Children and Violence - Essay
Media violence has been and still is one of our greatest problems in our community. In some cases of media violence is displayed from movies, video, games, and the influence people have on others, all of which have shown someone or something crucifying anything in its path. Those are some ideas about media violence throughout our society.
“Some critics of modern tv some critics of modern TV and movie entertainment suggests that violence depicted in the media actually increases violence by desensitizing us to it (Regoli et al., 2010; Siegal and Welsh, 2014).”In 1982 a group of mothers in the Boston area founded the ACT the children’s television act. To influence what their children were watching. Media promotes violence in society which allows children to see violent acts committed by heroes and villain’s children tend to want to emulate them for their risk and the thrill.
Psychoanalyst Denise Sharon feels that there are three elements in the makeup of juvenile violent offenders:
1. lack of respect
2. inability to understand or empathize with other persons
3. impatience
Some media experts blame today’s sports for the increase in violence among young people although sports are usually thought to be played for enjoyment and relaxation and intense emphasis on winning can influence competition that leads to violent behavior. For example, how many children observe hockey players hit each other with sticks.
Children are exposed to a variety of forms of violence including crime and violence in the community exposure to gangs and school violence including bullying.
Men batter their wives to enhance their self-esteem and to feel powerful. Drugs and substance abuse also influence violence in the home. Women in some home settings are stereotypes to be submissive to the man and if she resists in some way violence is a consequence. Cases of domestic violence have increased significantly; the main victims of these violence cases are young children. It was estimated that 15.5 million children are exposed to violence in their home every year (National Network to End Domestic Violence, 2015). Domestic violence is a great disaster to the families and society at large. Children who witness domestic violence in their families and those who are directly abused suffer adversely. However, the effects of these two situations to children are not all the same; children who are directly abused suffer a lot more than the children who only witnessed violence.
As social workers we need to look out for signs of violence and abuse. For example, Aggressive and troubled behaviors in young children may be indicators or problems that are suffered at home form direct child abuse from the parents. It may also come from indirect abuse, such as witnessing domestic violence. Direct violence is a violence that is at home and is targeted against the children by the parents. There are several symptoms that a child will face when they are abused. Some will include an attempt to harm themselves, become depressed, model the behaviors of their parents, and acting out in violent and aggressive ways. Indirect violence is a violence at home in which a child witnesses abuse against the parents. Many women are abused by intimate partners and millions of children witness this everyday. About half of the men that abuse their wives also abuse their children (Crosson-Tower).
About 8.3 million children under 18 live with a parent who is using an addictive drug or alcohol. The connection between substance abuse and family violence is significant (cross and tower). There are biosocial risks that can be passed down to children from parents who suffer from addiction. Mother who are pregnant may pass down effects of their addiction to their newborns. Parents may neglect their children’s needs emotionally, or sexually abuse them, or may be unable to be consistent. Impacts on the child also my differ based on the child’s developmental level. Infants are affected both physically and developmentally depending on severalty of parent’s addiction. Older children and adolescents may have difficulty learning, achieving, and developing (Crosson-Tower).
Crosson-Tower, Cynthia. Exploring Child Welfare : A Practice Perspective. Pearson, 2018.