Negative Effect on Media Sex and Violence

It is literally known on media entertainment that sex and violence were there. Whereas people who enjoyed it will release their tensions and aggression . Highly sexual TV shows and intensely violent Web sites and video games may be affecting teenagers’ behavior, according to three studies published in Pediatrics. Sex on TV and teen pregnancy. A total of 2,003 teens (ages 12 to 17 years) were asked how often they watched 23 popular TV shows that portrayed passionate kissing, sexual talk, and sexual intercourse. One to three years later they were interviewed again; 744 teens reported being sexually active. Those who watched the most TV shows with sexual content were two to three times more likely to become pregnant or to impregnate someone than were teens who watched the least. The authors say that the findings of this longitudinal study demonstrate “a prospective link” between watching the shows and becoming pregnant, with implications for pediatricians (who should be aware of the link), media outlets (which should portray the negative outcomes of sex), and parents (who should watch TV with their children and talk with them about sex).

Web sites and teen violence. A total of 1,588 10-to-15-year-olds were asked about the types of Web sites they visited. Youths who most frequently visited sites depicting real people fighting, shooting, or killing were five times more likely to report engaging in assaults, stabbings, robberies, and other violent behavior than were those who never visited violent Web sites. “Violence online may be particularly important to our understanding of seriously violent behavior among today’s young people,” the researchers write. They advise health care professionals to encourage parents to install software that blocks and filters violent sites as a way of reducing access to online violence. Video games and violence.

Teens in both Japan, considered a “low violence” culture, and the United States, a “high violence” culture, who chronically play violent video games behave more aggressively than classmates who don’t play these games, researchers say. Analyzing data from studies of 1,231 Japanese students (ages 12 to 18 years) and 364 U.S. students (ages nine to 12 years), the authors found that children who played violent video games early in the school year exhibited increases in physical aggression such as kicking, punching, and hitting three to six months later. The authors conclude that the two cultures’ similar behavior “strongly supports the theory that playing violent video games is a causal risk factor for relative increases in later physical aggressiveness,” and rules out the notion that naturally aggressive children prefer violent video games.

Sex and Violence in the Media
Sex and violence are common occurences in the media and with the available exposure kids have to media, their behavior, perceptions and personalities can be easily influenced and distorted. What media is reaching my children?

In today’s society, the average child watches four hours of television every day; listens to music between four and five hours; and plays video games up to seven hours a week. Television watching is a favorite activity for kids; however, T.V. alone is estimated to be responsible for motivating at least10 percent of youth violence. Although some stations contain ratings for shows, it is important to keep in mind they are not always age appropriate. Violent video games are the most heavily marketed and consumed games. Exposure to violent video games is has shown to increase levels of aggression in both young adults and children. Music today sometimes contains very explicit lyrics that often reference sex, drugs, alcohol, and violence. Heavy metal and rap music are known to glorify violence and some artists have been charged with violent crimes in real life, which can distort children’s views of the real consequences that follow certain behavior. What are the dangers of exposure to sex and violence in the media??

Younger children tend to model behavior they see and don’t always understand the difference between reality and entertainment; therefore, exposure to sex and violence through the media’s influence can: * Cause aggressive or anti-social behavior. Media can promote aggressive behavior and can also influence children to believe violence is a good solution to solve problems. * Create a false sense of reality. Young children can’t always discriminate between real life situations and behaviors and surreal television examples. * Encourage irresponsible sexual activity. Kids exposed to sex on TV are almost twice as likely to initiate sexual intercourse. * Cause a child to perceive the world as more dangerous and have a darker view about the world. * Desensitize and cause a lack of empathy for human suffering. * Distort expectations of conflict resolution, race and male-female relationships. What can you do to help protect you child from the negative effects of the media? Media is everywhere but there are ways to help protect your children from the harmful effects: * Monitor what your child is watching.

* Set limits on their exposure to TV, radio and video games. * Talk with your child about what they see and hear. It might be awkward but if you don’t talk to them, the media may be their only other source of information. * Help them develop realistic perceptions of the roles sex and violence have in society. * Encourage activities OTHER than watching TV or playing video games that allow them practice pro-social behavior.

The submissive characters often reflect a negative gender bias that women and men find distasteful. This outweighed the sexual violence itself, giving credence to what Ferguson calls the “Buffy Effect”—named after the popular television show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and its strong lead female character. “Although sexual and violent content tends to get a lot of attention, I was surprised by how little impact such content had on attitudes toward women. Instead it seems to be portrayals of women themselves, positive or negative that have the most impact, irrespective of objectionable content. In focusing so much on violence and sex, we may have been focusing on the wrong things,” Ferguson said. “While it is commonly assumed that viewing sexually violent TV involving women causes men to think negatively of women, the results of this carefully designed study demonstrate that they do so only when women are portrayed as weak or submissive,” added Journal of Communication editor and University of Washington Professor Malcolm Parks. “Positive depictions of women challenge negative stereotypes even when the content includes sexuality and violence.

