Comic Books Effects on Children
History 129 research paper
11/8/11 1,282 words
What if I were to tell you that we could fix all of society’s problems today by getting rid of one of our most profitable media outlets and national past-times? You might ask which media outlet I’m talking about and that is comic books. Comic books have always received flak when it came to how influential they are to children, with scenes of graphic violence, criminal acts of mischief, and over-bearing sexual exploits. Many parents, schools, and communities have also noticed some of the crazy things that go on in comic books and have banded together to try and ban them because they are in fear that these comic books are poisoning our children’s minds to make them believe that committing criminal acts of robbery, sexual violence, and murder is okay to do and not frowned upon in society. But these claims are very over-the-top, how could one child from a family that established the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior think that it is ok to do such things? How could he go from a contributing member of society to a socio-path who goes around killing and raping people? It’s just such an extreme to think that such a thing could happen. Most kids, at least the ones that I know, understand that comic books aren’t real and that you can’t go around like the Joker in Batman and unleash your evil will on Gotham City. To me, I believe that comic books aren’t the main factor of children acting in a juvenile manner because you cannot blame delinquency on one problem itself. I believe delinquency starts with how well the parent taught their kid, how important schooling is to that individual, and what type of community they grew up in. Comic Books are not the sole contributor to delinquency in juveniles.
To say that comic books are the reason as to why juvenile kids act out is utterly preposterous. Could it not be linked to the fact because of the way they were raised by their parents, how important a role their
11/8/11 1,282 words
What if I were to tell you that we could fix all of society’s problems today by getting rid of one of our most profitable media outlets and national past-times? You might ask which media outlet I’m talking about and that is comic books. Comic books have always received flak when it came to how influential they are to children, with scenes of graphic violence, criminal acts of mischief, and over-bearing sexual exploits. Many parents, schools, and communities have also noticed some of the crazy things that go on in comic books and have banded together to try and ban them because they are in fear that these comic books are poisoning our children’s minds to make them believe that committing criminal acts of robbery, sexual violence, and murder is okay to do and not frowned upon in society. But these claims are very over-the-top, how could one child from a family that established the difference between acceptable and unacceptable behavior think that it is ok to do such things? How could he go from a contributing member of society to a socio-path who goes around killing and raping people? It’s just such an extreme to think that such a thing could happen. Most kids, at least the ones that I know, understand that comic books aren’t real and that you can’t go around like the Joker in Batman and unleash your evil will on Gotham City. To me, I believe that comic books aren’t the main factor of children acting in a juvenile manner because you cannot blame delinquency on one problem itself. I believe delinquency starts with how well the parent taught their kid, how important schooling is to that individual, and what type of community they grew up in. Comic Books are not the sole contributor to delinquency in juveniles.
To say that comic books are the reason as to why juvenile kids act out is utterly preposterous. Could it not be linked to the fact because of the way they were raised by their parents, how important a role their
Bibliography: Frederic. M Thrasher, “The Comics and Delinquency: Cause or Scapegoat?” Journal of Educational Sociology, Vol. 23, No. 4 (Dec., 1949), pp. 195-205.