There is no use denying the fact that modern age can be characterized by the blistering development of digital technologies. This process, in its turn, results in the appearance of a great number of different means of communication. Under these conditions, it became very easy nowadays to get access to information or some data which is interesting for a person. Additionally, mass media became much more influential.
Having obtained great number of different devices that make the process of conveying information easier, different channels, or some other means of media became one of the most influential remedies in the modern world. It is possible to promote some issues with their help, and people will obviously believe the information presented.
That is why it also can be rather dangerous. Trying to be beneficial and attract people, different channels, or some other actors place some information that can promote the development of violence. Resting on these facts, it should be said that this issue is very important nowadays as young people consider mass media to be one of the main sources of information.
First of all, it should be said that such a spread of the influence of media became possible due to the development of digital technologies. In 1950 only 10% of American families had a television, while nowadays, 99% of people have it (Beresin, n.d.). That is why people, especially youth, can obtain information which can do harm to their minds and change their outlook, also adding some significant alterations to their set of values (Anderson, Berkowitz, Donnerstein, Huesmann, Johnson, Linz, Malamuth, & Wartella, 2003).
Under these conditions, nowadays, movies and television are the main issues that are considered to promote violence among youth. According to some researches, a child watches television 28 hours a week, and that is why he/she can view more than 200,000 acts of violence, including more than 16,000 murders before age 18 (Beresin, n.d.).
Additionally, video games, which become more and more popular, replacing some traditional activities, also have a great influence on young people. With this in mind, it is possible to say that nowadays there is a great number of different factors which influence youth-promoting development of wrong ideas.
With this in mind, it is possible to state the fact that the level of violence among young people increases. Unfortunately, there is a great number of cases when a young person kills his/her counterparts under the influence of some ideas obtained from TV program, the Internet or videogames (Escobar-Chaves, & Anderson, 2008). Moreover, it is possible to admit the increase in the number of such cases and the number of victims (Goebel, n.d.).
Additionally, analyzing the behavior of young people, it is possible to admit the tendency for using some rough methods to solve problems. Very often, young people prefer to use force in order to assert themselves (Youth violence, 2015). The force can be used even without a clear reason, especially if a victim is weaker. That is why the number of fights and injuries increases. With this in mind, it is necessary to find some solution to the problem of violence among youth.
Taking the fact of the pernicious influence of media on youth into account, it is possible to suggest some solutions connected with the information presented by different means of media. First of all, it is possible to use V-chip technology whose main aim is to read and analyze information presented by media and block the content if it is unacceptable or can be dangerous for young people.
It will help to reduce the number of scenes of violence which a child can see and also give parents the possibility to control the content which their child watches. Additionally, clear and visible labels should be created and warn people about the violent material which is going to be presented for them to be able to make a choice whether they want to see it or not.
Nevertheless, it is also obvious that the issue of violence among young people and possible solutions to this problem should be controlled by the government. It should make the filmmakers reduce the number of violent scenes in their movies and, moreover, revise some films created for children in order to get rid of different manifestations of violence. TV shows should also be controlled as very often they include some violent scenes on purpose in order to attract the attention of youth.
With this in mind, having analyzed the main aspects of the issue of violence among youth, it is possible to make a certain conclusion. First of all, it should be said that there is no use denying the fact that the media has a great influence on people nowadays.
Obtaining a great number of different remedies that help to convey information, it promotes the development of violence, showing some scenes of films with violent content. That is why some solutions to prevent this process are needed. It is possible to use special programs or labels to warn parents and people in order to protect youth from the pernicious influence of the media.
References
Anderson, C, Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, R., Johnson, J., Linz, D., Malamuth, N. & Wartella, E. (2003). The influence of media violence on youth. Psychological science in the public interest, 4(3), 81-110. Web.
Beresin, E. The Impact of Media Violence on Children and Adolescents: Opportunities for Clinical Interventions. Web.
Escobar-Chaves, S. & Anderson, C. (2008). Media and Risky Behaviors. Children and electronic media, 18 (1), n. pag. Web.
Goebel, J. Media and violence study. Web.
Youth violence. (2015). World health organization. Web.