Mass media significantly contributed to many social problems of modern society and negatively influenced several generations. While mass media continuously creates deep underlying social problems by promoting consumerism and focusing on capitalist values, it also directly threatens the population’s safety, as it influences crime rates through normalizing violence. The presence of excessive amounts of violence in media such as television, videogames, and online space led to an increased number of cases of aggressive behavior and promoted the use of firearms. In addition to normalizing violence, the mass media also contributed to increased violence among youth. According to Paulsen and Grossman (2021), youth homicides increased by 33% from 2013 to 2017, making homicides and suicides the dominant death cause among youth. Many experts connect the issue with the popularity of video games that feature firearms and violence as gaming elements.
However, there could be other more accurate causes of the social problems of increased violence among youth. With the high interference of technology in modern society through communication devices and social media exposure, teenagers’ mental health is constantly overexerted, which often results in depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. Moreover, social media facilitated bullying, which caused a rise in cyberbullying cases, with one in five high school students (19%) being bullied in school (Paulsen & Grossman, 2021). Mental illnesses and poverty, substance abuse, and access to weapons all contribute to the level of violence. Therefore, it could be that violence in mass media now has less impact on violence among youth. Furthermore, social media and its pressure on adolescents’ mental health could be a more accurate cause than the normalization of violence from mass media.
References
Paulsen, K., & Grossman, D. (2021). Media violence and youth aggression. In V.C. Strasburger (Ed.), Kids and today’s media: A careful analysis and scrutiny of the problems. (pp. 85-97). Rowman & Littlefield.