The STOPLight

Media violence

At the end of a (Minneapolis) Star Tribune article on ethics (Does Media violence beget the real thing, June 13, 1992), Jeremy Iggers asked the question: "In a world where the violence that looks real is really make-believe, and the real violence is made to look like a game, can we expect people to have a serious understanding of the meaning of violence?"

This question concluded an article in which he cited a report by the American Psychological Association titled "Big World, Small Screen" (University of Nebraska Press, 1992) about the role of television in American society. He quoted the A.P.A. report which said "television violence can lead to desensitization as well as to aggressive behavior. Children and adults who are exposed to television violence show reduced physiological arousal, and they are less likely than unexposed individuals to seek help for victims of violence or to act on the behalf of victims."

Iggers also quoted sociologist Rose Goldstein of the University of Pennsylvania who wrote an essay almost 20 years ago in which "she argued that viewers of television violence experienced a pattern of alternating stimulation and abrupt interruption (commercials) that closely resembled the desensitization techniques used by psychologists to modify behavior. After repeated treatments with these techniques.. .even the strongest psychological connections can be broken down." He then raised the question, "Can this pattern not merely break down an aversion to violence, but also condition people to take pleasure in it?"

Think about it. Are you a victim of media manipulation? Have you unknowingly allowed your children to become victims, right in your own home? Think about it.. .and do something about it.

by JM, sister of a survivor of prostitution