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Teen violence and Media-Generated Fear Why do the media want to scare the American public? Fear is the one thing we as Americans should be free of. Fear is something that we want to eliminate; so why do the media feel the need to create it? Fear on some level is desirable, except it really shouldn’t be called fear but rather discretion. We don’t want citizens running around all over the place completely careless. However, we also don’t want the public cowering inside their houses in fear of rather harmless situations. The news media is all about boosting the ratings and drawing in viewers.
For example, when you are watching television in the evening and a news preview comes on and gives you a tiny piece of a horrifying news story that you can’t miss that won’t be on until eleven. You have to tune in because if you don’t you will miss very important information that will save your life. If the situation is so urgent and life-threatening, wouldn’t they have given you the whole story right away? If it can wait for four hours then it isn’t that urgent. In the articles “Self-Righteous Kid-Bashing” by Susan Douglas and “Teen Violence Spawned by Guns and Cultural Rot” by Albert Hunt, both authors mention gun control.
Susan Douglas says, “Why don’t other pundits […] get some guts [,] and take on one of the great sources of evil in our country, the National Rifle Association? ” Hunt believes a mix of pop culture and guns are the problem. “But while violence in general has declined over the last several years, it is rising among teenagers, and certainly any short-term efforts to address this should focus on both guns and popular culture” (Hunt. ) I agree that guns are partly to blame for violence, but the media presents stories in a way that makes us think that guns are some great evil that is responsible for the decay of society.
Think about it. The number of violent news stories you hear involving guns greatly outnumber those involving some other type of weapon. The scary guns make for good news. What do people want to know more about? They would much rather hear about a person who was shot in the face rather than someone who was punched in the face. The news is filled with stories about children shooting children or a kid getting shot by accident. Sure, I believe that only people who know how to handle a gun properly should be able to use it. I don’t mean just law enforcement or the military.
If private citizens want to invoke their second amendment rights, I believe they should be trained in basic gun usage before they are allowed to have one. I believe irresponsible gun owners contribute to gun violence. “Liberals cry for tougher gun-control laws: if only these deranged youths didn’t have easy access to guns, many of these atrocities wouldn’t happen, they say” (Hunt. ) Guns are not the problem; the irresponsibility and laziness of gun sellers and owners is the problem. If people weren’t so focused on taking the guns away and focused more on education, there wouldn’t be such a problem.
During a television program, a person will see several commercials. Commercials are advertisements. Companies advertise in order to sell their product. An example of one of those products is Ritalin. Why are 11 million children prescribed Ritalin every year? “Another way we as adults justify our excessive fears and brutal policies toward the nation’s children is by shifting the blame to nature. We convince ourselves that millions of children are born defective. Children whom adults find frightening and difficult to control are said to suffer from various psychological or biomedical disorders”(Glassner 77).
These commercials describe “symptoms” such as trouble focusing or high energy. A lot of kids have trouble focusing, or have lots of energy. Kids who have high energy levels are often diagnosed with ADD and prescribed Ritalin to calm them down because the parents are convinced that something is wrong with them. Instead of finding some outlet for their energy, they just remove the energy with drugs. Sure, some children do need some help, but I refuse to believe that 11 million children in this country are defective. At what cost do we choose to view hyperactive children as neurologically and chemically damaged? “(Glassner 77). Adults give their children medications like Ritalin so they will calm down and act “normal”. The medication is a tool that parents use so they won’t feel guilty about being bad parents and not challenging their children enough. Parents need to put their children in programs where they can release their excess energy rather than drug them. It is almost impossible to stay away from violent movies or explicit song lyrics. Music and movies are everywhere.
In Albert Hunt’s article he mentioned Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dog and Marilyn Manson. These are the types of artists that kids listen to. These are the artists whose lyrics contain references to all kinds of guns and violence. So logically, this must mean that these types of music are to blame for children killing other children. Forget about the crack addicted mothers selling their children’s clothing for drug money or the hundreds of children who are beaten by abusive fathers or family members. Yes, it must be the music. Violence promotes violence. Music does not promote violence. After two white boys opened fire on students and teachers at a schoolyard in Jonesboro, Arkansas, in 1988 politicians, teachers, and assorted self-designated experts suggested-with utter seriousness-that that black rap musicians had inspired on of them to commit the crime. A fan of black rappers such as the late Tupac Shakur, the thirteen-year-old emulated massacre like killings described in some of their songs, we were told. Never mind that, according to a minister who knew him, the Jonesboro lad also loved religious music and sang for elderly residents at local nursing homes.
By the late 1990s the ruinous power of rap was so taken for granted, people could blame rappers for almost any violent or misogynistic act anywhere”(Glassner 121-122). People only hear what they want to hear. If most people were to hear a news story about a ten-year-old who killed his mother, they might start drawing their own conclusions about the killer. The news media is only going to give you the information that will greatly persuade your thinking. The media is not going to give you the whole story because then you might start thinking for yourself and you won’t need the news anymore, God forbid.
I’ve grown up listening to all types of music. My entire family enjoys music. Rap is not my favorite type of music, but I’ve heard it. I’ve heard the violent lyrics, and the woman bashing. It makes me angry, but I can’t say it made me want to commit any act of violence what so ever. It is just another excuse. In conclusion, I feel that if we continue to ignore the problem that the media is creating; things are only going to get worse. People are going to keep blaming violence on guns, violent movies and explicit music, just like the media wants.
More and more parents are going to be deceived by paid doctors who are telling them that their children are sick and medication is the only answer. They will be suckered into believing that they must put their children on drugs. I believe that people are just looking for someone or something else other than themselves to blame for today’s youth being corrupted. It would be ridiculous to think that we are responsible for our own children’s behavior. So we look for someone to take the blame and the media is right there waiting to give us a scapegoat.