Hippies - Informative

           In the 1960's, young people questioned America's materialism and cultural and political norms, much as they've always done.  Seeking a better world, some used music, politics, and alternative lifestyles to create what came to be known as the hippies’ counterculture. The hippies’ solutions to the problems of institutionalized American society were to either participate in mass protests with their alternative lifestyles and radical beliefs or drop out of society completely. Americans in that era faced many controversial issues-from civil rights, the Vietnam War, nuclear arms, and the environment to drug use, sexual freedom, and nonconformity.(lisa law,pp1)

The origin of hippies ‘ history can be traced back to period of beat generation and the invention of a psychedelic drug known to be LSD(Lysergic acid diethylamide) which played an important role in the birth and growth of hippies movement across the states. Beat generation represented a group of American writers who did experimentation with drugs and alternative forms of sexuality. They were inspired by the love of the eastern religions and spirituality and hatred for materialism. Their writings were mostly focused on obscenity and liberation of the youth from the conventional way of living which ultimately made them into youth cultural heroes.

The second major influential element that caused the arousal of hippies was LSD which was first synthesized on November 16, 1938 by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland as part of a large research program searching for medically useful ergot alkaloid derivatives. First when it was created its use was restricted to laboratory tests for its hidden potentials. Doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists and CIA officials took special interest in its ability to alter the human mind which they thought if used smartly could have positive consequences on their work while dealing with patients or suspects. But unfortunately it was triggered in the wrong hands and flourished among the general public. This powerful drug when used by the public they were surprised and heavily endorsed by the pleasure that it gives. LSD is considered an entheogen because it can catalyze intense spiritual experiences, during which users may feel they have come into contact with a greater spiritual or cosmic order. This new experience led them to the utopian world which consequently alienated them from the rest of the society and stuffed them with hatred for the capitalist way of living.

Enchanted by the beatniks’ philosophy of life and endorsed with the drug propagated spirituality, the youth between the age of 15-25 found its new way of living. But it wasn’t until January 21^st 1966 that the hippie movement was launched in Haight-Ashbury district in San Francisco where the Trip festival was organized ensuring the LSD for its consumers and some hippie musical concerts. Where tens of thousands of young people participated with their colorful dresses. This established them as a new counter culture because not only their dressing style, music, dance and behavior were very different from the general American people but they were the strong opposition of the authority.

Hippies’ dressed up in colorful clothes. They wore bell-bottomed pants and brightly colored t-shirts. They didn’t care about the fashion at all and had long loose hair on both men and women. They wore used clothes and mostly were bare footed. They wander naked in public usually and specially in musical concerts. Their hatred for the rest of the society compelled them to leave urban areas and settle in less populated places to be close to the nature. They loved gathering and preferred living in communal. they shared almost every material things that they had like money, home and even life partners. Together they used to dance, sing and sleep. But sooner some of them left their communal as if they didn’t give up the American style of living. They came to the streets and started protesting the authoritative style of governance. They strongly opposed the World War II and Vietnam war. In that decade the assassinations of john F. Kennedy and the martin Luther king Jr stirred the hippie’s hatred for the authority. But their mode of protestation was very peaceful. Their love for nature made them celebrate the earth day which is still celebrated up till now.

Banning drugs in San Francisco, negative consequences of overdose LSD and deaths of many hippies’ celebrities slowed down its propagation in the US but majority of them flew eastwards to central Asia and Europe where they are still practicing their norms. Although short lived the hippies counter culture was the most influential culture that history has ever witnessed. In less than two and a half decade it shook the most powerful nation on earth to its roots. For better or for worse the influence of the hippies’ was pervasive. As the hippies influence on the world wasn’t cultural, it was technological. In April 1977 Steve Jobs introduced the apple tool, the first personal computer. He was a hippie. Later internet and Google has been facilitated by the hippies’.

