Responsibility and blame in contemporary contexts

¶ … Blame?

Do you believe the media or the Internet is/are responsible for real-life violence? Why or why not?

When looking at real life violence, it is clear that the media and the Internet are playing an important part. This is because; both types of mediums can expose people to wide variety of content that is containing these kinds of images. Evidence of this can be seen with a report by the U.S. Surgeon General. They found that 61% of television programs contain some form of violence. ("Media Violence") This is problematic, because it is exposing children to tremendous amounts of this type of content. At which point, they will become somewhat desensitized to these issues and could possibly begin acting like what they are seeing on television.

To confirm these points-of-view, a study that was conducted by Penn State University. They found that 65% of students were initially affected by the violence that they were seeing on TV. What made the underlying situation worse is that many of these children were influenced even more so by: the images they saw on a regular basis. The reason why, is because this allowed many of them to understand and sympathize with what was being shown. Over the course of time, this increased their propensity to violence by exposing them to even more amounts. At which point, many of these individuals thought that this was a normal part of reacting to the images that they were seeing. This is significant, because it is illustrating how this would have a major influence on the kinds of violence that is taking place. As, those people who would see this on a regular basis, began to become more influenced by the images that they saw on television. At which point, they assumed that this is the most effective way for dealing with a host of situations. (Funk 23 -- 39)

However, at the same time the Internet has been playing an equally important role, in helping to contribute to the underlying amounts of violence. In this particular case, many individuals will find fanatics and websites online that will help them to become more violent. Part of the reason for this, is because many of these websites that they visiting have people that are: willing to talk with sympathetic individuals and give them ideas about how someone can be able to commit these acts. Evidence of this can be seen with Krueger (2010), who found that the Internet is a place where many people will turn to for finding like-minded support. At which point, they will become more inclined to engage in these actions. (Krueger 147-150)

To corroborate these views, CBS News is reporting how the Internet is also leading to a new form of violence against others (cyber bullying). This is when students will gang up and harass someone online. The basic idea behind this kind of violence is to intimidate someone well beyond when they leave the school or the classroom. As a result, a shift has occurred in how these people are reacting to different situations with: some of the victims committing suicide. This is significant, because it is showing how the overall levels of violence on the Internet is now being directed outward. Where, someone can be influenced to engage in violence and they can use it as a weapon to attack someone verbally. ("Suicidal Teen was Cyber Bullied")