Do violent
games and TV shows spoil our youth? Every time this question pops up it
triggers heated discussions. So it was only a matter of time until I felt I had
to say something on this topic as well. And so ... Here are my two cents:
I'd like to
start the discussion with a few things I believe we all can agree on:
· There are many people regularly enjoying violent media, but only a small percentage among them shows violent behaviour.
· Countless studies prove that there actually is a link between media violence and violence in society. Whether gamers and fans of other violent media like it or not. However, it can't be said for sure whether violent media causes violence or whether it merely affects a pre-existing potential for violence.
· Apart from violent media there are countless other factors that can lead to violent behaviour, such as domestic violence or child neglect, poverty, violent neighbourhood and so on. People can be taught to be aggressive and to accept such behaviour as normal.
· There are people who are more aggressive and people who are more pacifistic just by nature.
· Researching the effects of media violence is a difficult task, because these effects can't be seen immediately.