            At the heart of American experiment is the quest for utopian world. A place where individuals can live together in harmony while enjoying the freedom to fulfill their personal destiny. The hippies’ sought that utopia through music, through drugs, through communion with nature, through love and peace. Failure was perhaps inevitable but their brash rejection of the status quo reset the priorities of a generation , open the door to whole universe of innovative products and businesses and reminded a nation obsessed with regimentation and conformity that the pursuit of happiness was and always will be a vital part of the American dream.

Globalization And Its Impact On The Contemporary Social Movements - Research

Introduction:

With its growing and frequent usage the word ‘Globalization’ has now become quite a buzzword in our contemporary socio-political and academic debate. But this word was not familiar two or three decades ago as it is now. Although the process of globalization can be traced back to many centuries but the speed at which it started to spread can be attributed to advancement in global economy and interconnectivity across and within countries: which is very recent. The boom of the financial institutions (IMF, World Bank etc.) and monetary and market system together with technological rise (internet, cell phones etc.) has created a paradigm shift throughout the course of every individual’s life. It has affected almost every realm of human understanding of the world. Furthermore, transnational social-activisms have taken a new turn conceiving the contemporary world view. Collective actions have now become more systematic than ever before. Keeping the affects of globalization in mind, this discussion mainly focuses on the transformation of contemporary social movements to new dimensions and to give a possible explanation for this shift. It proceeds with giving a general overview of major theories of globalization in order to fully grasp the very commonly used word ‘globalization’ and later on its relation with social movements.

1. Globalization theories:

            Globalization is the growth and enactment of world culture. Since at least the middle of the nineteenth century, a rationalized world institutional and cultural order has crystallized that consists of universally applicable models that shape states, organizations, and individual identities (J. Meyer. 1997)¹.  The twentieth century has unfolded the new version of human society which has neither existed nor perceived before. Technological advancement and industrial revolution has created opportunities to rethink old and traditional approaches of domination.   A huge growth in different disciplines of knowledge together with the population and systems of control have brought human beings very close together and created an urge for a new holistic understanding of the human society at macro level. This accumulated understanding then manifested different possible scopes for social well being each in its own peculiar aspect. Four of which are discussed below

1.1        the world economy theory:

            This theory explains the proliferation of capitalist’s way of economical up-gradation of human society by ensuring competitive environment to enable economic efficiency. In which human beings are viewed as economically rational individuals who make cost-benefit analysis and make rational decisions. The power of the state over the economic institution is rather diluted by the global economy. There is one huge global economy where the core countries have higher skills and capital intensive mood of production to enjoy high standard of lives and then there are these periphery countries which are labor intensive and have to depend on international financial institutions for their development.

1.2  the regional bloc theory:

Again this theory tries to explain economical well being of individuals by eliminating regional barriers. Unions are the end product of this type of understanding (European Union, etc.).

1.3  The third way theory :

It tries to reconcile the two major sociological approaches of human understanding by presenting a third way of mutual non-competitive environment for the two schools of thoughts which are capitalism and socialism.

1.4  the world culture theory:

Different from the above mentioned theories it talks about cultural homogeneity as a desirable product of recent massive interconnectivity.

‘The claims of the theory of globalization centre on the relationship between social and cultural organization and territoriality’ (Malcolm waters.2001: p18)². Keeping in mind all the above mentioned theoretical explanation it is now quite reasonable to draw an association between social movements and globalization.

