Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 1

Cassidy Mace
May 7, 2015
cmace@linfield.edu
Final Paper

TOPIC: Media Violence

PROPOSED QUESTION: Should policies in the United States try to reduce the

consumption of violent media by children ages 15 and younger?

REVISED QUESTION: Should the United States adopt policies to try and

reduce the consumption of violent media by children ages 15 and younger?

CURRENT QUESTION: Should there be legislative action taken to try and

reduce the consumption of violent media by children ages 15 and younger?

Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 2

Table of Contents

Preface 3

Abstract 7

History of video games 8

Present day statistics 9

Short term effects 11

Counterarguments 13

One of many factors 16

Legislative action 16

Media literacy and rating system 18

Conclusion 19

References 20
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 3

Preface

When I first arrived at Linfield College, my major had been undecided.

Even before declaring mass communication as my major, I had already heard

plenty of horror stories about the class where you have to write 100 pages.

Professor Thompson on the first day of class even made a comment about

how he was sure we had already been told plenty of stories about the class

from hell, and how some were probably true and others maybe not. The

stories were true. He also made the intimidating comment, You will either

pass this class or change your major. This class was extremely difficult, but

in the end, and Im sure I can speak for anyone who has taken this class, I

am extremely thankful for it.

A common feeling or thought that would pop into my head on most

Sunday and Monday nights was, man, I really shouldve stated this earlier.

I took comfort knowing that no those nights I could walk into the library and

see someone from the class in the library as well. Then, of course, I would

procrastinate just a little more by talking to them about how much Ive

procrastinated and what else needs to get done in the short amount of time.

Luckily, the class pace and workload stated off light and gradually got

heavier. This helped me learn how to actually use the Linfield Library

database and find certain areas where my writing struggled, while making

me a faster and more efficient writer. Last semester, writing a 12-page

paper seemed to take me weeks, where as now writing around 10 pages

even feels like childs play.

Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 4

I chose the topic of media violence and aggression seen in children

because first, it was the first topic that sparked my interest from the CQ

researcher and I had remember attending a PLACE event last year where

Douglas Gentile, a professional in the field, came to Linfield and talked about

the issue. I was even more interested because I have heard the way my

brother talks to his friends while playing video games, and let me tell you it

is not something you want your mother to hear.

Professors always tell you to make sure to double save you work, put it

on a flash drive and make sure you have a backup in case something

happens to your laptop. This is a classic line that every student hears and

goes through one year and out the other- at least for me. It is the standard

thought of, oh this happens to other people, but not me. It happens, it

happened to me and let me tell you it was not a pretty sight. Everyone from

my friends, roommate, parents, the guy who helped me from IT and Apple

store and even you guys, were lucky enough to witness just a little of my

emotional breakdown and tears streaming down my face. For the first few

days of malfunctions I thought, pish posh, my computer is fine, someone

will be able to fix it because again this doesnt happen to me, only other

people. Then, it was Mother Weekend at Linfield and thats really when shit

hit the fan. Fining out that all my work from warm up eight and on had bee

corrupted and could not be restored was probably the most devastating

news in my life. I mean come on! Of all the times for my computer to not

work it had to be with one month left of school and while Im taking info
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 5

gathering. Those three night before our complete annotations were due was

probably some of the worst times of my life, but Im extremely proud of

myself for being to get it done. I had my doubts about being able to finish

and once it was complete I wasnt too sure how well they were written, but

hey I had completed what seemed to be impossible to me and I was proud.

After taking this class, there are plenty of mistakes I will hopefully

never make again in my writing career. The first rule that was make

apparent especially with my topic was using the word child or children or kid

and kids. This rule will be drilled into my brain forever because my entire

paper and research is on children, not baby goats. The second rule that will

stick in me forever is on our commonly confused mixed up words than

versus then. Professor Thompson marked up my paper left and right with

that mistake and I just couldnt seem to get it right. It wasnt until out

meeting the two of you and Professor Thompson had me read one my

sentences out loud. In my writing, but also when I spoke I was pronouncing

the words then and than the same way. This was a huge realization for

me and now literally every time I type out the word then or than I read

my sentence out loud to make sure Im using it in the correct way.

I would like to thank a few people for helping me get through this. First

off, I need to thank my mom the most. She was there for me when I my

lowest with my laptop and probably had put up with me crying the most.

