Media Violence in Relation to Youth Violence
... ages three to five should watch. “Barney and Friends has been shown to improve children’s manners as well as their vocabulary. Mister Rodgers’ Neighborhood has been used in many studies and has been shown to enhance a wide range of pro social behaviors as well as encouraging curiosity, happiness, and playfulness in young children” (Levine 111). Movies that children are watching at this age are also not in their best interest. Some movies contain violence while others are just give children the idea that everything is perfect. The movie Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one movie featured in the early 1990’s that showed over 100 acts of violence, while Disney made movies that children couldn’t distinguish between reality and make believe. At the ages of three to five children may not rasp the ideas of right and wrong and reality and make believe. So therefore parents need to take time and explain to their children about the programs they are watching and what is right and wrong. Children the ages of six, seven, and eight still believe in make believe and imitation. Most children like to imitate superheroes because it “allows children to “borrow” a sense of power and mastery as well as reassure then that good triumphs against evil” (Levine 118). When children imitate their favorite superheroes, it is very good for them, and shows that they are able to be creative. While imitation is good for children, it may also be a bad thing. Many of today’s superheroes result to using violence, while heroes such as Superman, Spiderman, and the Green Lantern used the intelligence and rarely violence to battle the criminals and “save the world” (Levine 119). At the ages of six to eight parents still need to keep an eye on what their children are watching. In 1999, a study was performed on third and fourth grade children. The study consisted of limiting a child’s viewing of television, and of playing video games. The results a few months later found that children were not as aggressive and violent when interacting with other children (FritzGerald). At the ages of nine to eleven children begin to explore other media types of entertainment. One entertainment source these children begin to explore is video and computer games. Children sit in front of the television for hours playing games. Most children start out playing simple “nice” games, and gradually play more difficult games that include more violence. Although it is just a game, some people take them very serious. “If you don’t think these games resemble the real thing, you should know that the military and law enforcement communities use video marksmanship training simulators to supplement their training” (Grossman and DeGaetano 4). Children are using these same programs to entertain themselves. These video games are teach...