Media Censorship

Child, Youth Issues
Communication > Mass Media
Sociology > Media and Society

Media Censorship

This paper argues that the current state of knowledge regarding the effects of media depiction of violence on children does not justify censorship of the media.

1,315 words () | 11 sources | MLA | 2007 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that the report of the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah, in 1999, paints a dire picture of the levels of violence with which the media was bombarding children. The author points out that this Senate report presents the causal connection between movie and television violence and aggressive behavior in children as a proven conclusion. The paper relates that a review of the underlying data through scientific studies shows that there is considerable doubt as to just how perverse an influence media violence has on children. The author concludes that the inconclusive nature of the data indicates that the American people should be cautious about taking precipitate actions based on this report, and should, at least for now, resist any effort at media censorship.

From the Paper:

"Reporting on Professor Eron's original 1960 study of 8 and 9 year olds in Columbia County, New York, Rhodes noted that Eron's and his team investigated a wide range of factors to attempt to measure aggression. Of these, watching violence on television was effectively an afterthought. Further, the data were not consistent: girls who watched television showed no higher levels of aggression, and boys who watched television the most extensively were the least aggressive in the study. In their first follow-up study, Eron and his colleagues did find a statistical correlations between high levels of television watching and aggressive behavior..."

Sample of Sources Used:

Eron Leonard. "Testimony Before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation," May 18, 1999, accessed Nov. 29, 2006. Available at <http://commerce. senate. gov/hearings/0518ero.pdf.> Internet.
Eron, L. D., & Huesmann, L. R. "Television as a source of maltreatment of children." School Psychology Review. 16:195-202 (1987).
Eron, L. D., Huesmann, L. R., et al. "Does television violence cause aggression?" American Psychologist. 27:253-263 (1972).
Fowles, Jib. The Case for Television Violence. (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, 1999).
Fowles, Jib. "The hidden conflicts underlying the campaign against violent TV." Reasononline. March 2001, accessed November 30, 2006. Available at http://www.reason.com/news/ show/27953.html.> Internet.