Marketing Violence to Children: Trends and Effects - Essay Example

The research study conducted by the major professional organizations of the United States has uncovered several important and eye-opening facts about the effects of marketing valance upon children. The report has been prepared by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the American Psychological Association in which these professional organizations have claimed that the entertainment industry uses to intentionally market valance to the children, and consequently the children have to face the deleterious and harmful effects of entertainment violence (Wilson, 2002).

The marketing of violence to children is not something new but the trend was initiated in 1984 when the marketing companies found that due to the deregulation of television by the Federal Communication Commission they have the open opportunity to directly market the toys and other products to the children through the medium of TV programs. The children's programs also became commercialized and in turn, the children also became an important growing consumer group strongly exploited by the media commercials (Huston, 1992).

Along with the time, the essence of commercialism increased within the TV programs, and children were offered toys directly replicas of the TV programs. Video games, movies, and fighting cartoons became popular among the children and the media and toy manufacturing industry joined hands for marketing violence to the children through the toys, games, and programs. The trend had very strong impacts on the psychology and behaviors of children. The parents mostly reported that they observe a gradual change in the attitude of their children and now the children are mostly found more inclined towards violent programs. The nature and behavior of the children have also changed a lot in the wake of violent marketing by the entertainment industry and the parents commonly complain about the increasing levels of aggression among their children (Huesmann, 2007).

The children tend to be more vulnerable to the harmful effects of media violence because they could not understand the world like adults and soon believe whatever they see on television programs and cartoons. The children don’t have the mental capabilities to think logically about the actions seen on the TV and they give attention to the things they appear on the screen without realizing the difference between real and drama. Exposure to violent acts also makes them scared and at the same time, they also strived to attempt the same things in their real lives as they see on TV. The excitement and power of the entertainment media limit their thoughts and they became addicted to violent entertainment soon after having been exposed to such programs (Wilson, 2002).

The violence marketed through media has an obvious impact upon the personalities of the children and it changed the way they interact with the world and people around them. Since the children learn a lot from their play and other entertainment activities so media violence also changes their attitude and social behaviors. They learn to attach others and through things upon them in order to show their power and strength to the world. They tend to copy the actions and styles of superheroes and other powerful characters they see in the TV shows without realizing that they are practicing violence and aggression and the superheroes and other powerful characters do not exist in reality.

In sum, it is found that media-linked toys, TV programs, and video games are a great source of adding aggression and violence in children. The perceptions, behaviors, and attitudes of the children are directly affected by the marketing of violence through the mass media and most of these effects are extremely harmful and dangerous for the children. The children frequently came across violent media scripts and harmful and aggressive messages about the power and glory of violence through different TV shows games and programs due to which they started deeming violence as a normal way of interacting with each other (Huesmann, 2007).