Susan, I remember you making a comment during the time of my laptop

issues on how I didnt look to be stressing that much, but trust me once I got
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 6

to my room stress and panic was all there. I would like to be a big thanks

and shout out to Rosa. She lies across from me in Jane Failing and with her

door always being open I took the advantage of that to bitch and moan

about this class to her all the time. She would also come by my room to

check and see how my assignments were going as well as keeping tabs on

how my laptop was doing. I greatly appreciated that and am thankful to

have had her in my hall this semester. My friends and roommate also

deserve a shout out. Addy was always there for me when I needed to vent,

hear some tough love and just all around get me to work harder. She helped

me through two all-nighters I ended up pulling for this class and kept me

motivated. Almost all of my friends are nursing majors, so if you can imagine

when they talk about their assignments the conversation goes right over my

head, and it is same for them with my assignments. Even thought most of

the time they admitted to not knowing or understanding half the thing I

would complain or talk about, they still would sit sit and listen to me try and

explain what I was working on each time. Lastly, I would like to thank the

both of you. I am extremely grateful the way the both of you handled my

breakdown in your office before our annotations were due. It was a shitty

situation and I need some tough love. I need to be told that I would and

could do it because there was no other choice and as professor Thompson

said, Listen to your parents.

As much as I complied about this class, I actually didnt hate it that

much. I hated the fact that I procrastinated, but that isnt the classs fault.
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 7

This is the most work I have ever done and will probably be most proud of.

Ever opportunity I got I have let people know I just finished 90 pages worth

of annotations. Even with writing this abstract, before I was thinking there is

no way Ill be able to make it to even two pages and look where we are now.

I am happy this classis over it and will be a bittersweet goodbye. Mainly

sweet, but you know what I mean.

Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 8

Abstract

This project involves research on media violence with video games

specifically- and how its use shows aggression in children. Research

indicates that media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior and

desensitization to violence, so the question left is if the public believes the

correlation is strong enough to be considered a major health threat. The goal

is to examine the research and experiments that have been done on this

issue in doer to determine if legislative actions should be taken. This will be

done by examining the history and development of video games, listing the

short and long-term effects on viewers, offering the counter arguments that

have been made on the matter, looking at what legislative actions have tried

to do in the past and then examining other possible solutions.

Key words: Video games, media violence, children, aggression

Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 9

History of video games

Video games are no longer the evolving phenomena they were when

they originally came out in the 1990s. Now, video games are an established

hobby and leisure choice for people of all ages, especially children. The first

video games was introduced in the early 1970s when adult consumers

began playing the first arcade version of Pong. Son after, home systems and

cartridge games became available making video games popular across all

age groups. In the early 1980s, consumers became board with the same

type of video games, and sales dropped dramatically making video games

seem like another toy fa. Video games recovered in the second half of the

1980s by making a variety of changes: improvements on special effects, new

game accessories were made and games with violent content began being

heavily marketed (Strasburger, Wilson & Jordon, 2014).

Starting with Mortal Kombat violent video games and realistic

graphics became the industrys stepping stone. This was also during the

time that cross-media marketing was introduced and the game characters

were the same as action figures seen in movies. At this time, children

became targeted consumers (2014). Usually the goal of violent video games

is to kill ones opponent, and in most cases players can choose how realistic

the battle cane be, as well as choosing to play in first or third person. In

2006, video games again modernized with new gaming systems and wireless

controllers that could detect movement in three dimensions. Due to the

success of the new gaming systems, wireless controllers and the instant
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 10

access of fixed and Internet games from cell phones, the sales of video

games and related products now usually exceed several billion dollars

annually (Entertainment Software Association, 2012).

Present day statistics

Today, it is virtually impossible to keep children away from media

violence. In the 1950s, only 10 percent of American households owned a

television, and now 99 percent of homes have televisions with 83 percent of

those homes containing video games units (Beresin, 2014). In fact, a typical

American child will view about 200,000 acts of violence on and off screen,

including more than 16,000 murders before turning 18 (2014). 90 percent of

movies, 68 percent of video games and 60 percent of TV shows have some

depiction of violence (Emmons, 2013). Video game use is seen high in

children during middle childhood, with an average of 65 minutes per day for

8-10 year-olds, and decline to 33 minutes per day for 15-18 year-olds

(Huesmann, 2007). Most of these games that children choose to play

contain violent content. According to Nielson data, 40 percent of the twenty

top-selling M-rated games, which are meant for teens 17 and older, were

being advertised on websites highly popular with children ages 2-12 or teen

13-16 (FTC, 2009). One study even found that 65 percent of children from 7-

12 years old have played Gran Theft Auto, an M-rated game (Emmons,

2013). Our cultural environment is filled with so messages related to

violence that our exposure to it is inevitable.

