Children of America are exposed to violence every day of their lives. Our culture is raised on the media, whether it is television, movies, video games, or music. All of this exposure to the media can work in different ways. It can teach us what is real and what is fake violence. It can also teach us how to commit violent acts and be violent in nature. But do television and other types of media exposure cause violent behavior or are some people just born to be violent? That seems to be a question often left for the imagination to answer.
It's hard to actually put the blame on one specific person or thing that causes people to become violent. If you own a television set, nine times out of ten it will be up and running. Through this television set, your family is exposed to so much violence in the media, movies, talk shows, and also cartoons. When you put the focus on Saturday morning cartoon programs, for example, you will be exposed to 20-25 violent acts per hour. On primetime television, you are exposed to three to five violent acts per hour. As a result, American society is now paying a high price in terms of real-life violence.
The behaviors of children and adults seem to be altered as a result of overexposure to the behavior of others. This change is called observational learning. There is more of a drastic change in children more so than in adults. This change is not always a violent change. By observation, it has been proven to increase their sharing habits and it reduces their fear factors. According to Jib Fowles, author of the article, "The case for television violence", he states, "that children's use of television brutality was often therapeutic, an antidote to the real world and that fantasy violence, often in cartoon form, actually helps a child to discharge their tension and animosity."(Fowles, 1999). I agree with this statement in one aspect. At a certain age, children begin to recognize what is good for them to watch and what is bad.