Media Violence Research Paper
On April 20, 1999, in the moderately sized town of
Littleton, Colorado, at approximately 11:20 a.m., two young men, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, stormed into
Columbine High School. No more than twenty minutes later, 15 people were dead, including the two of them, and another twenty-three wounded (Gibbs 28-29). Knowing that the duo are teenagers, and probably played many violent video games and watched hundreds of violent shows, people immediately began to blame the media, and the violence that these young men had been exposed to by it. But is it the media that is to blame for all these deaths? Is it violent movies, television shows, music, and video games that made these two, and other killers like them, do what they did? In this …show more content…
Schools: 60% Very/Somewhat likely 40% Not very likely/Not at all likely. Violence in news: 56% Very/Somewhat likely 44% Not very likely/Not at all likely. Violence in
Movies, TV and Music: 66% Very/Somewhat likely 34% Not very likely/Not at all likely. Violence in Video Games: 56%
Very/Somewhat likely 44% Not very likely/Not at all likely.
This survey showed that, for the most part, teens believe that all of the possibilities listed are pretty much to blame for
Columbine, but it wasn 't violence in various forms that was thought to be the most likely cause, it was the availability of guns to the duo that was to blame. Before researching this paper, I didn 't really believe that media violence, in it 's many forms, was to blame for killings like Columbine. I had been exposed to many of the same things that all these kids had, I played Doom, Quake and
Mortal Kombat, I listened to bands like Limp Bizkit, Korn, Kid
Rock, Tupac and Nirvana, I saw movies like Natural Born
Killers and Basketball Diaries. So how could people try to blame these for what happened at Columbine? I always figured that the kids were just messed up in the head, and the
Littleton, Colorado, at approximately 11:20 a.m., two young men, Eric Harris, 18, and Dylan Klebold, 17, stormed into
Columbine High School. No more than twenty minutes later, 15 people were dead, including the two of them, and another twenty-three wounded (Gibbs 28-29). Knowing that the duo are teenagers, and probably played many violent video games and watched hundreds of violent shows, people immediately began to blame the media, and the violence that these young men had been exposed to by it. But is it the media that is to blame for all these deaths? Is it violent movies, television shows, music, and video games that made these two, and other killers like them, do what they did? In this …show more content…
Schools: 60% Very/Somewhat likely 40% Not very likely/Not at all likely. Violence in news: 56% Very/Somewhat likely 44% Not very likely/Not at all likely. Violence in
Movies, TV and Music: 66% Very/Somewhat likely 34% Not very likely/Not at all likely. Violence in Video Games: 56%
Very/Somewhat likely 44% Not very likely/Not at all likely.
This survey showed that, for the most part, teens believe that all of the possibilities listed are pretty much to blame for
Columbine, but it wasn 't violence in various forms that was thought to be the most likely cause, it was the availability of guns to the duo that was to blame. Before researching this paper, I didn 't really believe that media violence, in it 's many forms, was to blame for killings like Columbine. I had been exposed to many of the same things that all these kids had, I played Doom, Quake and
Mortal Kombat, I listened to bands like Limp Bizkit, Korn, Kid
Rock, Tupac and Nirvana, I saw movies like Natural Born
Killers and Basketball Diaries. So how could people try to blame these for what happened at Columbine? I always figured that the kids were just messed up in the head, and the