Aristotle and Plato, despite their differences, both believe
in instilling a constitution and values into people at a young age to develop
them into functioning members of society.
They say that it’s the parents duty to instill values and create a
morally nurturing environment to do this; however, there are many different
kinds of media today that influence young people’s minds. Video games, television, movies, music, and
the internet are more accessible than ever and many believe that they can and
are affecting the minds of children.
In Rising Sun, Ohio seventeen year old Anthony Conley
murdered his eleven year old brother (http://abcnews.go.com/US/teen-enters-guilty-plea-dexter-inspired-killing/story?id=11624672). After describing how he killed him he told
police that Dexter, a show about a
vigilante serial killer, is his favorite show and that he “Felt just like him.” Another boy, eighteen year old Devin Moore
killed three people in his home town of Fayetteville, Alabama (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/04/60minutes/main678261.shtml). He described to police that he had spent
months playing Grand Theft Auto.
Both are blaming media on somehow training them and making
them want to commit murder and other immoral behaviors. How much of their behavior is to be blamed on
media though? Did their parents already
instill immoral values into them? Both
Conley and Moore said they were not sleeping well; was it a mental health
problem that made them commit their horrible actions? Not everything is known about these
particular people so an analysis of why they thought it was okay to murder
someone is impossible. Their mind set
and actions could just be unexplainable.
However, it is irrational to think that media has no effect
on the human psyche. Media creates an
environment that impresses ideas into the minds of children. In video games you can kill as many people
and get hurt as much as you want, while horrific pictures of natural disasters
and war are shown on the news daily. There
are also the good messages and images from media like inspirational movies or uplifting
songs.
I do not believe that it can create such values that someone
would think murder or immoral acts are okay.
Media has influence on the psyche of children, but it is balanced out by
time with family, friends, and real world events.
1. Violent Media doubtless has psychological effects on children. Numerous studies have shown that connections between youth and violent video games or television shows can cause later aggressive behavioral problems. However, even present day psychologists are aware of the difficulties of these studies. Is it truly the media that are affecting the children, or do these forms of media instead call on children who are already experiencing psychological difficulties due to home or character problems? Regardless on personal views on this, I believe you are correct in the need to instill cultural values into youth; Plato and Aristotle do seem to hope for the progression of a cultural moral code through the learning cycles of children.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that violent video media has much of an effect on the psyche of children and can "influence" them to perform violent acts. As a player of many violent games myself from a young age, from Grand Theft Auto series to Call of Duty right before I wrote this, I can tell you with a certain fact that nothing in relation to violence in video games is close to the act of violence itself. Being a gun owner, a video games teach you nothing along the lines of acquiring, loading, aiming, or firing a gun.
ReplyDeleteI truly believe that these children who say video games influenced them is purely a coincidence, as these children already, in most cases, have shown disturbing or abnormal acts since their youth.
I do agree, however, that Plato and Aristotle are right when we they say we need to install cultural and moral values onto the youth as best as possible to ensure their well-being as well as the well-being of those around them.
Problem children always have been and always will be, and there is always a media scapegoat that is an influence on them, such as rock and roll in earlier generations. This generation's scapegoat is violent media.
Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI do agree that the media has a major influence on the minds of young people. However, it would be wrong to assume that violent media can, single-handedly, influence a person to commit murder. If this were the case, action/thriller-movie lovers and action-game enthusiasts, would be widely acclaimed as the top-murderers. The unethical actions of these two young males must have resulted from multiple factors: violent media, being one of them. A child growing up in a well-groomed family, with ethical ideals, is less likely to be influenced by violent media, to the extent of murdering someone. However, a child growing up in a family in which dad and mum are always highly inebriated, cheating on each other, exchanging verbal lashes and “battling” for the “Wrestlemania” championship belt on a regular basis, would have these negative behaviors gradually fixated in his/her subconscious mind. For this kind of child, excessive exposure to violent media is most likely going to aggravate his/her mental state and could probe his/her mind further with more of these violent actions. The end result, thereof, should be no surprise to us.
I agree with Bryan and Victoria on this issue. I think that video games have a huge impact on children’s psyches that can influence immoral acts, like the two mentioned cases. It is irrelevant whether the video games actually instruct children on how to use the gun or acquire it; the issue at hand is that children get “ desensitized” to violent ideas through the video games. Thus, the children are “killing” people as a norm through video games. Consequently, the immorality behind the action is taken away as the children are constantly experiencing the violence in videos games.
ReplyDeleteThe video games are not the sole reason that cause these murders. There are obviously more significant household issues. However, video games and media do influence the children’s psyches enough to let them think that killing others is a norm and not that immoral of an act.
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ReplyDeleteI believe that the real reason behind this issue is that children behave in the ways in which they are taught. If a child is raised in a home where they are taught the difference between what is right and what is wrong, the chance of a child murdering someone based on what was seen in the media is highly unlikely. On the other hand, if the child is brought up in a liberal household without much effective parental guidance, the risks of a child committing crimes based off of what was seen increase.
ReplyDelete