Draft 3

Steve Smart Persuasive Writing

Media is a powerful tool that delivers messages to the masses. To be cliché, like every power it is expected to come with responsibility. Video games and music are two platforms of media that deliver messages to millions. There are many individuals who believe media is responsible for delivering appropriate messages that follow society’s codes of conduct and morals. These individuals are wrong, media’s only responsibility is to itself; media’s job is to sell what the consumer wants to buy. Furthermore using media as a scapegoat for the action’s of any individual is absurd, allowing this trend to continue will lead to individuals holding no responsibility for their action. Everyone wants to point the finger of blame elsewhere, but the reality is there should never be anyone to blame except you.

Video games have been the blame of a lot of actions as of recent. Kieran Penrice reports in her article “Why violence is fine but sex in out for game consoles” the phrase “Grand Theft Auto made me do it” has become all too common. The article talks about the unfair targeting of the video game medium since the Colombine Shootings. It doesn’t make sense that a handful of individuals who play a game can suddenly represent society, and what the game is doing to young individuals. Colombine involved two individuals who had many other problems outside of playing video games, there were millions of other players of Doom who did not commit murder. The blame goes everywhere than where it should. For starters how were these weapons acquired, logically this seems like the most important idea to tackle. In another article, a 14 year old boy obsessed with Grand Theft Auto, ending up killing 3 individuals in his home. Thankfully the court system has proven that the game is no reason for an individual to commit criminal activity and the boy was sentenced. Angry parents now take alternative routes such as suing the developers themselves. They question the morals of the game, but can’t answer how the child got a hold of the game. They say the game is the cause of murder, but there’s no mention of how a 14 year old might get access to a gun.

Video games have been tested by medical organizations such as the APA to study its effects. A common report is an increase in aggression of kids who play violent video games. Christopher Barlett a psychologist at Kansas state university reports this in his findings. The problem in these studies is the explanation of the data. There have been no links between playing video games and acting violently. Robert D. Richards and Clay Calvert are professors at Pennsylvania State University they state how aggression is not the same thing as violence and correlation does not equal causation. Simply put you cannot legitimately jump to the conclusion that video games make people violent, from a study that shows an increase aggression. There have also been studies in some cases of individuals who exhibit physical addiction symptoms from playing video games. This all goes back to responsibility, and who’s in charge. If someone is not fit mentally to play a game, then don’t let allow it to happen. If someone has a literal addiction to a video game, then treat them and limit their uses. It’s ridiculous however, that activists present a small percent of individuals and use them as reasoning as to why the masses should be censored.

Music, similarly to video games is used as a scapegoat for individuals actions and problems in society. Eminem is one artist who was an open target for the media. He’s been accused of teaching kids racism, hatred, sexism, violence, and the list goes on. It’s no question young kids can easily be influenced, and we as people try to protect their innocence as long as possible. Eminem’s constant rebuttal is he is not the parent of these children. He should be able to express himself artistically without activists trying to take away freedom of speech at every chance they get. He questions in one song titled “Who Knew” he’d be a lot more capable of being less controversial if he was blind to the world around him. He questions why anyone cares about a possible sexist view in his song, when you have to look no further than Monica Lewinsky to know what he’s talking about. Finally his sentiments are best expressed in one line of the song Who Knew “but don’t blame me when little Eric jumps off the terrace. You should’ve been watching him, apparently you aint parents.

So who is to blame? If the media is not responsible then who is, this is the question that arises. The answer is simple, parents at the forefront of this, the government and schools as well as society. Media’s responsibility is to sell what people want to buy. If people didn’t buy violence and sex there wouldn’t be any games or music created for it. Furthermore these concepts were not invented by the media it’s a reflection of the real world. Granted the media may not be helping the cause, but that should not be the media’s concern. Get rid of sex and violence from society before bashing media for it. Parents’ should educate their children on these matters, and be aware of what their purchasing. If necessary even school can educate children on the effects of violence, sex, etc. Teaching morals and ethics is a good step in guiding younger individuals into making appropriate decisions by themselves.

Music and video games introduce overwhelming amounts of ideals, and customs. A vast majority of them are negative, whether it’s a reflection of society or whether this is what the people want, so media gives it to them is irrelevant. What matters is that it exists, and from here responsible actions need to be taken by individuals. Parents, schools, society, the individual, and a long list of others should all be taking the blame before the media. Music and videogames should be the last in line for taking the blame, there job is to sell, nothing more nothing less.