Short-term effects
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 11

Psychological theories that explain why media violence is such a

threat are now well-established, furthermore, they explain why the

observation of violence in the real world also stimulates aggressive behavior

in the observer. Short-term effects of exposure to media violence are mostly

due to priming processes, arousal processes and the immediate mimicking of

specific behavior (Huesmann, 2007; Carey, 2013).

Priming is a process in the brain where an external observed stimulus

excites a brain nod representing cognition, emotion or behavior (Huesmann,

2007). When concepts have become primed, it makes the behaviors linked

to them more likely to happen. So, when media violence primes aggressive

concepts, aggression is more likely to be seen. From a psychological

perspective, video games could be excellent teaching tools because they

reward payers for good behavior, but unfortunately in many popular games,

the behavior is violence (Jaccarino, 2013).

Another effect is due to excitation transfer and general arousal, where

aggressive behavior may become more likely in the short-run. A stimulus

that arouses an emotion may be seen as more severe than it is because

some of the emotional response stimulated by the media production is

misattributed (Huesmann, 2007). For example, immediately following

exciting media presentation, such excitation transfer could cause more

aggressive responses to provocation. On the other hand, increased general

arousal stimulated by the media could reach a level where inhibition of

Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 12

inappropriate responses is diminished, and dominant learned responses are

displayed (Gentile, Coyne, & Walsh, 2011).

Third short-term process can be viewed as a more general long-term

process of observational learning. Evidence has accumulated over recent

years indicating that human, especially adolescents, have a tendency to

mimic whomever they observe (Huesmann, 2007). So by observing specific

social behaviors around them, children are likely to behave exactly the same

way. For example, Evan Ramsey, in 1997 brought a 12-gauge shotgun into

his Alaska high school and gunned down a fellow student and the principal

and wounded two others. In a 2007 interview he described how playing

video games had warped his sense of reality, I did not understand that if I . .

. pull out a gun and shoot you, theres a good chance youre not going to get

back up. You shoot a guy in Doom and he gets back up. (Jaccarino, 2013).

As video games become more violent and realistic, a players ability to

decipher the difference between fantasy and reality can begin to vanish.

Long-term effects

A more lasting operational learning of cognition and behaviors, and

activation and desensitization of emotional processes cause long-term

effects. A persons social behavior is controlled to a great extent by the

current situation of a persons emotional state, their schemas about the

world, beliefs about what is appropriate and the scripts for social behaviors

that they have learned (Huessman, 2007). Most of what we know and

believe about the world comes from information and stories we have
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 13

experienced first hand. This information forms the foundation of our beliefs

and social identity, and shapes our behavioral choices in the real world

(Heintz, 2014). Aggressive scripts in the children are mainly acquired

through observational learning of others behaving aggressively in the childs

environment. Being repeatedly exposed to messages that show violence as

a normal response to frustration and conflict leaders the public to believe

that this is normal. These scripts are then cemented in place with the

reinforcement of the use of aggressive behaviors that achieve a desired

outcome. Aggressive children will seek out environments that are consistent

with their aggressive scripts (Huessman, Dubow & Yang, 2013).

Children then will eventually develop normative beliefs about what

aggressive behaviors are socially acceptable and develop representations

about how violent they perceive the world to be. Carter Bell (2015) is a

prime example of how children have a tendency to mimic behaviors they

observe. Carter is a 12-year-old boy who spends most of his time playing

violent video games, especially Halo which is a rated M military science

fiction and first-person shooter video games. Outside of playing violent

video games, Carter actively participates in paintball tournaments, where

players split up into two teams and try to shoot one another with paint

(2015). Not only is Carter pulling a trigger on the screen, he is also

reinforcing that act by pulling on in real life.

More than any other media, video games encourage active

participation in violence. Devin Moore, an Alabama teen with no history of

Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 14

violence one day was brought to a police station for a minor traffic violence.

Once inside the police station, he took a gun from a police officer and shot

three officers, then stole a police car to make an escape. His actions were

inspiring by the video game Grand Theft Auto. Moore after being caught

told police, Life is a video game. Everybodys got to die sometime.

Playing out a script numerous times in a game can influence decision-

making, which happened in this situation (Jaccarino, 2013). A 2002 report by

the U.S. Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education, which examined

37 incidents of targeted school shootings and school attacks from 1974 to

2000 in this country, found that over half od the aggressors demonstrated

interest in violence through movies, video games and other media (Kaplan,

2012).

