Violent Media is Good for Kids - Essay Example

Summary Written by Gerard Jones, the essay d “Violent Media is Good for Kids” tries to justify that violence in media can yield positive results. In this essay, Gerard Jones says that he grew up in being too passive and lonely. His mother borrowed a comic book for him. This made him become a comic writer getting inspiration from the book. The author then brings two girls who have had great improvements in their life after being engaged into violent media. This is seen when the two overcome their problem. “Children need violent entertainment in order to explore the inescapable feelings that they’ve been taught to deny, and to reintegrate those feelings into a more whole, more complex, more resilient selfhood.” (Barnet and Bedau) says a psychologist Melanie Moore, Ph.D. The author, through the story exemplifies that Violent Media is good for Kids if properly used to help children overcome their fears. Augment Analysis As the title suggests, the author argues that Violent Media is Good for Kids. This is brought out clearly when the author begins by talking about his childhood experiences in the first paragraph. Despite the fact that he does not mention this thesis out rightly, he talks about how a violent comic book transformed him from a state of loneliness and being passive to being a conqueror of his fears. Later on in the essay, he says that such positive transformation is because of violent media and therefore parents should therefore not be quick to judge that violent media materials are necessarily a bad influence to children. The author chose to exemplify the theme of his story through a discussion of how violent media positively affects the life of kids. This keeps readers want to read more and find out the manner in which violent media is advantageous to kids. It makes the author’s story more captivating and interesting. The thesis of the article is adequately supported. Even though there are no statistics used in the article, the author uses examples to expand on his thought. Gerard Jones has given a personal example of how a violent comic book turned him in to a successful writer of violent comic books and movies. He also speaks of his son who had fears of climbing a tree. In the fifth paragraph of the article, he says, “In the first grade, his friends started climbing a tree at school. However, he was afraid: of falling, of the centipedes crawling on the trunk, of sharp branches, of his friends derision. I took my cue from his fantasies and read him old Tarzan comics, rich in combat and bright with flashing knives.” (Barnet and Bedau). This story helped his son gain courage to climb trees. This example is essential in the sense that it confirms the authors thesis clearly brought up in the title. It shows that violent media can help children overcome fear and gain courage. The author quotes Melanie Moore, Ph.D., a psychologist to justify and strengthen his argument. This psychologist works with urban teens that are more likely to be more affected by violent media due to its availability in urbanized areas. Moore says that children require violent entertainment from the media to free themselves from inescapable feelings, which they deny, thanks to lessons from the society. As per Melanie violent media, “…reintegrate those feelings into a more whole, more complex, more resilient selfhood." (Barnet and Bedau). However, this is not convincing because Jones does not show how this is advantageous to kids. Instead, the example seems to compound the problem that kids experience by making their fear complex and hidden in their selfhood (Barnet and Bedau). The author’s purpose is to persuade and convince his audience that violent media is good for children. The argument put forward in the article is mainly supported by his examples and a claim by Melanie Moore, Ph.D., a psychologist. Had the user used more statistical tools to arrive at his conclusion, he would have convinced more of his audience on the subject matter. His point only hangs on a few examples and a mere claim. Fallacies being an error in reasoning, the author falls prey to this error in his work. This is because he uses generalizations from the examples he has quoted especially from his personal life. This examples are unreliable to deduct that violent media really does result to positive effects in children. Use of scientifically verifiable means such as statistics would be better to justify his thesis. From the contents of the article, the authors target is mostly parents, teachers and guardians to children. This is because he begins by mentioning how his parents raised him by making him believe that violence was evil and unacceptable. His parents were teachers in profession. They instilled a belief in him that rage should always be overcome and that it was wrong to conflict rather than to cooperate. The author captures this audience by using personal examples of his parents who doubled up as teachers and his successful parenting skills. These examples directly relate to the audiences’ role as guardians and teachers who greatly influence children use of violent media materials. The beginning of the article clearly shows use of pathos in the article. This is because the author termed his early childhood days to be full of loneliness and fear. This strategy works since the audiences of the article do not necessary require scientifically correct references and experiments to make deductions and take action regarding the subject matter of the article (Barnet and Bedau). The author of this article uses a soft but direct tone to deliver his message. He tries to convince the audience that violent media is beneficial to children by using words like "lonely" or "fearful" childhood states or making them perceive children to be struggling to escape from habit that inhibit their full potential in school and outside-school lives. The writer’s personality may be deduced from the above to be emotional and adventurous. This is because of the use of personal examples rotating around his parents and son. His adventurous person is seen through his role as an action movie and comics writer. The story about Tarzan, which he read to his son for him to overcome fear of climbing trees, also points to his adventurous nature. The author can be said to have made ethos by showing his knowledge of the effect of violent media entertainment on children citing his own childhood, his son`s childhood and the psychologist`s study and point of view. The author creates bias by tracing his experience in violent comics from his childhood to his adult life where writing violent comics is an occupation to him. He also refers to his own son to justify his argument. He only mentions examples that are directly linked to him. The author furthers his authority by quoting remarks of a highly educated psychologist. This makes his assumption more acceptable even though they are not backed by statistical evidence. In conclusion, the author has clearly stated his thesis in the title that violent media is good for kids. He goes on to exemplify this thesis in the story by giving a practical discussion of his childhood experience. He also gives an example involving his son`s experience. He links his argument with a psychologist`s argument to make it more acceptable. Despite the fact that the author gives practical examples, he is biased because he only gives examples closely linked to him and ignores other aspects that could confirm his assertion. For example, he fails to give statistical data that could be essential in this argument bearing in mind that the author has brought in psychological issues. Works Cited Barnet, Sylvan & Bedau, Hugo. Critical Thinking, Reading and Writing. 4th ed. Bedford-St. Martin’s, 2001. Read More