Critical Argument Analysis
Critical Argument Analysis - Fantasy Violence
Laura Salter
ENG/215 – Effective Academic Writing
November 16, 2011 Critical Argument Analysis - Fantasy Violence
Children’s programming has been a bone of contention for a very long time. As a parent and a grandparent, the article from this week that caught my attention was “Bang, You’re Dead” by Sara Rimensnyder. Since my daughter was young in the 1980’s, I have worried about the declining quality of children’s programming and the possible negative affects it would have on impressionable children.
When I was a child, the worst violence on television was Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny with a shotgun, which Bugs always managed to turn on Elmer. However, the realism of video games and the violence in movies and on television gives parents even more to worry about now. Many studies have been done to determine what fantasy violence is doing to young children. These studies have been presented in many different articles, each with a different approach.
In “Cartoon Violence ‘Makes Children More Aggressive’” by Laura Clark and published in the British online newspaper Mail Online in 2009, the author explains the findings of a study performed at Iowa State University regarding children and cartoon programming. Explaining very little of the details of the study, Ms. Clark basically created a listing of the claims made by the researchers to catch the reader’s attention. These claims include that children’s cartoons contain more violence than programming aimed at older audiences, and can lead children to being more aggressive.
In addition, by adding the researchers’ claim that “children copied and identified with fantasy characters just as much as they would with screen actors” (Clark, 2009), Clark has compared cartoon violence to that in regular feature films. This makes the reader understand that even though the violence does not look like reality, it is just as bad. By using these claims, Ms. Clark is
Laura Salter
ENG/215 – Effective Academic Writing
November 16, 2011 Critical Argument Analysis - Fantasy Violence
Children’s programming has been a bone of contention for a very long time. As a parent and a grandparent, the article from this week that caught my attention was “Bang, You’re Dead” by Sara Rimensnyder. Since my daughter was young in the 1980’s, I have worried about the declining quality of children’s programming and the possible negative affects it would have on impressionable children.
When I was a child, the worst violence on television was Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny with a shotgun, which Bugs always managed to turn on Elmer. However, the realism of video games and the violence in movies and on television gives parents even more to worry about now. Many studies have been done to determine what fantasy violence is doing to young children. These studies have been presented in many different articles, each with a different approach.
In “Cartoon Violence ‘Makes Children More Aggressive’” by Laura Clark and published in the British online newspaper Mail Online in 2009, the author explains the findings of a study performed at Iowa State University regarding children and cartoon programming. Explaining very little of the details of the study, Ms. Clark basically created a listing of the claims made by the researchers to catch the reader’s attention. These claims include that children’s cartoons contain more violence than programming aimed at older audiences, and can lead children to being more aggressive.
In addition, by adding the researchers’ claim that “children copied and identified with fantasy characters just as much as they would with screen actors” (Clark, 2009), Clark has compared cartoon violence to that in regular feature films. This makes the reader understand that even though the violence does not look like reality, it is just as bad. By using these claims, Ms. Clark is
References: Clark, L. (2009, March 6). Cartoon violence 'makes children more aggressive '. Mail Online. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1159766/Cartoon-violence-makes-children-aggressive.html This article, appearing in a British online newspaper in 2009, explains the conclusions of a study performed at Iowa State University regarding children’s behavior after watching cartoons on television. Many children were questioned about their television viewing habits and the shows were rated on their violence content. The study found children’s programming contains more acts of aggression than shows aimed at older audiences. Great Schools. (2011). Violence and aggression: Media mayhem affects kids. Retrieved from http://www.greatschools.org/students/media-kids/509-violence-and-aggression-media-mayhem-affects-kids.gs This article explains that children imitate what they see on television and video games. As children see violent images over and over, it becomes more of an acceptable way of life. The article has important statistics and advice for parents to help avoid over-exposure of fantasy violence. Wilson, B. J. (2008, Spring). Media and children 's aggression, fear, and altruism. Children and Electronic Media, 18(1). Retrieved from http://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=32&articleid=58§ionid=265&submit Written from a scientific approach, this article by Barbara J. Wilson takes a close look at how media violence affects children. She comes to the conclusion that it is the type of violence children see, rather than how much time they spend watching it. In the article, Ms. Wilson offers ways for parents to mold their children’s impressions of the violent acts seen on television, in movies, and in video games.