Violence Can Be of Different Types - Essay Example

Research Violence can be defined as something which usually affects an individual in such a way that he is hurt or harmed. Violence can be of different types either relating to students beating each other or grown up people fighting with each other for different reasons. Nowadays with an increase in technologies different devices which were designed only to serve useful purposes have now turned out to be negating those useful purposes. One such form of entertainment which has been designed is games. Games are defined as a set of activities which are usually done to satisfy the needs of entertainment. However in the recent years with the development of video games it is seen that children are indulging a lot in gaming. And this has forced many individuals to carry out researches to find out the effect of games on children. It is found that violence in real life has a direct relationship with people who are involved in playing these games. And one such research which revolve around this issue is “Violence exposure in real-life, video games, television, movies, and the internet: is there desensitization?”. The goal of this study was to find out the relationship between exposure to media violence and then its effect on the real life. Exposure to violence was used as an independent variable whereas real life violence and the showing of lesser empathy was used as a dependent variable. The hypothesis of the study was that an increase in the exposure to violence in media does desensitize a child towards real life violence. The study basically used the method of questionnaires to find out the results of the research. These questionnaires were then filled by different students and they were analyzed by the experts to find a co-relation between the exposure to media violence and then to real life violence and empathy. The participants involved in the study were students from elementary schools and daycare centre. It is a quantitative research as it is employing different students and there life styles when coming to a conclusion. The study was done in such a manner that many students were taken into confidence. Both the genders were emphasized upon when it came to confirming the hypothesis. Different students were taken into consideration of different ages so that the variables were able to quantified . Not only this the classes of these students was also measured before involving them in the researches so that every student was equally exposed to media. The main result of the study proposed that media exposure directly relates to the desensitization of children from violence. It also leads to lower empathy when it comes to real life violence. The more a child is exposed to violence in media or video games the more he is desensitized to his surroundings. Similarly it was also found through the study the empathy level of the children was also significantly lowered down with the increased exposure to media and games. According to the study done children feel less when it comes to violence in real life as they are not aware of the exact consequences of violence. Video games are of particular importance when it comes to the desensitization of children to violence. The hypothesis of the study was clearly supported by the study carried out and it further confirmed the hypothesis of the researchers. The results were analyzed only after the questionnaires were filled by the children. The permission of parents and school authorities was sought out before carrying out the research. In totality four questionnaires were designed so that the inter relationship between media and other things was also counted. These four questionnaires were first analyzed and then computed accordingly. The frequencies of these questionnaires were calculated and then they were compared to the scores of empathy and desensitization. Regression analysis was carried out to find out the relation between the exposure to media violence and its relative effect on girls and boys. It was basically carried out to find if there was any major difference when it came to the relating exposure of boys and girls to media and how they affected differently both genders. Regression Analysis was then similarly carried out on the four different questionnaires to find out the effect of exposure to violence in media to their attitude to violence in the real life. In conclusion the study basically found that media exposure of violence is directly stimulating the children to have a stronger pro-violence. The results of the study can be generalized to many other similar situations in the life but some of the factors in the study do act as limiting factors. The study did not count several other factors when it came to relating desensitization of violence to exposure of violence in media. It did not count other general factors such as real life violence exposure of the child in the world and the environment in which he is being bought up was also not considered when carrying out the study. Several other aspects of the life of the child were also not being considered when the study was carried out. In my view the research left out an important aspect of not determining other factors which played an important role in the life of the child which would have been a strong determinant for the desensitization of violence in his/her life. In my view the study generally refers to students who are particularly located in specific areas around the world. It does not take into consideration many different races and genders when it comes to relating desensitization and violence exposure. The research may also be a bit distorted as the children who were selected were 4th or 5th graders who would not have known much about what they are being asked about. Similarly 4 questionnaires would have made the children lose interest as they were long and the children may just have filled the questionnaires up randomly. Interviews with specific students were also not done so as to make sure that the children were writing the right things which were happening in their life. Moreover other variable factors could also be considered here when the questionnaires were being filled up so that the exact cause of desensitization is known. In my view children generally are being affected by media exposure of violence and this research further proves it by carrying out the given study. Children who are exposed heavily to violence in media tend to be more aggressive and violent. I would change the number of questionnaires to 2 so that the children did not lose interest when filling them up. The questions would have been made to the point by me and I would have given more time to the children. Moreover I would have carried out interviews of the children to know more about them and their life and if their life was really getting affected by exposure to violence in media. I would have broadened my research by expanding it to different areas in the world. I would have specifically asked my research groups to go out in different states and carry out the similar research so that I could find out if my results were being distorted or not. All these factors would have been kept in mind by me so that I could carry out a research to find out the relation between violence exposure and desensitization. Moreover in my view this research has proved to be quite successful as irrelevant of its short comings it has bring many factors to the main stream and has given a platform for other researches to be carried out in a similar fashion but with a broadened perspective. BibliographyTop of Form Funk, J. B., Baldacci, H. B., Pasold, Tracie, & Baumgardner, J. (2004). Violence Exposure in Real-Life, Video Games, Television, Movies, and the Internet: Is There Desensitization? Journal of Adolescence. 27 (1), 23-39. Bottom of Form Read More