Final Paper for Comp 2
Alot of my friends have asked me to post my view point on somethings, but i hate to write and don't do it often. So I've had to write something up for class and thought i would post it here so others can see it. It's not really long, but i think it gets my point across.
Jeremy Thio
An environment of bad press
11/18/07
Sense the beginning of mans rain on earth there has been valiance; man has always seemed to find more and more valiant ways to let out his own stress or to take what he wants. In the modern days many look at this violence and come up with their own reasons for why it is happening, where it comes from, and who is to blame for it. In truth most of these claims are just scapegoats for the truth of what we as people do and how we act, but they are still in the minds of people every day.
Over the last decade many scientist, scholars and newspaper writers have tried to explain, or test what is going on with us, why we are violent, and why some people just suddenly do things that most people would not do. Many Scientist have claimed it’s the media that we are subject to, that watching violent TV or playing violent games make sure more violent. They have done studies watching how much violence is on TV, and found that there is more violence on TV now then say 10 years ago. They have done focus groups that show playing violent video games make one think that violence is ok, that it is social expectable, but as many scientist who say TV, or games are the cause there is another who says it’s the Internet or that some of these people where prone to violent behavior to begin with. No side can absolute prove their point, they can just state what they believe or what their studies have found.
I’m sure that many of us feel that these studies are good, and that it’s better to have these studies done then not have them done, but do we truly know who is behind these studies do we know who paid for them or why they where done in the first place? That is where the problem lies most of the time we don’t know these things. If you truly knew who was paying for the studies would you feel more strongly towards the outcome of the study? Lets say for example that you heard of a study done on how a violent game causes 75% of the people in the study to believe that the violence that they cause should be social acceptable. From most points of view this is not a good thing, who would want people to think any type of violence is acceptable, but what would happen if later you found out that the study was done by a local teacher who was paid by the school bored, and that these studies where done on 8 to 12 year olds. Does this change what you might think about the study?
Most of what people see from these studies is what reporters or the person paying for the study want us to see. So we can’t get a full view of what was done and how it was done. This means that we must go off what they say, and most of us know that what is seen on TV or in the newspaper is from that Medias view point. Also that the most out spoken or most popular view is the one we see the most of. If someone wanted to know more about the topic they would have to do in depth research to see the other view points and other studies that where done on the same topic but by a different scientist.
Most of us know that TV, and Video games have violent content. There are warnings on games, you can look at the TV program and see what age it’s meant for. In the long run most of the violent games, TV are meant for Adults. It’s meant to be seen or played by those who can understand what is right and wrong, not played by children who might not have a full grasp of what is or is not social acceptable. So all these studies do is prove what we already know, yes there is violence in our media, perhaps it does cause children to act in a violent way, but we can’t blame the company who makes the games or TV program, we need to look closer in our own homes and what out children are watching and playing. We all need to take reasonability for our selves and our family. If you don’t want your child watch “bad” TV then don’t let them set your TV to not let some shows be seen with out a password, if your child wants a high violence rated game tell them no. Don’t make it hard for the reasonable adults to have entertainment make it hard for the children to get their hands on it.
Jeremy Thio
An environment of bad press
11/18/07
Sense the beginning of mans rain on earth there has been valiance; man has always seemed to find more and more valiant ways to let out his own stress or to take what he wants. In the modern days many look at this violence and come up with their own reasons for why it is happening, where it comes from, and who is to blame for it. In truth most of these claims are just scapegoats for the truth of what we as people do and how we act, but they are still in the minds of people every day.
Over the last decade many scientist, scholars and newspaper writers have tried to explain, or test what is going on with us, why we are violent, and why some people just suddenly do things that most people would not do. Many Scientist have claimed it’s the media that we are subject to, that watching violent TV or playing violent games make sure more violent. They have done studies watching how much violence is on TV, and found that there is more violence on TV now then say 10 years ago. They have done focus groups that show playing violent video games make one think that violence is ok, that it is social expectable, but as many scientist who say TV, or games are the cause there is another who says it’s the Internet or that some of these people where prone to violent behavior to begin with. No side can absolute prove their point, they can just state what they believe or what their studies have found.
I’m sure that many of us feel that these studies are good, and that it’s better to have these studies done then not have them done, but do we truly know who is behind these studies do we know who paid for them or why they where done in the first place? That is where the problem lies most of the time we don’t know these things. If you truly knew who was paying for the studies would you feel more strongly towards the outcome of the study? Lets say for example that you heard of a study done on how a violent game causes 75% of the people in the study to believe that the violence that they cause should be social acceptable. From most points of view this is not a good thing, who would want people to think any type of violence is acceptable, but what would happen if later you found out that the study was done by a local teacher who was paid by the school bored, and that these studies where done on 8 to 12 year olds. Does this change what you might think about the study?
Most of what people see from these studies is what reporters or the person paying for the study want us to see. So we can’t get a full view of what was done and how it was done. This means that we must go off what they say, and most of us know that what is seen on TV or in the newspaper is from that Medias view point. Also that the most out spoken or most popular view is the one we see the most of. If someone wanted to know more about the topic they would have to do in depth research to see the other view points and other studies that where done on the same topic but by a different scientist.
Most of us know that TV, and Video games have violent content. There are warnings on games, you can look at the TV program and see what age it’s meant for. In the long run most of the violent games, TV are meant for Adults. It’s meant to be seen or played by those who can understand what is right and wrong, not played by children who might not have a full grasp of what is or is not social acceptable. So all these studies do is prove what we already know, yes there is violence in our media, perhaps it does cause children to act in a violent way, but we can’t blame the company who makes the games or TV program, we need to look closer in our own homes and what out children are watching and playing. We all need to take reasonability for our selves and our family. If you don’t want your child watch “bad” TV then don’t let them set your TV to not let some shows be seen with out a password, if your child wants a high violence rated game tell them no. Don’t make it hard for the reasonable adults to have entertainment make it hard for the children to get their hands on it.