Long-term effects of mass media are also likely increased by the way

mass media and video games affect emotions. The process of

desensitization happens when repeated exposure to emotional activating

media leads to a conditioning of certain natural emotional reactions

(Huessman, 2007). Negative emotions that are generally experienced by

viewers in response to a violent or gory scenes tend to decline after being

exposed to similar scenes numerous times before. The risk of consuming

excessive amount of violent media is that the likelihood of having aggressive

thoughts and behaviors increases when acts of violence no longer cause

emotional distress.
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 15

Observational learning and desensitization do not occur independently

of other learning processes. Children are constantly being conditioned to

behave certain ways and this learning may occur during media interactions.

For example, sine players of violent video games do not only observe, but

participate in violent acts, which generally reinforces the use of violence in

order to gain desired goals, the long-term effects of video games are greater

than TV, movies or internet displays of violence (2007).

Counterargument

Despite the studies and research done that are in support that

media violence causes increased aggression in the observer, people still

doubt the effects. For example, Freedman (2002) found a number of studies

on exposure to media violence in which he could point out specific flaws like

poor aggression measures and confounding factors. One of the arguments is

that the evidence found in studies only provides little or no indication of a

casual effect of media violence on viewers aggressive behavior.

The average effect size found in comprehensive meta-analyses tend to

be in the range of r+ = .15 to .40. This is generally described as statistically

small to medium in size (Anderson et al., 2014). However, Huesmann (2007)

uses a chart that assesses the effect size of many recognized threats to

public health and the only effect slightly higher than the effect of media

violence and aggression is that of cigarette smoking and lung cancer.

Other critics argue that the results of experimental studies are not

important because they are conducted in an artificial setting using measures

Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 16

that do not represent real world aggression (Ferguson, 2015). This lack of

generalizability, however, is crucial if the primary goal of an experiment is to

test a casual hypothesis. This requires demonstrating that only by

manipulating the independent variable will the dependent variable change

(Huesmann, Dubow, & Yang, 2013). The laboratory environment could be a

factor that would change how much aggression a child revealed during his or

her game play. An example of this would be at the Willamette Christian

Church (2015), where children playing violent video games were not as

verbally aggressive as predicted to be. This could be be due to the fact that

the children playing were inside of a church and not in their normal home

setting.

Cheryl Olson, author of Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth

About Violent Video Games, feels that the research done predicting

aggression in children and video games is over done. In the past five years,

according to the FBI, violent crime has been decreasing while video game

sales have gone up. In response Olson poses the questions that is there

were a monkey-see, money-do effect, why have the number of violent crime

reports been lessening? (Emmons, 2013). The number of violent youth

offenders fell by more than half between 1994 and 2010, and video game

sales have more than doubles since 1996 (Carey, 2013).

This leads people to believe that there is no correlation, but this

argument would only make sense if one believed that the only cause of

homicide was media violence. The counter argument to this makes little
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 17

sense either. Homicides increases in the 1960s and 1970s, which was

exactly 15 years after most people had bough television (Huesmann, Dubow

& Yang, 2013). Following the logic of the original argument, then homicide

must be caused by television violence, which is false.

Repeated exposure to violence reduces the negative emotional impact

that violence has on an observer and creates a sense that violence is normal.

Another actor that might account for the denial of media violence effects on

public is desensitization. This generation of adolescents, on average has

been exposed to more violence than that any other recent generation

(Huesmann, Dubow & Yang, 2013). Even though the number of scene

depicting violence has not gone up, the explicitness of bloodshed and gore

has increased. Unfortunately, people are less likely to see violent games or

movies as violent.

Other causes

Despite the links between media violence and aggression, many

reputable researchers stress that media violence is only one of many risk

factors for aggressive and violent behavior. The cause of youth violence are

multifactorial including variables such as poverty, family psychopathology,

child abuse, exposure to domestic violence, substance abuse and other

psychiatric disorders (Anderson et al., 2014; Beresin, 2014). Douglas

Gentile, (2015) states that a healthy person with a few common risk factors

is not going to become a school-shooter just because he or she start playing

violent video games. Gentile and Brad Bushman recently published a study
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 18

that found media exposure to be one of six risk factors for predicting later

aggression. Besides media violence, the remaining risk factors are bias

regarding hostility, low parental involvement, participants sex, physical

victimization and prior physical fights (Kaplan 2012).

