The idea that violence in the media may have detrimental effects on

society goes back more than a century. In the late 1800s dime novels that

featured stories about crime and violence were very popular (Violence in the

Media). The movies of the 1930s, which captivated viewers with violent

images among other things, caused concern that children might be

negatively affected by such images (Violence in the Media). In the 1950s

when television became common in households there was a considerable

increase in violent images that was a part of both entertainment and

information programming (Violence in the Media). Even the government has

recognized the increase in media violence. In the early 1970s the

government provided funding to study television violence as a part of the

Surgeon Generals Television and Social Behavior project (Violence in the

Media). In 1996 Congress passed a provision to the new Telecommunications

Act that required all 13-inch and larger television sets manufactured after

1999 to come equipped with the V-chip that would allow parents to limit their

childrens viewing (Violence in the Media).

The recent trend of school shootings and other violent acts on school

grounds has thrust media violence into the forefront of national issues. On

Tuesday, September 15, 2009, a student at Coral Gables High was stabbed

and killed by another student. What seemed like a typical schoolyard fight

ended with a senseless murder. On October 1, 1997, sixteen-year-old Luke

Woodham killed two students in his Pearl, Mississippi, high school. On May

21, 1998, fifteen-year-old Kip Kinkel opened fire in his high school in
Springfield, Oregon, after murdering both his parents the previous night. On

April 20, 1999, eighteenyear- old Eric Harris and seventeen-year-old Dylan

Klebold, armed with semiautomatic weapons and explosives, killed thirteen

people before committing suicide (Torr, par. 6). Although incidents that occur

on school grounds have the most notoriety, the majority of murders among

school-aged children occur outside of school. According to the CDC and the

U.S. Departments of Justice and Eduaction, school-associated homicides

account for only 1% of murders among school-aged children (Effect Measure,

par. 4). What is the cause of this increased violence? Evidence accumulated

over the years from research shows that exposure to violence in the media

increases the risk of violent behavior among viewers similar to how

individuals that grow up in an environment filled with violence increases the

risk of violent behavior. For the most part, violent actions are not the result of

a single cause. Multiple factors converging over time contribute to such

behavior. However, violence in the media is one of many potential factors

that influence the risk of violent behavior, especially among the young

whose minds are deemed most impressionable. Consuming violent media

increases the risk of violent behavior among children. They become

desensitized to violence and begin to see violence as an appropriate way of

solving problems.