I recently read an article on Room for Debates titled The Risk to Children in Violent, PG-13 Blockbusters and it was very interesting. It mentioned that many young children, younger than 13, are seeing these movies with blood and gore, but how is it affecting them? Many movies do not depict scenes as how they would really happen, and so is that making children believe what actually goes on?
In my opinion, I think that children, and many teens are being desensitized by what goes on in TV and movies. After seeing so much violence, they may think there isn't enough! They may not cringe when someone is killed or when there is blood everywhere. For example, my own mother covers her eyes and screams when such things happen, but I myself do not. Is it because in her days there was never such violence on TV screens as there is today? Maybe it's just her but who knows.
So now, what should we do with children and them being exposed to this kind of violence? Should parents restrict them, or will they just find ways around their rules and watch it anyway. Probably both will occur realistically, so what other solution is there? Should Hollywood make their movies more believable, or will it just make us more desensitized?
It is not Hollywood that is "desensitizing" the youth of America. America as a society has changed all together. Things such as violence, drugs, and sex are often praised into today's society. The old America that would show Elvis Presley from his waist up because of his hip thrusting is no more. America has lost it's morals and value as a nation. Kids are desensitized not only to violence but to the world. Leaving them with no guidance or morals.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Joseph's point on how it is not Hollywood that is "desensitizing" America's youth because it is true, our society today has changed so much. Things children and teens do today would absolutely horrify adults and people back then. It's society's and our culture's fault for making children feel nothing when violence happens; our society accepts and actually promotes it. Movies, music, videos, and jokes all promote sex, violence, drugs, and swearing which in return makes the youth who listen and watch everything grow accustomed to it. The morals and ethics of society has dramatically changed and with it, the youth of America is changing along with it.
ReplyDeleteI think that the argument being made is that yes, the our culture and society are being desensitized to immoral and violent things. In addition the point is that because media plays such a large part in driving culture, saying Hollywood is to blame and saying "culture and society" are to blame is pretty much the same thing, although the latter is a bit more general. All in all, society has changed, and will continue to change, but blaming societal and cultural changes on societal and cultural changes doesn't make a lot of sense. If you want to change something in a desired way, you have to dig deeper and find the actual causation of a change. And mass media forms such as Hollywood and the internet tend to play large roles in cultural and societal changes.
ReplyDeleteI I think the connection that you made to how a child reacts compared to a parent, because I think this concept can be applied to many other things too. For example, with the new attempts by television to become more diverse, I think that contemporary children and teens will be more open to diversity than their parents
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