Violence is everywhere you look, from the TV, the movie theater, the video game store, to the top ten music charts. No wonder the murder rates in cities like Detroit, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri are so high. We may not even realize it, but even the seemingly harmless cartoons that our youth watch contain violence and may be affecting them. It seems obvious that there should be greater restrictions as to what children can see, but such restrictions are not constitutionally lawful.

To begin, one of the largest contributors to media violence is television shows and movies. The problem with this is much larger than it may appear. In the “Hollywood” version of violence, everything is glamorized to interest the viewer. In many shows or movies, the killer often gets away without any punishment for their crime. Also, think about the cartoons that your little brother or sister watches all the time. On average, those cartoons display 20 acts of violence per hour. When a child sees their favorite cartoon character do something violent, they will want to copy it because it’s someone they look up to. Even worse, most of these acts are committed in a humorous manner; as a result, desensitizing the viewer. If a child gets accustomed to laughing when someone gets hurt on TV, they may start to react the same way in a real life situation. Another cause of media violence is rap music. Often, a common topic for many rappers to write about is guns, violence, and killing. This is a problem because since the rappers are celebrities, and they obviously have fans. These fans look up to the rappers and want to be just like them. When they are rapping about how great guns are and how they just killed a police officer, their fans will want to do the same. Another huge cause of media violence is video games. Many video games put the player first hand into a war scene or a police chase and put them right into the killers’ shoes. In order to succeed, the player must be very extreme and violent. All of these and more contribute to the cause of media violence.

As a result, television, movies, raps, and video games, affect children’s behavior. When young children are exposed to screen violence such as movies or TV, their behavior is negatively affected. Many children will get the idea that violence is an acceptable means of problem solving. In a 2003 research study, 47% of children ages 4-6 have imitated one or more negative behaviors they saw on television. Also, in another study, a child with disruptive behavior disorder tried to stab someone with a ballpoint pen after viewing Clint Eastwood’s, “In the Line of Fire”, where a similar scene took place.

Not only do screen media affect children, but rap music does as well. Many critics believe that rap music leads to itemizing women and glorifying guns. It will influence children when rappers talk about explicit ideas and how killing is a good and fun means of problem solving. They also give children the idea that they won’t get caught if they commit violence, and if a cop comes after them, it would be a good idea to kill them, like in Body Count’s 1992 song, “Cop Killer”. If violent raps and other music are listened to repeatedly, children will be led to think that violence is accepted in society.

Furthermore, the effects of video games on children are very bad. Video games such as “Grand Theft Auto”, “Call of Duty: Black Ops”, and “Halo” put the player, first hand, into a police chase, war scene, etc. where they are put into the killer’s shoes. Games such as these teach kids how to be violent and escape punishment, as well as expose them to graphic injuries, which will desensitize them. As a result of playing video games, two teen-age boys randomly shot at cars, killing one person and injuring another. They credited the shooting to a scene from “Grand Theft Auto III”. As proven, television, movies, rap, and video games all negatively affect children.

Granted that violence in the media does negatively affect children and cause them to be more violent, by law, the government has done all it can to protect kids. Freedom of expression is protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The First Amendment states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” If the government did step in by censoring, it would be unlawful. On the other hand, some see otherwise. They believe that the First Amendment is being taken advantage of and misinterpreted. By the constitution saying that the people have free speech, they think that if something is harming the citizens, the government should have the authority to censor it. However, the government already has restrictions in place to keep children from seeing what they shouldn’t, and it’s done without censoring of any kind. The government put movie ratings into place. If a movie is rated “PG”, it is suggested that children view with an adult. If a movie is rated “PG-13”, it may have some violence, and any children under the age of thirteen must be accompanied by an adult. Movies rated “R”, are often very violent and graphic, and anyone under the age of seventeen needs an adult to get in. The most restricted movie rating is “NC-17”, which is not very common. Anyone under the age of seventeen will not be allowed to see it at a theater. While this does provide some closure, many say it’s still too easy for kids to get their hands on violence. However, the government has done all they can do.

To conclude, media violence is a serious issue and it does affect many children who view it. Although kids shouldn’t be allowed to see, listen to, or play many of the things that they do, the government has no business censoring violence. It would be breaking the Constitution. If people want more protection for children, it has to come from the parents or guardians of the child.