Montoya 1

Henry Montoya
Professor Noh
English 114A
28 November 2015
What Do You Think Youre Watching?
As is, our society is a very violent place to be growing up in. With daily news always
exposing us to murders, robberies, and global threats, there is no doubt why we may feel the
need to act violent our selves. Of course there is the exception of non-violent people living a
non-violent lifestyle, but lets face the fact that more people are violent each and everyday.
Different age groups are involving themselves into physical altercations and violent acts. Where
does all this motivation for violence come from? I strongly believe violence comes from
visual/social media and endangering generations to come with video games, videos, pictures,
daily news articles, status updates, photo updates, and more.
Visual media, which anyone with internet access is viewing on a daily basis, is to blame
for the violence caused in our everyday lives. Having easy access to different visual media like
graphic video games or violent videos is a potential problem. It may have an affect on not only a
society as a whole but to an individual that may look for these types of visual stimulants that help
gain ideas on how to handle a problem. This person might have been playing Grand Theft Auto
or watching COPS to think of an idea on how to hurt someone else. Josh Harrell from Tribune
Business News says In their studies, Kutner and Olson said they used different markers to see
the effects playing Mature rated games -- such as the GTA series -- have on children. They said
they found that the more days per week children play it, the more prone to aggressive behavior
those children are. There have been many studies shown that playing different mature rated

Montoya 2
games will increase the likelihood of people becoming more violent. While kids are analyzing
these types of graphic visuals, they are exposing themselves and everyone around them to
potential harm and danger. These kids can use it as self defense at school or even just to look
cool. The more that the child is exposed to such violent behavior; the more they will think about
such violent acts. While kids are still learning and brains are still developing, the exposure to
violence will more likely be something they learn. The violence that is caused by visual media is
the reason why there are many problems in society that affect everyone.
Violence also is projected in social media. In some cases, it might not come directly
through social media, but it can gradually emerge from it. For example, a group of girls might go
out and post up status updates and one of their friends was not invited and it can start a very huge
problem between friends. From previous occurances at my old high school, this typically ends up
in a verbal argument that ruins the friendship or a physical fight. Now you may be wondering
how does this connect to violence. Well it all started through social media. Jealousy along with
other trends has a part in violence that is exposed to everyone. Different trends like Fight
Complications, which are a series of different real fights that occur mainly by high school
students, motivate others to post similar videos to get fame or Likes. This is a way in which
violence can be spread out to many others across the nation. Kathleen Clarke-Pearson, a member
of the Communication and Media Council, says Cyber bullying is quite common, can occur to
any young person online, and can cause profound psychosocial outcomes including depression,
anxiety, severe isolation, and, tragically, suicide. (Clarke-Pearson) Cyber-bullying is a violent
act intended to hurt others through the Internet. Many people have the ability of creating
different social media accounts to terrorize other people. As Pearson says, cyber-bullying is
common amongst teenagers. With a great amount of violence spread though the youth

Montoya 3
population, there are way more cases of depression caused by cyber-bullying. This is a new form
of how violence is being interpreted through social media and it is also a very dangerous way to
get a hold of someones information to cause even more violence.
All sorts of people may respond with they are just kids being kids and they are
causing no harm, but all these acts are sometimes not acknowledged unless someone is hurt or
theres use of legal force. When it comes to cyber bullying, people have the option to be private
and not be able have anyone contact them without his/her permission. These are all things to
keep in mind but in reality, once things get out of hand and a person sees the first threatening
comment or even posts a harmful video, it is very hard to reverse those feelings that know what
the world truly thinks of you and just may cause sadness or depression. For example, a group
from my old high school were very childish and thought everything was a joke. One day they
make a fake twitter account and started to torment everyone and it got out of hand by getting
very personal with a boy that was hated by most of the group. They looked up all sorts of
different information in this boy to harass him even more. They ended up locating where he lived
and they egged and covered his house with toilet paper. Eventually the boy confessed to the
school and pressed charges against the group. This is a result from violence that was through
social media and spread beyond.
Many will claim that if you are a violent person in a video game, it doesnt necessarily
mean you are a violent person in real life. They believe that these two worlds, of gaming and
reality, can be separated. Another claim may be that acts of violence are a reflection of a family
member or guardian. Idolizing someone with the wrong intentions can lead someone to believe
that it is the right thing to do. I completely agree that everyone reacts to a violent game or video
differently, but the media is one of the top reasons why we think the way we do. The media is

Montoya 4
full of irresistible trends that we follow in order to fit in. Not only that ,but according to Sasha
Emmons from Parenting.com, kids under seven have a difficult time distinguishing between
fantasy and reality, so they do not know if what they are viewing is something bad and should
not be done or something that should be supported by society.
As we progress into the future, we will encounter more issues dealing with violence. With
new innovations being introduced to the whole world, it will be more difficult controlling where
the violence spreads. With all these new resources and technological advances, the new
generation has access to manipulate everything. Many may think differently on how the media
influences one decisions, but I believe that media is the source of violence. Video games and
other visual media have a huge influence on how kids interpret violence. Social media also
influences other behaviors, such as arguments, physical fights, and cyber-bullying. All in all, it is
clear that media is the one to blame for such violent and lewd acts within our society.

Montoya 5
Works Cited

Harrell, Josh. "GTA IV: The Controversy." McClatchy - Tribune Business NewsJun 03 2008.
ProQuest. Web. 29 Nov. 2015 .

Clarke-Pearson, Kathleen, and Gwenn Schurgin O'Keeffe. "The Impact of Social Media on
Children, Adolescents, and Families." The Impact of Social Media on Children,
Adolescents, and Families. N.p., Apr. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Emmons, Sasha. "Is Media Violence Damaging to Kids? - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News
Network, 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.