Legislative action

In 2005, California passed a law that prohibited the sale or rental of

violent video games to minors based on the idea that exposure to such

games can cause psychological harm to children. The Video Software

Dealers Association and Entertainment Software Association filed a suit

against the governor of California and other officials of the state to block the

requirements of labeling violent video games and prohibiting the sale of such

games to minors. The Video Software Dealers Association challenged this

ban on the idea that video games are forms of expression that are protected

un the First Amendment (Loza, 2008).

Gentile (2015) does not believe that this legislative action was a ban

on selling violent video games. Rather, the word ban is a strategic word

used by the entertainment industry to make the public dislike the law. The

law was not a ban, but a restriction on violent video games being sold to

minors unless a parents consent is given.

The First Amendment protects video games just like it does books,

plays and movies because they communicate ideas or messages and the

government does not have the power to restrict someone from expressing

him or herself. California then tried to make a new category for content-
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 19

based regulations that was tolerable only for speech and targeted at

children, but that quickly was turned down because the United States has

never given permission in restricting childrens access to images f violence

(Brown v. EMA, 2011). Since California has already dismissed the idea to

impose restrictions of other media platforms, the State could not make an

exception for violent video games.

After reviewing both sides of the case, the court held that the standard

was set fourth by Sable Communications of California, Inc, v. FCC. This

meant that in order to constitutional, Californias content based regulation on

limiting the access of minors to violent video games must promote the

compelling interest of protecting the physical and psychological well-being of

minors by the restrictive means and the means must actually articulate

interest. Due to Sable, the court concluded that although this Act had

compelling interest, it was unconstitutional because it did not represent the

least restrictive mean and the defendants were not able to prove that the Act

actually furthered the articulated interest. The court made their decision

based on the ground that a casual connection between childrens exposure

to violent video games and their feelings of aggression or antisocial behavior

have not been sufficiently proven (Loza, 2008).

Alternative solutions

Linder (2015) and Gentile (2015) both agree that the public does not

necessarily need to see legislative action in order to help contain this public
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 20

health threat. Instead, our efforts should be put to toward improving the

rating system and incorporating media literacy into school curriculums.

Ferguson (2015) disagrees with this claims that out of all other forms of

media, video games have the accurate rating system especially when it

comes to depicting the amount of violence. He also thinks that media

literacy would not be a good idea. Out of all the media literacy programs

Ferguson has reviewed so far, he explains how their goal is to scare children

by giving them bias opinions of the media and he would prefer to see

nothing happen at all.

Media literacy and the rating systems

For better or for worse, the media not only delivers the public news,

gossip and entertainment, but it also educates and informs. Individuals who

arent media literate might not realize how big of a role media actually has

on our lives. With media literacy being incorporated into the classroom, this

will help students and children develop a critical understanding of mass

media and educates students to better understand how media produces

meaning and how it creates a different reality (Baker, 2011; Linder, 2015). If

media literacy were to be brought into the classroom, then there wouldnt be

as much worry over children being mislead by the media without their

knowledge of it. Rather than simply focusing on media skills, active teaching

of nonviolent values and prosocial problem solving skills will also produce

positive benefits.
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 21

Many studies have demonstrated that most countries age-based

ratings have serious problems with them and their reinforcement. An

example of this is how rating systems assume that cartoon and blood free

media violence have no harmful effects children. This assumption has been

recognized as false time and time again (Anderson et al., 2014). Part of the

issue, at least in the United States is that the rating systems were created

and are controlled by the media industries themselves, rather than by

unbiased experts (Gentile, 2015). Linder (2015) points out, how can we

expect parents to make choices about their childs media consumption

without accurate information of the content being shown?

In contrast, The Federal Trade Commission (2009) finds that the video

game industry has made great improvements in their ratings and restricting

the marketing of violent M-rated games to children. Although there is room

for improvement, the video game industry argues it has made better

progress than the movie and music industry.

Conclusion

It is evident that exposure to violent media is a risk to the health of

children and adolescents. Some commentators have argued that there is no

good evidence of any harmful effects of violent media on children and that

research on this is a waste of time. What is clear is that exposure to to

media violence is one risk factor for increased aggression in both the short

and long run. Legislative action has tried to be taken on the matter but

cannot get passed due to the first amendment. If the rating systems were
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 22

corrected and media literacy programs incorporated into school curriculum,

then there would be no need for legislative action.

Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 23

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Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 24

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Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 25

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From notes.
Running head: MEDIA VIOLENCE AND AGGRESSION SEEN IN CHILDREN 26