Many psychologists believe that the media plays a major role in the development of children. The many different areas of the media have positive and negative effects. For example, TV can portray a strong family atmosphere on their shows and families can watch these shows together creating a healthy atmosphere. But on the other hand, TV can depict violence and sexual references to the teens that watch. The type of media I chose to focus on is the music industry and music on TV. Music and TV is said to be one of the main causes of violence in the teens of today.
MTV is said to be one of the leaders of the music and violence arguments of today. It combines the music with a video that teens can watch. I would like to present you with some facts about MTV: 39% of MTV viewers are under the age of eighteen, music videos are designed for teenagers between the ages of 12-19, half of the videos aired on MTV involve violence (National Institute on Media and the Family). The effect on teens are that the impact of the violence is enhanced by the lyrics being expressed visually; violence being portrayed by music stars makes acceptable and normal in the eyes of teens.
Music is very powerful and there are numerous events in today's news about teenagers attempting suicide or trying to kill other people and blaming it on song lyrics. Psychologists don't only blame the song lyrics but the artists themselves also. Teenagers don't only dress and act like their idols, but they also mimic their actions. For example, a very popular rapper today is Eminem. In his songs he expresses very clearly the hatred he has for his mother and his ex-wife. This may cause teenagers to rebel against their mother's in a violent way; it may also cause them to loose respect for the women their lives. They may never learn to respect women if their parents don't explain that Eminem's lyrics don't correspond to them and that they"re a personal experience.