We always wonder why bad things happen, maybe the answer is right in front of us but we are just too blind or naive to see it. Many would like to think that all people know the difference between right and wrong. The problem is that we grow up surrounded by bad things that are highly valued. The music we listen to, the things we watch and play are all things we find entertaining. Some people want to experience or experience these things because they admire them. As humans we learn from those around us, hence why we continue to support violent video games, violent movies, and sexual behaviors. Why do we continue to let children be surrounded by these things? We should have stricter rules on violence and sex because children are known to have a negative effect on this and we can do things to control these behaviors. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayViolent media has caused many harmful actions in the past. Devin Moore, an 18-year-old from Alabama, was arrested in 2003 for shooting and killing two police officers and a 911 officer before fleeing in a stolen police car. Devin's lawyers argue that this violent behavior is due to his excessive exposure to the video game Grand Theft Auto. This popular video game has achieved worldwide sales of nearly $2 billion. After the police caught Devin, he told them: "Life is like a video game. Everyone has to die sometime (Leung, 16)." Overexposure to violent media has given Devin Moore this mindset, the perspective that it is acceptable to kill police officers, steal cars, and act on a sudden impulse. Devin Moore is not the only teenager whose sensitivity towards violent crime has decreased due to high exposure to violent media, especially video games. The shooting deaths of two teenagers in Tennessee and the murder of six people in California are also both linked to the Grand Theft Auto game. Video games are not the only violent means exposed to young people through the media, television also makes a great contribution. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average American child will witness approximately 200,000 different acts of violence on TV by the time he or she turns eighteen (NCCEV, 1). Since most of these crimes are observed without parental supervision, children are not informed of the negative consequences of these acts. Scientific studies have shown that exposure to violence, including television, causes many immediate and long-term changes in the body. Examples of short-term changes are physiological arousal, which includes increased heart rate and blood pressure, and new facts and behaviors are exposed to those who witness violent crimes. Long-term exposure often reinforces these behaviors and lessens the negative connotation associated with violence. Since children's brains are not fully developed, they are extremely impressionable and are more likely to act on their sudden thoughts. Exposure to violent television is showing teens that violence is common, and these kids sometimes try to imitate what they just witnessed. One child who took action in response to a violent television show was Nathan Martinez. He was an eighteen-year-old boy who shot and killed his stepmother and stepsister. It is said that Martinez often watched the television series Natural Born Killers and watched it six more times before filming,when he imitated what he saw on the TV show (CAN, 1). Music has also become an important part of children and adolescents' lives. Music such as rap, rock and heavy metal often contains lyrics that describe violent actions. This type of music is becoming more and more mainstream and is often heard on the radio by young children. The provocative lyrics found in these songs contribute to the amount of violence found in currently popular music. This music not only alters listeners' opinions about what is morally acceptable and what is not, but also promotes violence towards those who listen to it. A study was conducted in 2003 by the American Psychological Association. This study demonstrated that violent lyrics in songs directly increase the listener's aggression-related thoughts and emotions (APA, 1). Those who listen to violent music are more likely to act impulsively in the time following listening to this music. Not only does the rhythm and tone of the music make it violent, but so does the meaning of the lyrics. The lyrics of the most popular rap songs describe shootings and other violent crimes, disrespect towards police and other authority figures, illegal activities, and vulgar sexual acts. Hearing this repeatedly through music is conditioning people of all ages to believe that this crude language and attitude is acceptable. Along with the violent music that is played, music videos are also shown. In 1998, students at Harvard University conducted a study on the amount of violence shown in television music videos. 76 music videos lasting two to three minutes were examined, and each video showed an average of six violent acts. The number of shootings, stabbings, and fights in these seventy-six music videos reached a total of 462. This study was conducted in 1998, and as society can probably tell, violence in the media has only increased. These frequently viewed music videos give teens visual cues on how to respond to violence and, in most cases, escape undetected. Video games, television, music and music videos are introducing and familiarizing violence into the adolescent brain. This constant coverage has been the cause of many violent consumer crimes in the past and if the trend of increasing aggressive media continues, the amount of violent acts due to violent media exposure will grow exponentially. If we want to present the idea that media violence and sex should have stricter regulations, we should also consider supporting evidence from studies of social learning and imitation. Supporting evidence in our case, of course, means evidence that proves the claim that humans, as social creatures, do in fact emulate the actions and ideas that they see and hear. Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura's famous "Bobo doll experiment" is an excellent example of the effects social learning and indirect conditioning have on children. In the original experiment, Bandura and his colleagues compared the effects on children of watching a real-life model, a human film, and a cartoon film that featured aggressive and nonaggressive behavior. After observing these behaviors, the children were taken to a room alone or accompanied by an adult to observe the effects that the presentations had on the children. To observe the effects, the children were told to simply play with the toys in the room, especially withthe Bobo doll. The Bobo doll, which was approximately the same size as the child, represented a hypothetical person. “Children who observed the aggressive models showed a large number of precisely imitative aggressive responses, whereas such responses rarely occurred in either the nonaggressive model group or the control group” (Bandura and Walters 61). Their results showed that the children in their experiment imitated behaviors that had been previously presented to them. The children who imitated the aggressive behaviors showed verbal and physical aggression towards the Bobo doll in a similar way to the person or movie they watched. Children who observed nonaggressive behavior calmly talked and played with the Bobo doll much like the person or movie they observed. Using these studies and the ideas of observational learning as a guide, we can clearly see how violence in the media and sex have impacted impressionable humans. Knowing the effects of observational learning, media content should be reformed to reduce the harmful psychological effects its content can have on people. An indisputable factor regarding imitation behavior, regardless of age, is the model that presents the behavior or idea. Role models, of course, differ throughout each person's life. Typically, a child's role models are his parents or other people in his immediate social context. Young children, however, are not our focus due to their role models, our focus is on older children, adolescents and impressionable young adults. "American children ages 2 to 18 spend an average of 6 hours and 32 minutes per day using media (television, commercial or self-recorded videos, movies, video games, print, radio, recorded music, computers, and the Internet) . )" (Haugen 16). Although young children can observe media as much as adolescents, identification is important in determining imitation patterns. Identification, with respect to human psychology, is the mechanism in humans that leads us to emulate the attributes or actions of role models around us. If you can imagine a person identifying with a negative role model in the media, can you see how this is potentially harmful? Everyone identifies with a role model regardless of who you are, but if a negative role model appeals to you, you would reflect their negative attributes as positive. The media does a good job of painting a picture of a seemingly good role model who actually has harmful attributes. There are "gimmicks" in the media that may or may not be encouraged, but still have an effect on teenagers and young adults. “Attractiveness is also assumed to extend the influence of the controller's power over a wide range of behaviors” (Bandura 95). An attractive or sexually attractive model can cause a person to identify with him in hopes of being more like him. For example, if every role model you presented featured aggressive behaviors, you would likely feel less cognitive dissonance from having these behaviors. Although some role models are attractive, their attractive physical qualities should not mask their negative attributes. Another "trick" is the way violence and sex are sometimes depicted in the plot of a video game or movie. If the violence and sex are necessary for the greater good of the character or the events that are happening, then the acts will be presented in a positive light. The pattern could be identified