In this way Ferguson reminds us that viewers often process popular media portrayals in more subtle ways than critics of all political stripes give them credit for.” Sex and Violence on Television and Movies should be Restricted Sex and violence is one of the most popular issues in today’s society. In the world today, up to 70 percent of adults love to watch action movies that have a lot of sex and violence in it either on the television or at the movies. Some people love to watch other people being hurt. It is believed that the stronger will not only win but will not be harmed. On the television today, some channels or stations show a lot of violent movies by which people can learn some self defensive moves. Nowadays, in the music industry, songs that are very sexually explicit are being produced by various artists. Some of these songs teaches about sex literally, which people love to hear and listen to especially the grown-ups. There are also songs that talk about violence. This type of music has great beats and very explicit lyrics and ends up becoming the number one hit on the bill board which makes a lot of young people become rappers.

Violence in the media encourages peer violence. Sex and violence today have some positive effects and a lot of negative effects in the society. In everyday life, television plays a very important role. Watching too much T.V makes teenagers to be influenced by what they watch. On the television and sometimes in some movies, there is a lot of sex before marriage which eventually makes teens to have sex. Sex should be restricted on televisions for the fact that kids stays late at night to watch the favorite shows. Sex before marriage is also known as premarital sex which means having sexual relationship before marriage. Well when young adults have sex before marriage, it does have an effect on them when they get acquainted with there partner in future. Under aged kids are being exposed to sex and violence on TV. Some television stations nowadays airs violent show which leads to violence in children. Most parents let their kids watch up to twenty hours of TV a day… Why Sex is Inappropriate For Most People

People who are not fully enlightened have sex because they are on a misplaced search for the nurturance that only deep emotional healing provides. They may dress their motives for sex with societally acceptable terms such as “pleasure” and “biological drive” and “experimentation” and “need for release” and “love of intimacy” and even “recreation” and “physical exercise,” but no one who ventures deeply below the emotional surface is fooled long by these façades. Healing is the deepest human hope, and in sex we cannot help but fantasize its possibility. But sex doesn’t heal anyone. Sex lacks the boundaries necessary for healing, and instead breeds the volatile and dangerous defense of projection. People project the potential healer onto their partners, who in turn project the same onto them. This may work for a time, but ultimately it causes more damage than it undoes. Sex is like tofu: it soaks up the flavor of whatever you cook it in. And if you cook with toxic ingredients, which everyone has percolating in their beings until you fully resolve your unconscious traumas of childhood, you’ll end up in a toxic stew of anti-healing.

A rare few – and no one I’ve ever heard of or met – are ready to fully handle the emotional side of sex. As the saying goes, “sex is simple, you’re not.” As long as people hold onto fantasies about who they are, and primarily who their parents are, they’re going to unconsciously want their partner to rescue them, and this can never happen. People must heal from within, and sex, even masturbation with the mildest of fantasies, is attempting healing from without. So what then should people do with their sex drives? The only answer is that people must heal at their deepest core levels. They must become enlightened, through and through. Until they do they will have no choice but to act out through sex – act out unconscious childhood dramas of every variety.

Their other option is to repress their sex drive, but this is equally as dangerous as acting out, because repressed drives act themselves out in other destructive ways. But healing is hell. It’s much easier to act out – at least for a time. But acting out always catches up with the actor. Acting out is nothing more than a replication of unhealed childhood traumas – and a step toward death. Healing on the other hand expresses life. It is painful, it is heart-wrenching, and it is full of doubt. It is lonely, it is solitary, and it is tormenting. But it is honest. And it leads in the right direction. Although you have to sleep alone at night, at least you open the doors to the potential of having a real relationship with yourself.

Violence is an expression of aggression. There can be various reasons that cause this kind of behaviour. Various unfavourable social situations or circumstances in life affect an individual. Short Essay on Violence

Violence is the aggressive behaviour showcased by an individual. The dictionary defines it as, “the intentional use of power or physical force, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person or against a group or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development or deprivation.” This is a comprehensive definition of violence and very well describes all the related aspects of violence. Violence is an expression of aggression. There can be various reasons that cause this kind of behaviour. Various unfavourable social situations or circumstances in life affect an individual. The reaction to those situations is variable. Those who are short tempered or unable to cope with the changing environment find it hard to behave rationally. This frustration comes out in the form of anger and violent behaviour. Though, environmental factors are responsible but only to an extent. Psychologists believe that violent traits are inherent in nature. Hence genetic make-up does play a role. Violence is of several kinds. One can exhibit violence in physical, Psychological, or sexual form or simply by neglecting someone to the point of deprivation.

