Running Head: Capstone 1
Media Violence 5
Mass Shooting in Uvalde, Texas. U.S. 2022
Since the rampage in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022, there have been over a hundred mass shootings in the United States. Every day, at least four shootings occurred, and the media broadcasted the gunshots. The horrific news overwhelmed and terrified youngsters as they watched the tragedies unfold day after day. Also, the media did not make it difficult to broadcast the news, no matter how awful it appeared. This frequently exposed children to frightening news and information about gun incidentss and deaths. Irrespective of how the news looked tragic, the media did not hesitate to broadcast scary news as a matter of urgency and the need to keep the public informed (Anderson & Bushman, 2018). The disturbing news content catalyzed a lot fear among most children as they could hardly avoid being on terms with reality. The media, therefore shaped the news as all-inclusive, and everyone, disregarding of their age, was worth engaging in it. However the information portrayed created tension among many people.
Parents and caregivers were very unhappy about the events broadcasted and did not know how they were to approach their children to explain to them the unspeakable. Parents were happy that the minds of their children were occupied with tragic imagery. They are in a big dilemma that no matter how hard they try to shield their children against the news, they will have to come across them at one time or the other. This also created tension among many authority seeking answers on who should protect children against tragic events and stories. Most of them noted that gun violence has become common and when exposed to these coverages, children become worried about their safety. Most people were unhappy about how the events were being portrayed because they thought that it was not suitable for the well-being of most children (Han et al, 2020). In addition, they were against not considering who was watching, age, and time because they thought the news could have been aired late at night when most children could not access it.
As a result, people started to create movements against coverage of such tragic news and media violence on young children. They also created movements to demand that the child’s age matters concerning media coverage. Children get scared when they watch stories and events that are disturbing. Philosophers developed a movement to protect children because they possess perceptual dependence, where they respond to stimuli regarding how they look, sound, or feel (Han et al, 2020). They also emphasized that children are more likely to be frightened by events that look scary but, in the real sense, are harmful than those that are truly attractive but harmful. Psychologists also developed movements to help children to cope with the situation. They urged parents to offer reassuring messages to their children that the shootings are just rare. They also emphasized cognitive and noncognitive strategies to help children of different ages. These movements were influenced by the need to ensure that children are protected from the media violence being portrayed day in and day out.
In other parts of the world, like Asia and Africa, people thought that we were living in times when gun violence had become too common. They, therefore think that no matter how much we would love to live in a violence-free media era, we have to come to the reality that it is hard to avoid some things in the contemporary world. Traditionally, tragic incidents were not being reported unless done in the late hours, but nowadays, things have changed (Anderson, & Bushman, 2018). However, some feel that the coverage is against children’s rights because it instills fear of strange happenings. They thought that children should be protected against anything that can cause anxiety in them because some of the events can cause disorder. The story created a heated debate due to differences in ideas. As much as some thought that the news was violent, others thought it was a way of life that people should come to light with.
The events were seen in graphic on other social media platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Twitter. The media platforms contained comprehensive details combining videos and pictures. The gunshots were scary and just like what was portrayed on television the platforms were also violent to children. Although most people think young children have no contact with these information systems, researchers discovered that children discover most information from these platforms (Anderson & Bushman 2018). YouTube enhanced scary information by providing videos of the gunshots with many death events. The information seemed very frightening when viewed in all other seen media.. As much as one could have thought that some of the details could have been keppt away from public access, the informed outlets made it even clearer how the situation was.
Reference
Anderson, C. A., & Bushman, B. J. (2018). Media violence and the general aggression model.
Journal of Social Issues,
74(2),
Han, L., Xiao, M., Jou, M., Hu, L., Sun, R., & Zhou, Z. (2020). The long-term effect of media violence exposure on aggression of youngsters.
Computers in human behavior,
106,
