Media Violence

Abstract

American children and adolescents are being exposed to increasing amounts of media violence, especially in television, movies, video games, and youth-oriented music. By age 18, the average young person will have viewed an estimated 200 000 acts of violence on television alone.1 Video game violence, children's cartoons, and music lyrics have become increasingly graphic. In movies, action films depict anatomically precise murders, rapes, and assaults; with each sequel, the number of deaths increase dramatically.2 Although media violence is not the only cause of violence in American society, it is the single most easily remediable contributing factor.3 According to recent Nielsen data, the average American child views 21 to 23 hours of television per week.4 By the time today's children reach age 70, they will have spent 7 to 10 years of their lives watching television.5 Although movies and video games are more graphic in depictions of violence, television is the single most important medium in the lives of young people (98% of all American house-holds have at least one television set).4 Despite public concern about television violence, the amount of television violence has not changed appreciably in the past two decades: the level of prime-time violence has remained at three to five violent acts per hour, and violence in Saturday morning children's programming ranges between 20 to 25 violent acts per hour.6-8 American media are the most violent in the world, and American society is now paying a high price in terms of real-life violence.9,10 Some people in the entertainment industry maintain that: 1) violent programming is harmless because no studies exist that prove a connection between violence in the media and aggressive behavior in children and 2) young people know that television, movies, and video games are simply fantasy.11