Media influences on children and adolescents: violence and sex” --Journal of the National Medical Association

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2594155

A look at the influences of violence, sex, drugs, and alcohol in the media. This article speaks mostly against the amount of violence in media and its prevalence in current research. It is written by many medical professionals that feel that the influences of media play into a patients’ history. “Pediatricians and health care workers should incorporate media exposure probes into the developmental history of their patients and become knowledgeable about the effects of medial influences on youth.”

The article supported my belief that even though the media is not the source of the issue, it is only helping to sustain the problem at hand. “Although there are additional causes of violent behavior other than television, television viewing adds to factors that may already be present. Television serves as a supplement to further ingrain the use of violence as an acceptable form of conflict resolution.”

I’m finding in my research that there is more correlation between violence and TV rather than having a lot of correlations between sex and TV. This fact influences where I will take my stand on the argument seeing as that belief may prove only to be an opinion of mine. I originally wanted to focus more on the sexual side of media, which I do still believe is an issue, but it is much harder to find substantial facts on that. Even if it is merely an opinion, it still is one I hold to strongly, but I cannot argue something solely based on my opinion. I need something to back it up. I may only end up arguing the violent side of media.