The extent of violence ranges from self, to family and friends, to community and the largest expression is the entire war situation between and/ or within the nations. Violence has affected civilizations. It is evident from the historical facts that wars that are the epitome of violence have ruined millions of lives. Those who resort to violence justify their action by citing various reasons but in the end it is only the personal perception that leads to such kind of behaviour. Self violence is best described as self assault or committing suicide. When the person finds it hard to do any significant changes in the external environment and alter the external stimuli, he tends to harm himself. Lack of confidence and a general feeling of inferiority are the contributing factors behind this kind of behaviour. In other cases, individual tries to take command of the situation and directs his anger towards his partner or other family members. Domestic violence is the main example of such behaviours. Maltreatment of children, violence against women and elders are some of the instances. When the violence takes a collective outlook, it is represented in the forms of religious or political violence. Violent attacks against the members of a certain community or religion or sect had occurred in past.

Theses showcase the mob mentality. In a crowd, individuals behave far more violently or irrationally than on individual basis. The last but the greatest of all is the war between the nations. Mass destruction, loss of life and property and sometimes loss of whole civilization is the result of such violent actions. Man is a ‘social animal’. Hence, showing an aggressive behaviour is equivalent to showing an animal behaviour. Psychologists say that though violent behaviour is inherent but can be managed. Providing a healthy and cordial home environment to kids helps them to build strong family values and reduces the tendency to react violently. Similarly, avoiding over consumption of alcohol and other such substances check this behaviour. Rehabilitation homes and support programs are available for those who need professional help. Meditation and practicing yoga also helps to rectify this negative approach towards self and others. In society today, violence is any deliberate act involving physical force or the use of a weapon in an attempt to achieve a goal, further a cause, stop the action of another, act out an angry impulse, defend oneself from attack, secure a material reward, or intimidate others. Television is a display of violence.

Although when first invented it was used as a family entertaining device, its purpose has been greatly altered. Now with over sixty channels to choose from, people of all ages can easily… While negative effects of TV violence have been repeatedly studied by conservative groups, there are still some sources that cite positive effects of TV violence. These sources also question the conclusiveness of studies that claim to link childhood aggression to violent TV images. There are three main points to explore regarding the effects of TV violence. 1. The Need for Emotional Release

* New Scientist magazine stated in 2007 that the average child in the United States will witness 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on TV before entering elementary school. Other sources state that simulated violence has no deleterious effect on children, or perhaps that there are some “good effects” of TV violence. Richard Rhodes, author of “The Media-Violence Myth” published in Rolling Stone magazine (November 23, 2000), states “Mock violence can and does satisfy the considerable need to experience strong emotion that people, including children, build up from hour to hour and day to day.” 2. Anti-TV Violence Statistics Are Unconvincing

* Based on the research of Rhodes as well as Jib Fowles (“The Case for Television Violence,” 1999) and other cited sources, the Free Expression Policy Project website states that results from nearly 300 laboratory experiments, field studies, and other studies were “inconsistent” as regards TV violence leading to childhood aggression. Not only was the laboratory unable to prove TV violence caused aggression, but it was noted that some innocent TV fare such as “Sesame Street” and “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” provoked more aggressive behavior in certain youths. The same website quoted research from Jeffrey Goldstein (“Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment,” 1998) and Henry Jenkins (“Lessons From Littleton: What Congress Doesn’t Want to Hear About Youth and Media,” Harper’s, August 1999) which stated that “violent images and ideas come in too many different styles and contexts for researchers to be able to make meaningful generalizations about effects.” *

3. Anti-Hero Identification and Vicarious Hunger
* Some experts go further and suggest TV violence and other forms of simulated aggression can be beneficial under some circumstances. Gerard Jones (“Violent Media is Good for Kids,” 2000) said that “Identification with a rebellious, even destructive, hero helps children learn to push back against a modern culture that cultivates fear and teaches dependency.” Psychologist Melanie Moore concurred that viewing TV violence is a part of growing up for most children. “Fear, greed, power-hunger, rage,” she wrote, “are aspects of ourselves that we try not to experience in our lives but often want, even need, to experience vicariously through stories of others.” One indisputable fact about TV violence is that it brings in unusually high Nielsen ratings.

TV shows such as “CSI” that depict graphic violence are among the top-rated TV shows of the week, sometimes pulling in as many as 31 million viewers. Richard Rhodes in “The Media-Violence Myth” points out that there is an “ongoing turf war” between the entertainment industry and traditional institutions, which is responsible for the widespread criticism of TV violence. In order to be fair on this issue and not take sides in such a debate, you would have to compare TV violence with children’s literature, which has oftentimes featured extreme acts of violence in order to scare children. Any sort of violence for the sake of entertainment, for better or worse, has been a part of human culture for thousands of years.