2. SMs and globalization:

Social movements can be viewed as collective enterprises seeking to establish a new order of life. They have their inception in a condition of unrest, and derive their motive power on one hand from dissatisfaction with the current form of life, and on the other hand, from wishes and hopes for a new system of living. The career of a social movement depicts the emergence of a new order of life. (Blumer. 1969: 99)³. Emergence of social activism clearly depicts the demand for an environment where the actors can enjoy their well being without interfering or devastating powerless fellow human beings. And with the growing tools of interconnectivity social movements have taken rather an organized form which were absent in pre-industrialized times. Easiness to communicate with the outside world and to draw world’s attention is now fairly achievable. We have seen such demonstration in recent Tunisian and Egyptian up rise. Furthermore, the time span for the success of social movements has declined. Movements which took decades and even centuries, such movements are now taking days and months to color their successes. Technological advancement and mass-media have clearly served social movements in this respect. Although, a lot of social movements have taken advantage of globalization phenomena in terms of mass-gathering to protest and to convey their messages abroad but at the same time many social movements have arisen in response to globalization. Movements like anti-globalization movement and zeitgeist movement are some of the social activisms that arose in reaction to global mood of economic domination in order to preserve the very nature and essence of human expression that we call culture. It is quite ironic that the means of protest and social mobilization that these movements use are the benefits of massive technological advancement brought about by globalization.

2.1 anti-globalization movement:

‘The anti-globalization movement is not primarily composed of Luddites who would take away telephone and e-mail, and in fact many of these groups make use of this technology themselves.’ (David barbers.)⁴ Resource mobilization theory (RMT) explains this kind of organization very well. Unlike NSM theory, Resource mobilization theory explains anti-globalization movement in a more sophisticated manner. This movement circles around the problem faced by the developing countries and even the developed countries due to economic proliferation. To accomplish its goals and to gather mob behind its cause it is well organized and structured and has activists all around the world who manage and organize seminars, sponsor movies, write columns and speak in public to create awareness about their cause. One of its decisive resources is intellectual circle of people who are continuously indulged in bringing an order in this order-less world.

2.3 zeitgeist movement:

This movement is explained quite deliberately by RMT and POS theory. Just like anti-globalization movement, this movement too is well organized and its activists include majority of students from all over the world. On the other hand unlike anti-globalization movement this movement is more into solutions then problems. ‘Although many people, publications, and multi-media presentations portray various aspects of the future and paint spectacular pictures of the developments to come in such areas as transportation, housing, and medicine, they ignore the fact that in a monetary-based economy the full benefits of these developments continue to be available to a relative few’⁵ (Jacque Fresco.p1) It argues that the current Monetary and Market system are obsolete forms of control which needs to be upgraded by introducing resource system (replacing monetary and banking system) by a system of control called Venus project. As POS suggests that the success and failure of a system is quantified by its relation with the political agents. Zeitgeist movement is traced back to 1974 when Jacque Fresco (the initiator of this movement) openly criticized the monetary system as flawed and needed correction live on national TV of the USA. But his voice was kept suppressed for decades and now this movement has again gained momentum after being affiliated to different political circle of intellectuals.

In short, although the universality of the scientific and technological development together with the financial expansion have brought humanity very close to each other but this repertoire of neo-liberalization is still facing a rather growing upheaval of masses who ask for a more flexible but sustainable system of control, a system that can ensure the dignity of self identity and release humanity from the diverging and alluding gigantism of current world order.

A Critique on " The God Delusion"

God delusion is a documentary recently presented by “Clinton Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) who is a British Ethologist, evolutionary biologist and popular science author”¹. Dawkins has given up Religion and belief in supernatural creator in his early childhood. At the same time he is so influenced by Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection that he has dedicated his life to convert all human beings to atheism. Because he thinks “Evolution is a fact”² and in order spread this fact he has written many books and this documentary is also based on his book entitled “the God delusion”.

This documentary depicts Dawkins’ everlasting hatred about religion. Dawkins’ hatred is strange because most of the scientists are agnostic i.e. who are skeptic about god, considering the limitations of science but Dawkins goes one step further and denies  the existence of God and tries his best to make use of logos. In his opinion science and religion are completely different schools of thought and most probably opposite of each other. According to him science is a well established knowledge and follows some logical physical laws that human mind can accept without arguing while religion is a mixture of unverified myths of Bronze Age which is strengthened by the sheer course of time.

