the parents wouldn't even know. I wonder how many other commercials have done this without stating it out in the open.

[edit on 1-2-2007 by DJMessiah]

Call me crazy, but i've always been under the impression that stupid people will do stupid things, regardless of age. Combine that with lack of parental supervision, an education system bent on drilling our "rights" into students but never teaching students about their responsibilities and greater exposure.

Of course by greater exposure i dont mean that children are exposed to more violence (although they are) i mean that society is more exposed to children. With tv, internet, cheap and readily available technology i think that violent/rebellious children, teens and adults have always existed, but now we live in a society saturated with information, we're only now hearing about it constantly.

These days a dog cant piss on a firehydrant without it appearing on all the major news websites, blogs, and social networking sites. The same applies with violence, It's just the nature of our society that we're going to hear about violence a lot more, its always been there but now we have to see it and hear about it.

That's not to say their isnt exceptions, ive definately noticed a trend of idiots with video camera's trying to outdo each other on youtube, trying to get a little bit of fame, and i think a big part of it is that our society seems to worship "celebrities". People are basically being told that if you're not famous, you're nothing. I'd also say thats why we have a sudden increase in "z list" celebrities, people who are "famous" purely in the sense that they would let people spit on them in the street if it would get their face on tv. for example, ex-big brother housemates and other reality tv show contestants.

The youth of today are never good enough to be famous, never smart enough to accomplish anything, never attractive enough to get the girl/boy/whatever, society has set an almost impossible standard to live by and we wonder why young people are angry? I believe a lot of this can be alleviated by good parenting although i still fear our entire society may be rotting from the inside out.

I have to be quite honest here. While I am not going to attempt to argue that the media has no impact on children and violence, I will say that I don't believe it is to the extent that some would have one believe.


To me, all of this gets back to upbringing. I grew up in a household where my mother and I watched horror movies every chance we got. However, my parents taught me good ethics and made sure that I understood that 99.9999% of everything you see on T.V was fake.

Now, to me, these kids that go out and act like general asses, it falls back on their homelife and the way their parents choose or not choose to raise them... It's really just that simple. One of the biggest problem I see is that kids are raising themselves, rather than their parents raising them. Mommy and Daddy are too busy buying the Lexus and the 250,000 dollar home to care about what their kid is doing.

Mommy and Daddy are too busy buying the Lexus and the 250,000 dollar home to care about what their kid is doing.

That right there sums up the youth of our day.


[edit on 1-2-2007 by dirty_underground]

How come everybody blames tv, movies, games, etc when anything happens? Where were their parents? Where were they to tell them its just a game, just a movie. Their moral values should be ingrained into them by their parental units, not entertainment.


[edit on 1-2-2007 by Royal76]

Originally posted by Royal76
How come everybody blames tv, movies, games, etc when anything happens? Where were their parents? Where were they to tell them its just a game, just a movie. Their moral values should be ingrained into them by their parental units, not entertainment.


[edit on 1-2-2007 by Royal76]

That's essentially my point.. I am 29 years old, not old by any means, but I notice a big difference in the way the present generation is being brought up and how mine was...

I think it started going down hill in my generation but it wasn't at the level it is now..

Yes, I tend to agree with the concesious. I beleive in checking out the subject matter of movies, games, tv shows, and what not before letting a child see it. If it's questionable.. talk to the kid and explain how this is outragous. If it's out of the question adult.. explain to your kids that it's not even worth the time to watch/play.

Some things are made to be shocking when they aren't to get the "stupid" or unguided kids to watch. Some things are marketed to be harmless, when it's the last thing you want your kids to see. You just have to watch, and talk to your kids.

I grew up in a half catholic, half prodestant (though my dad converted when he met my mom) family. My dad loved horror movies, violent movies and games, and my mom was very strongly against anything ocult, horror, or violent. Since she couldn't get my dad to quit his obsession with watching that stuff, she explained to my sister and I how wrong those things were. As an adult now, I still enjoy a good suspenciful horror movie, and I avoid anything violent (cause i don't like it). I know the difference between what is real and fiction, and I hope to teach the same thing my mother did.

The whole chasing the american dream, if anything, has made child rearing almost impossible... To many people think kids are mini adults... and they aren't. They aren't so fragile to where you have to guard their every move.. but they aren't so experienced to know dinosaurs are extinted, and monsters aren't real.

[edit on 1-2-2007 by JessicaS]

So if you had to put a percentage on it.. how much is faulty parenting, and how much is media?

50/50? 90/10? (first number faulty parenting/lack of guidance)

[edit on 1-2-2007 by JessicaS]

Someone needs to buy these kids a beer or at least have a few rounds of shots with them. Something is better than nothing. Myself, I made bombs, played the guitar, played the drums, ran track, played football, smoked, and did all sorts of # back in the day, hell, we played dead in the road back in grade school.

The kids these days, because they stay inside so much, I could drive blind folded down any street in America, couldn't do that back in my time.

Soitenly, why the heck did you do these things?

Maybe if we understand your motivation, we can understand more.

The motivation has to be satisfaction. There is no satisfaction from watching tv, listening to the ipod or playing the xbox590. It's lathargically stimulating and keeps the kids with a buzz that is equivalent to the need of a crack head to find another rock...and they do whatever it takes to find one.

Look, I am not saying the kids are on crack, all I am saying is that when I was between the ages of 4-15 (before my driver's license), me an my friends were all over the street, hopping fences and making all sorts of noise. You dont say that these days, theyre more like vampires who cannot come out in the day...or at night.