Analysis Of Violent Media Is Good For Kids By Gerard Jones

In the essay, “Violent Media Is Good for Kids”, writer Gerard Jones argues against parents and teachers by saying that violence is good for kids. Jones argues that violent media whether it be video games, movies, Television, or comic books is good for kids. Kids are often taught both in school and at home that violence is never the answer and cooperation was always better than resorting to violence because violence always leads to more violence. Jones starts off by describing the way he was raised by his parents. “At 13, I was alone and afraid. Taught by my well-meaning, progressive, English teacher parents that violence was wrong, that rage was something to be overcome and that cooperation was always better than conflict” (230). Jones goes on to say

He wasn’t confused anymore about the fact that all violence is bad. Jones was forced to live in an environment that always taught him that violence was bad. Jones himself soon began to notice his son living the same story as he had once before. “I have watched my son living the same story-transforming himself into a bloodthirsty dinosaur to embolden himself for the plunge into preschool” (231). Jones believes that violence is a natural for kids. Rage is just another emotion. We are taught that rage or anything that involves actively asserting oneself is wrong because it tends to lead to violence. “Fear, greed, power-hunger, rage: these are aspects of ourselves that we try not to experience in our lives but often want, even need, to experience vicariously through the story of others” (231). These are just basic human emotions. Some people never get to experience what any of these “bad” emotions are like because they are raised to view them as having negative impacts. Holding emotions back over time can have multiple side effects. People who are unable to vent can only do so by looking at and experiencing the rage of others from stories written about other