Let’s not forget the topic in the hand and begin with the analysis of his work. This documentary mainly focuses two different people. Those who are atheist but their fear of being different from the rest of the world keep them silent and those who are religious but still are skeptical. And here Dawkins comes in. He tries to remove fear out of the hearts of atheists and make religious people skeptical.  He does so by communicating with the believers, and asking them questions.. He makes them assure of a friendly environment by his intelligent art of speech during the course of dialogue. And he then goes on swiftly from gentle skepticism to harsh punch line of criticism.

Analyzing his documentary right from the start gives a feeling of a typical Hollywood movie. And the background music is highly symphonious. “In documentaries, music often plays a very important role on the emotional side of the discourse”³ and its absence tends to create boredom in viewers. This documentary has very melodious background music which resonates with the oral representation quite harmoniously. Especially right in the start of the documentary the sound of flute and drums create a good combination to attract serious attention. And the music doesn’t stop till the end though it changes many dimensions from soft classical instruments to guitar and piano. Good combination of music in this documentary represents a brilliant professional excellence in creating dynamical sound effects. Its coherence with scenes gives an impressionable affect and drives mind to concentrate on the issues that Dawkins discusses in his course of speaking.

            Together with the music Dawkins’ beautiful verbal discussion also adds to the beauty of the documentary. Most of the “scientists are generally poor speakers that we like to reassure one another”⁴ but Dawkins seems to be very professional speaker and debater. He speaks with highly poetic and metaphorical manner which is hardly expected from a science author. He starts with a pathos and calls religion the biggest threat for our society but so eloquently that no viewer seems hearted by his frankness. It really seems hard to argue religion in such a divisive behavior at least in the current point of time when there is hatred everywhere and religious speakers are burning the masses with their spiritual speeches. But Dawkins seems not afraid of being against the religion and traditional doctrines. He stays very straight forward throughout his presentation and he faces many powerful arguments when he talks with the people who believe in the creator “the God”.

            Talking with the believers and arguing with them needs a lot of courage and some important facts and statistics which Dawkins seems to be fully aware of. He doesn’t remain confined to science laboratories rather he gears up and travels around the world asking people about their intense belief in god, which he calls a failed system of faith. He goes to central France, America, and Jerusalem where the world three biggest religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) have groomed and still are flowing out all over the world. He argues with the preachers and puts forward the Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution to be the rational and factual system of human understanding which they don’t like at all. On the other hand Dawkins is not convinced by any of their altercations because Dawkins believes in Darwinism from the core of his heart and no powerful blow of thought leaves a single scratch on his faith of having no faith in God.

            The other beauty of Dawkins’ influential words is his use of practical examples.

He gives relevant yet simple examples to make his points clear. He makes practical gestures by visiting different places. He goes to some hilly area to give the example of Darwin’s theory of natural selection and gradual modification in the phenotype of living organisms where he stands up in front of a huge cliff and says that human kind may seem very different from one perspective like the difference in the height level of the cliff and the ground but this difference is not abrupt. It took a long time for the gradual modification of animals especially human beings to attain their current phenotype. To show this gradual change he moves to the back of the cliff where a gentle slope leads up to the top. And after climbing to the top he says that human kind may seem different from microscopic organisms but there is only one force that caused this complexity and that is the force of natural selection which took millions of years.

            Prolific Examples, verbal eloquence, superb background music and simple logical evidences made Dawkins’ documentary very effective and heart touching, from the start till the end. And in the end Dawkins use pathos with skepticism. He hopes that the world may change in the future. The ending words reveal the theme of the documentary when he continues, “we are all atheists about most of the gods that society ever believed in but some of us go one step further”⁵.

