Mariela Mondragon

Briggs
Intro to Writing 1010
11-24-15
Violence in Mass Media

Does violence in mass media encourage people to become violent? I chose this topic
because my life is heavily influenced by video games and television shows. Ever since I was a
child I had played games and watched cartoons with depictions of violence. Violence in mass
media has long been a controversial issue since the popularization of television in the 1950s. The
more violence that is displayed in media, the higher the demand for censorship becomes. Some
people believe that censorship is a violation of freedom of speech.
In Hope Hodges article, How to Save the Children: One Scholars Study of
Killology, David Grossman states that ultra-violence in media increases random violence in
America. Reports from the National Institute of Mental Health pointed out a connection between
media violence and aggressive behavior in children. People who submerge themselves in a
culture of violence commit violent acts against America.
Similarly, in Josh Jennings article, School War Zone, he explains how violent video
games can negatively impact children. Violent video games, such as Grand Theft Auto
promote violence against women and cause male students to act aggressive towards female
students. Both Hodge and Jennings believe that violence in media is one of the main causes of
violence in America.
However, in Ronald Baileys article, Kill Pixels, Not People, he explains why violence
in mass media doesnt cause aggression in societal youth. Actually, there is no evidence that

suggests that movie violence contributes to violence in the United States. Also, a team of
researchers at the University of Queensland in Australia conducted an experiment on how
playing violent video games affected pro-social behavior. To put it bluntly, the people who
played the violent video games did not behave differently than those who didnt play.
Furthermore, in Brooke Gladstones comic, The Influencing Machines, she talks about
technologys influence on people. People are afraid that technology will inevitably destroy
humanity. When in reality, there is nothing to fear. If they could at least try to understand
technology then maybe they wouldnt be so afraid.
Personally, I believe that violence in mass media does not encourage people to become
violent. Watching a movie or playing a video game does not make you a threat to society. Those
who believe otherwise fail to determine the difference between fantasy violence and real
violence.

Works Cited
Hodge, Hope. How to Save the Children: One Scholars Study of Killology. Human Events.
21 Jan. 2013: 10. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
Jennings, Josh. School War Zone. The Age (Melbourne). 27 Apr. 2015: 14. SIRS Issues
Researcher. Web. 11 Nov. 2015.
Bailey, Ronald. Kill Pixels, Not People. Reason. Feb. 2015: 16. SIRS Issues Researcher. Web.
09 Nov. 2015.
Gladstone, Brooke. The Influencing Machines. They Say I Say. Graff, Berkenstein, Durst. NY:
Norton, 2015. 330 339. Print.