Violence: Is it Harmful to Children?

Children, teenagers, adults and even grandparents around the world enjoys good entertainment. Most people enjoy movies and shows that have atleast a little bit of action in them, am I right? I do. But have you ever wondered about what the effects such entertainment can have on a person? "None." You undoubtedly say to yourself. "I'm perfectly normal." Oh, I'm not saying your weird or that your not normal for enjoying a bit of edge of your seat suspense. But consider this, the average American child, in school, and the average working American adult, spends roughly 4 hours a day watching T.V. or movies. Harmless fun, right? Well 60 percent of what we learn as children starts with the T.V. Shows like Sesame Street or Elmo. Education first starts with T.V.
However, what happens to the mind when, as a young child it is exposed to high levels of violence such as that found on R rated movies and M rated video games? Research has shown that people who are exposed to this kind of entertainment at a young age (under the recommended age range for that game or movie) have displayed more aggression and violence than those whose parents restricted them from that entertainment until they were at an age to know the dfferrence between what they see on t.v. and what happens in real life.
Some cases have shown people who actually desensitized or numbed themselves to violence. Most to the point of accepting it as normal or just a way to solve every problem they come across. How? By games and other media. True, holding a gun and holding a game controller are different, but what about those fancy arcade games and nowdays, Wii controllers, where the controller is, in fact, a gun? Pop up targets in the police and military are not that much different than targets that you shoot on a screen with a gun in your hand.
Another point of interest is that most people, teenagers, children, and adults alike, will more than likely try to copy the things they see on t.v. whether it be violence, a stunt, or a skill, it remains the same. How else would we come up with excellent ideas to prank our neighbors or roomates? Or cook that excellent exquisite meal that everyone comes to dinner for? Or kill someone in a gruesome or violent way? It's simply a Learned Behavior. Noone on Earth is simply the way they are based on genetics. A learned behavior is, as the name suggests, something we learn. A person can learn to enjoy doing something, such as playing a particular sport or doing a certian type of job. Even if the person at one time hated the very thoght of the activity or job. Ever heard the phrase " You'll come to love it."? It is oh so very true.
Now, before you bust on me and say that I'm downing t.v. and games, let me tell you, I'm not. I love watching t.v. and playing games that have a bit of violence. But I also understand that the world that exists on a t.v. set or computer screen, and the world that is real, are very different. One has consequece where, if you do something wrong, it's fine... just go back and start agian til you get it right. The real world is not so kind. One mistake, one word even, can cause us to lose something. Whether it be a friend, a material possesion or even our life or the life of another. This article is simply being written so that it hopefully reach the eyes and hearts of parents and adults so that they can take the proper pecautions in protecting their child or children from excessively violent media, and to help them to help their children understand the difference between whats real and whats fake. Veiwing violent content is the same as hearing foul language, we're humans, we copy what we are mostly around. If you work around people who cuss or use degrading speach, eventually you begin to copy them. So please, take care to avoid numbing the minds of our youth and help build a better tomorrow.