Lamarra+Hinton

Lamarra Hinton Mass Media and Children Response Paper #10 11/09/09

After Reading the article “Effects of Media Violence on Health Related Outcomes Among Young Men” I sat down and discussed some of the points that Brady referenced during the piece. I asked my mom to talk about some of the arguments that may have related to my brother and is behavior pertaining to media and violence. Here are a few of the highlighted responses that were eye opening and surprisingly shocking when referencing adolescent’s behavior on or after playing violent video games. He becomes very aggressive and easily irritated towards anything or anyone who may be around him. There have been several occasion when I have had to forbid him to play because he begins to stomp shout and there was even one occasion when I overheard him using vulgar language. There was also another instance when he threw his controller across the room because he did not like the outcome of a challenge. Definitely! There are so many television shows out there that include violent behavior or sexual connotations that are causing him to grow up way to fast because of his exposure to concepts that are way to mature for his age. I just happened to walk in on a show that he was watching the other day, I think that it is called Degrassi. The subject matter of the show had to do with a young man bringing a gun to school and shooting at boys that he felt were picking on him. That’s something that I don’t want m son being exposed to, especially at his age. In Brady’s argument, she affirms some of the concerns that my mother was having to my brother Darrius’s heightened violent behavior. She says that exposure to media violence generates increased blood flow, a more permissive attitude and a much more hostile mind-set during the sequence of play (Brady pg 342). Absolutely! I know that a lot of the blame falls on me and your father because we let him play those types of games but the difference is that we take the time to sit down with him to explain that the images on the screen are not real. You know that your father and I work a lot and to try and keep him form it would only make him want to sneak and do it even more so our answer it to allow him to play them but then we have to take the responsibility of making sure that he can distinguish fact from fiction. Well as I already mentioned, we have to sit down and talk to our children. Let them know that you know exactly what they are playing and watching and that if they start to display any of the violent behavior that is seen on the screen, they will be punished for it. When you think about tragedies such as Columbine and Virginia Tech, you have to wonder if the had the guidance that is required to help then distinguish fact from fiction. The best thing that you can do is be there for your children and le them know that you care. That’s the best type of nurturing and teaching that anyone can do Although violence in the media is very touchy and hard-hitting topic, I think that with the proper attention it is something that we as a society can get a hold of. As Brady explains and my mother mentioned, we have to take responsibility and be there for our children and adolescents in case they have questions about an idea or situation. The most important thing is to be aware.
 * 1. ****What types of behavior does Darrius display after playing a violent video game such as Miami Vice, or Grand Theft Auto?**
 * 2. ****Would you say that this type of behavior is only a result of violent video games or would you say that violence on media plays a role?**
 * 3. ****Do you think that you play in any part of him being exposed to these video games, and if so why?**
 * 4. ****What do you think that we can do to try and keep as much of this violent content away from our youth as possible?**

References Brady, Sonya S. Matthews, Karen a. “Effects of Media Violence on Health Related Outcomes Among Young Men” Volume No. 4 (2006): pgs 342-345