Television Violence is the Lidocaine of Normal Social Behavior

     For the past few years, the debate about whether violent television shows cause young viewers to act violently has been boiling and is now bubbling even more to the surface. On the one hand, producers and viewers alike use the evidence that while many children are exposed to violent imagery every day through cop shows, video games, etc. only a small portion actually become killers.   
    Yet, new scientific studies are beginning to show evidence to the contrary. A recent cohort study published in Pediatrics: the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, "used regression analysis to investigate the associations between television viewing hours from ages 5 to 15 years and criminal convictions, violent convictions, diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder, and aggressive personality traits in early adulthood." The statistically significant data showed that watching excessive amounts of violent television (more than 2 hours a day) did tend to lead towards antisocial behaviors - though not necessarily violent ones - later in life.
    I can see the merits of either side of the argument. I recently watched a violent movie, Righteous Kill, with Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro, about "two cops who are hunting a serial killer murdering sociopathic criminals." As the description suggests, there was more than a little violence in the form of shootings, fist fights and verbal aggression. The most interesting thing I took away from this movie, aside from the moral issues regarding "righteous killing," whether a murderer deserves to die, was that I was fairly numbed to the violence. I watched a man die in a shoot-out and practically cheered because it was the last of six instances for which I had to code the movie. Yes, this killing was acted out, so the rational side of me could watch without empathy because I knew the actor did not really die. And I think this is the argument of many, that the audience should know that what they're seeing is not exactly real life, so they shouldn't try to emulate it.
   The problem is, while television shows or video games don't EXACTLY show real life, they do portray many people's imagination of violence. Particularly important is to look at Social Learning Theory in regards to young viewers' reaction to what they see. A boy may watch a movie in which someone instigates a fight, and especially if the boy watches programs like this often, he may go to school, have an altercation with another student, and think its ok to fight with the other student because he saw someone else (an adult) do it on TV.
    Under even more scrutiny are violent video games because gamers are the ones actually carrying out the acts of violence. I have played Halo and Call of Duty every once in a while with some of my friends, and found myself yelling at the screen "die!!" followed by strings of expletives when I don't kill my target. Especially young kids could potentially see a gun, not think of it as a necessarily harmful object because they've used them in video games and think they can in real life, and harm or even kill someone accidentally.
   Personally, my biggest problem with violent content is the numbness it can cause. It causes people to be able to watch death without cringing, which sounds pretty soulless. And the numbness also can cause people to pick up a weapon without as much care as needed leading to potential problems such as accidental shootings or even purposeful shootings when the perpetrator was numb to what he or she was actually doing. This is what I would define as radical anti-social behaviors (more powerful than those discussed in the study), versus more normal anti-social behavior, such as social awkwardness, caused by a numbness towards people from watching violent content.
    I don't think there is necessarily a reason to regulate viewable content as a nation. People should be able to watch what they want. But, I think people should be mindful of what they're watching so that the numbness won't creep in, so they can stay socially adept.