According to much of the research I was able to find, there does seem to be a correlational relationship between the exposure to violence in the media and aggression in real-life. The studies that I read through found that the more one is exposed to violence, whether it be in television, films, music or video games, results in an increase in probability of aggressive behavior being displayed. In addition, the violence in media can increase both mild and sever forms of aggression and violence with short term and long term effects. Finding causal relationship between violent media and aggressive attitudes or behaviors proved to be slightly more challenging, at least for the studies I looked at. An individual acting out on the aggressive attitudes …show more content…
Parents who are concerned with the amount of violence their children are exposed to can limit what their children see on television or in films via parental control settings as well as supervise and monitor the kinds of media their offspring take in. I also think parents can accomplish this without being incredibly restrictive. For example, I know one mother who uses the parental control settings for the television and reads every book before she allows her daughter to read it. She does not however, restrict music, movies or video games as the daughter is not much of a video game player. She is more of a basketball player. I think it is really all about balance and what the parent thinks their child can handle. Some children can handle graphic content better than others and it depends on the individual’s own comfort level. Parents can educate their children in how the violence they see in the media is exaggerated, unrealistic and dramatized in order to increase viewership. Some of the research even suggests that doing this very thing is effective in reducing aggressive