I personally think that the violence that goes on between teenagers have to do with the media and the messages and themes that are presented in video games, television, and music. According to the Indiana University School of Medicine, researchers say that kids who play a violent video games show an increase in emotion and a decrease in the brain areas that deal with self-control, frustration, and attention. The principle investigator on this study, Vince Mathews, said that he thinks parents should be know the effects of violent video games on the brain. He and a few other people conducted an experiment where there were two groups of kids and they were randomly assigned to play a game, one violent and the other not. After they were done, they got MRI's and the results showed that there was a negative effect on the brain on the kids that played the violent game, but the other game did not have a negative effect on the brain. The only unclear thing was that, the experimenters were not sure about the long lasting effects on the brain.

Personally, I think that parents should monitor what their children watch because it can have long lasting effects. You would not want your eight year old watching something like Jersey Shore. Next thing you know, your child is talking about how he or she needs to GTL...it's inappropriate! I think this should be done for younger kids, but once they reach a certain age, parents should allow them to have the freedom of choosing what shows they want to watch. From personal family experience, violent and inappropriate television shows cause violent behavior and actions in children.

With music, it's a little different. Usually when parents play music in the car, when kids are in public and around people, they sing the songs played. When my sister and brother were little, my step mother would play country music. It's not inappropriate, most of it has a good message, and she was fine with them singing those songs. Now that my sister is older, she wants to listen to 97.1 and my brother heard one song and repeated something very inappropriate. I don't think anyone wants to hear a six year old sing "ET" by Katy Perry. To my step mom and my dad, that was inappropriate. In 2003, study was done showing the effect of music on teenagers. It showed that hearing violent song lyrics, triggered angry thoughts. After they reach a certain age, parents should allow their children to listen to what they want and just be told not to repeat the lyrics or do any actions depicting the message they send. That's what I have to do when I'm in front of my little cousins, siblings, and other older relatives.

The actions and behavior committed by children and teenagers are effected by the things they watch, listen to, etc. Their behavior causes them to be judged by older adults, and in some cases, looked down upon by their peers. A few years ago, I sang this one song lyric, I don't remember what it was, and my friends mom heard me and got very angry that I had said it. It definitely has a lasting effect on the way your personality and how you are is perceived by other people.