Is the media to blame for the increasing involvement of the youth in violence?

Is the media to blame for the increasing involvement of the youth in violence?
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Introduction
In the contemporary society, violence among the youth has increased tremendously resulting into debates and controversy on the likely cause of violent behavior among the youth. It has become common to hear news on the media about brutal killings caused by high school students and robberies committed by young people. It is argued that there must be a driving force that has led to the increased valence among young people. The mass media has been accused of being the sole contributor in promoting violence among teenagers through its programs which glorify violence such as thriller and horror films, games and some advertisements which promote goods and services using violent images. The question as to whether the mass media is to blame for the increased rate of violence among the youth leads to the need for critical analysis and reasoning on the contribution of the media to violence as opposed to other factors such as the social environment and psychosocial determinants of aggression.
There are many forms of violence that has been observed among the youth today including bullying of fellow students in school and even robbery of the local shops by teenagers. Many scientific studies have been conducted on the impact of mass media on the violent behavior of the youth with conclusions which assert that the consumption of mass media contribute to the increasing rates of violence among young people (Brocato, Gentile, Laczniak, Maier & Ji-Song, 2010). However some other studies have opposed the media theory on youth violence. This illustrates that the issue of media and violence is obviously a contentious issue in the modern society. Some parents deny their children the privileges of watching media programs because they fear that it would have a negative impact on their behavior. However, it is not logical to conclude that the mass media is the sole contributor to the violent acts caused by the young people in the modern day society. This is because there are some social, legal, political and economic factors which would be blamed for the increased violent behavior among young people (Krahé, Möller, Huesmann, Kirwil, Felber & Berger, 2011).
The fact that environmental factors such as witnessing a violent activity by a young person would lead to aggressive behavior of the individual rules out the media as the sole influencing factor on aggression among teenagers (Jones, Cunningham & Gallagher, 2010). Some children are brought up in aggressive environments where violent acts seem to be part of the normal daily events. Even if such children are not exposed to media programs such as action films, they are likely to be violent either in the current period or later in life. However a violent environment could be catalyzed by consumption of violent media leading to the participation of a young person in criminal activities such as robbery.
The impact of the media on teenage behavior follows two divergent paths. The young person may develop a dislike for the violence portrayed by media programs or have admiration for the violent acts which usually leads to aggressive behavior (Dahl & Dellavigna, (2009). This therefore demonstrates that the impact of the media on violent behavior of the youth depends on the perception of the individual and the interpretation of the acts which are shown on the mass media. This is congruent to the impact of the social environment of a child on aggressive behavior. For example a child who experiences domestic violence is likely to be violent or to have a resentment of violent behavior. From these arguments, it is evident that the consumption of the media does not automatically lead to violent behavior. Hence the aggression and involvement of young people in crime within the contemporary society should not be blamed on the media. On the other hand research has demonstrated that the mass media influences the behavior of young people (Krahé, Möller, Huesmann, Kirwil, Felber & Berger, 2011). This therefore means that the media has a contribution to the violent acts which have become common among young people in the modern society.
The violence in society in which is caused by young people should be evaluated by researchers in consideration of the social background of the individual, character and the identity of that person rather than assuming that the media has a large share in the facilitating the violent acts of the youth. Moreover, studies done on the impact of the media on the violent behavior of young people apply the conservative ideologies that the media has negative impacts on the behavior of young people (Brocato, Gentile, Laczniak, Maier & Ji-Song, 2010). A critical study should therefore use adults as a control group so that accurate inferences are made to determine whether the media has a contribution to the modern involvement of the youth in various criminal activities. Arguably, what is considered to be violent behavior may not be perceived as such by a young viewer hence the consumption of violent media by itself does not mean that it would lead to violence in the real world. This means that the manner in which young viewers perceive the media influences the direction of the influence of those programs on their lives.
The media programs which portray scenes where people are murdered, people hunting each other and rape have contributed to the violence among the youth today (Jones, Cunningham & Gallagher, 2010). Despite the guidance and discipline that parents impart on their children, the modern media has demonstrated negative values such as revenge and torture through the many programs which are easily accessible to the young people. When the youth watch violent scenes for a prolonged period, they start viewing aggression as a normal way of life hence contributing to the increasing involvement of the youth in crimes such as homicide in the modern times (Krahé, Möller, Huesmann, Kirwil, Felber & Berger, 2011). It is agreeable that violent acts are continuously being fed into the heads of young people through the mass media via the internet, movies and news but it cannot be ruled out that the media is the sole facilitator of the crimes committed by young people in the modern times. This is so because consumption of the...