For years, and years to come, Mass Media’s impact on adolescents has been a topic discussed largely among the educated members of today’s society, whether that be the supposed violence ruining children’s brains in video games such as Call Of Duty or shows like Breaking Bad making drug addicts look cool or “rad” and/or appealing.
Through the 1950s arguments have been made that comics insert violent thoughts into the brains of young minds, these arguments were debunked by 1954 when the Comics Code Authority was formed, and each comic was moderated heavily before being published; however this issue of media stunting growth was taken up again in the late 1970s when video games rose to popularity among teenagers.
In my opinion, the aforementioned media sources have no real mental impact on anyone, unless intended to, I can vouch for most games for I indulge in them myself, a specific one being Valorant, a first person shooting game, which has its fair share of blood but it hasn’t really affected me. Games like Marvel’s Spider Man 2018 on the Playstation, while having multiple fight scenes do not specifically “damage” the minds of its consumers and have little-to-no effect psychologically; on the other hand games like GTA V have grotesque and gruesome fight scenes with high resolution graphics making each intricate detail look so real, it may just seriously mentally damage someone under the age of 18 permanently.
With everything being digital nowadays from education to entertainment, everybody needs to be on The Internet, teenagers especially, and with the internet having minimal restrictions and censorship said teenagers may get exposed to bad pieces of media such as the new Velma show on HBO Max (which in the name of diversity has turned every pre existing character from Scooby Doo into a different race, minority, or sexual orientation making space for racist/sexist remarks or quirky one liners which most viewers despise for sending out bad messages to the younger generation), however this can be easily avoided by simply learning how the internet works and ignoring the media which has negative reviews.
In a Nutshell -
Mass Media has no real negative impact on the minds of the younger generation, but it can if it has to, and in order to avoid the negative effects it is essential for said young internet users and media indulgers to be careful and have their know-how of the internet peak.
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