Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/coping-with-the-marketing-of-media-violence/5015941/
The overabundance of advertising to children in our culture is harmful for many reasons, independent of what is being advertised. However, when the products being promoted are detrimental to children’s physical and mental health, the harms are even greater. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the area of media violence. In spite of the media industries’ repeated arguments to the contrary, research confirms that exposure to media violence promotes aggressive behaviors, fosters attitudes more accepting of violence, and increases hostility levels in viewers. These effects are strong as well as consistent: a recent study showed that the relationship between viewing violence and behaving aggressively is stronger than the link between exposure to lead and low IQ in children. Moreover, children who are already violent are more interested in media violence than their peers are, and they are also more adversely affected by it. Research also shows that media violence often causes intense fears, anxieties, and sleep disturbances, and that these effects may last for weeks, months, or even years.The marketing of media violence
In spite of these well documented harmful effects, intensely violent media portrayals are not only readily available to children; violent products appropriate only for adults are actively marketed ...