Youth violenceis problem that is very apparent in society today and too often the media is blamed as the

source of that problem. Whether it is in schools, playgrounds, or living rooms across America children are displaying violent tendencies while interacting with their peers. In some cases the violence reaches extreme levels of tragedy and destruction. Senseless tragedies, such as the Columbine High School shooting, as well as many other school shootings that have occurred across the nation have been said to be the result of over-exposure to violent media. Many believe that these recent horrific displays of violence have been a result of the increasing amount of hostility that the media portrays to children through television, movies, music, and video games. It would be a mistake not to believe that outlets such as these do have an effect on children, but it would be a greater mistake to lay the blame for child violence on the media alone. The blame should not fall on the media when it is society itself that is portrayed through its outlets. When the emphasis lies heavily on one aspect of a larger problem, other contributing aspects are ignored. The motivation for violence by youth in society does not stem primarily from media but from the environment the children grow up in. American society must take a strong look at the problem of youth violence and truly see that the

problem is not the television in the living room, but possibly the environment of that living room. Over the last decade the effects of media violence have been scrutinized and numerous case studies have been done to pinpoint these effects. However, no concrete evidence has been concluded from these scores of studies that have been able to do so. Author Richard Rhodes examined studies done by the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Institute of Mental Health only to find that, [] no direct, casual link between exposure to mock violence has ever been demonstrated, and the few claims of modest correlation have been contradicted by other findings, sometimes in the same studies (181). Rhodes is not alone in his deductions. The problem with the research studies done is the approach the researchers take in their studies. Many researchers attempt to take on a biological approach towards a psychological problem. This weakens the validity of any findings because the human subjects involved are susceptible and are already the result of to too many variables. Race, gender, and socioeconomic backgrounds are just a few of these variables. Girls for example watch an equivalent amount of television as young boys, but they are not nearly as aggressive as young boys

(Males). Too many of the case studies done do not give evidence of a connection or pinpoint the effects, long or short term, of the impact of media violence on youth. The legal action being taken by the government in regards to censorship are borderline unethical. For example, in Chicago the public libraries were required to install software that banned the public from accessing certain web sites because they portrayed violence. Richard Boire describes the way in which censoring the media in this situation violates the Constitution, The argument over whether the media is to blame for youth violence is one that resembles many facing society; it has many sides and deep beliefs. The side that supports the censorship of the media is passionate for its cause but struggles to find any conclusive evidence to support its ideas. It is for this reason that one should not place the blame of youth aggression on the media alone. By doing this society is using it as scapegoat for the real problem that is to hard to look face to face with. Taking away violent video games, harsh music lyrics, horror movies, and graphic television shows will not rid violence from society. All of those media outlets are reflections of how we live as a society and until we change the way in which our society operates violence will be

prevalent and growing among our youths. It is not easy to examine oneself and admit to being a part of the problem, but if society can humble itself and look within, rather than out, for answers, a real solution will surface. Take away the media all together; however, until society can find an answer that is not a scapegoat, violence will continue to plague the nation.