There are many debates on the subject of the effects of violent imagery on aggression. First-person shooter video games, pornography, and violence in television and films do play a negative part in the overall aggression of individuals.
First-person shooting games have to be taken into consideration when evaluating the aggression of someone.
“A burst of new research has begun to clarify what can and cannot be said about the effects of violent gaming. Playing the games can and does stir hostile urges and mildly aggressive behavior in the short term. More over, youngsters who develop a gaming habit can become slightly more aggressive – as measured by clashes with peers, for instance – at least over a period of a year or two.” (Shooting in the Dark).
These type of games do spike aggressive behavior. In my opinion, eliminating the use of these games would significantly decrease the amount of aggression seen in our society. It is inevitable that pornography plays a part in fueling sexual aggression.
“Perhaps the most distressing dynamic of pornography is its propensity to lead toward violent sexual crimes. Among one group of prostitutes who had been raped, 24 percent spontaneously mentioned references to pornography by their attackers. It may be easy for some people to distance themselves from the plight of a prostitute’s rape, but more personal are reports that 10% of all women report being forced, because of pornography, into sexual acts they did not want. Pornography has the potential to drive some men beyond what they believed they were capable of.”
Removing pornographic material, or at least reducing the access to it, would be of great benefit to everyone. I feel that some ideas behind pornography are the result of sadistic minded creators with far more capable imaginations of that of the average person, and that these ideas would not stir-up on their own, or ever play relevant had they not been permitted for just any eyes to view. This material is a doorway to things we’d never come up with on our own. This material is a menace to our society.
“According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, television programs display 812 violent acts per hour. Further, the typical American child will view more than 200,000 acts of violence, including 16,000 murders, before they turn 18.” (Violent entertainment promotes aggression, experts say).
There is no doubt in my mind that viewing this material itself will not cause somewhat of a chain reaction. The more violent media produced through television as well as films will cause people to see these acts as more appropriate. This will result in more viewing of violent video game content, followed by the viewing of more violent pornography. In no way is having this much access to an abundance of violent imagery having a positive effect on society.
I feel that the world would benefit more substantially if there was a way to remove this content from society. Violence is becoming more and more common. No, this violent media is negatively impacting the lives of everyone in our communities, along with the even more delicate lives of our children. I believe that every aspect of violent imagery is effecting the world we live in in a tremendously horrid way. New measures need to be put into action to remove these images from our lives. If we don’t reflect on this and learn from the resulting consequences we face every day, what exactly is the underlying hope for the future of us all.