By: Shah Fahad

Prostituion Should Be Legalized - Persuasive

Prostitution is “the world’s oldest profession”¹. Though never encouraged, still it has made its routes to the 21^st century. Its prolonged history depicts its intrinsic feature to be the integral part of human behavior. Nevertheless, it has always been the subject of subversion but statistically no major success has been achieved. It is due to the reason that it follows the principle of willingness to sell and demand. Which is the basis of an ideal business but unfortunately whenever the word ‘prostitution’ is coined all its negative connotations come into mind which is completely unjustifiable. Like the issue of morality which is presumably involved in it. Perhaps, this is not an issue at all because it seems to be an imposed perception when we analyze the morality in prostitution. In this paper we will see that prostitution is moral, matter of free will, good source of boosting the economy and hence should be legalized.

“The strongest argument against prostitution, no doubt, is its alleged immorality.  If this means no more than that most people think prostitution is immoral, that appears to be correct.  But if this is taken to mean prostitution actually is immoral, then an argument is required. Believing something doesn't make it true.  That the Sun revolves around the Earth, which is immovable, are examples of false beliefs that once were widely held”².

Morality is a cultural construct that changes from place to place and time to time. What is moral in our country might not be considered moral in the neighboring country. So the point is, actions are classified as moral or immoral relative to the environmental factors in which they are being performed. Those factors might be family, religion and culture. Considering this issue a universal definition of the word ‘morality’ is required that can remain consistent throughout the realm of human civilization. In this regard many definitions have been presented about which actions should be considered right to be called as moral and which are not. “According to what is known as Deontological Moral Theory, actions are moral when they involve treating other persons with respect.  More formally expressed, it requires that other persons should always be treated as ends (as intrinsically valuable) and never merely as means (instrumentally)”³.This definition is more logical because it applies to all actions that people do. For instance, if the teacher teaches the students with honesty, his action is considered to be right. So is the case with students. If the student works according to the teacher’s instructions it is considered to be justified. So whenever there is a mutual action which has to be accomplished, mutual respect is required to be called as moral. Prostitution is a mutual action. There is no application of pressure or force to be called as immoral. It happens with the consensus of both the parties. Now this action could be called immoral if the John pays no money or the prostitute doesn’t accomplish the terms. So it is moral if it is carried out with mutual respect. This respect can only be guaranteed when prostitution is legalized. Because any discrepancy would be registered and action would be taken against. Right now, what happening is, the prostitutes are being raped, abused and maltreated in an extremely inhumane manner. And the dilemma is, the prostitutes can’t press charge against the rapists due to fear of being themselves charged. Because the authority won’t listen to them. Helping the prostitutes is considered to be immoral.

The fear of demoralization of human society has perpetuated the urge for anti-prostitution laws to be enforced. Well unluckily the issue has not only been poorly handled by these laws but also made many crimes and anti-social elements to propel. Like drug abusing, increasing STDs, human trafficking, raping and black marketing. it is happening and growing day by day. By implementing anti prostitution laws is like making a barrier in front of heavy flood which is continuously flowing. No matter how high you built the barrier the flood will fill up and ooze out one day or the other. So by replacing the anti-prostitution laws by the effective and properly channelized prostitution laws would give the flood of prostitution a harmless direction and would eventually separate the good from the bad. Right now the society is mixed up. Every bad thing is happening behind the veil. Recent statistics show that “India and Pakistan are the main destinations for children under 16 who are trafficked in south Asia”⁴. “Ninety-five per cent of the teenage prostitutes in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore were sexually abused by their close relatives, friends and teachers before they adopted the profession of granting sexual favors for payment, a new study has found”⁵ Now one might say that anti-prostitution law is promulgated to encounter these evils then how is this possible that the law itself encourage the menace which is made to abolish it. Well, unfortunately, it is true. If the anti-prostitution laws were effective then there would have been a drastic decline in its ratio. But we see the opposite of it and the reason can be found in Freud statement that “sexual suppression is the root of all evil”⁶.

Ironically speaking “Sex is legal and selling is legal, so why isn't selling sex legal? ⁷ Every human being has the right to choose what is best for him/her. And selling sex is a matter of choice. So making selling sex illegal not only contradicts the very doctrine of freedom but also suppress the free will which is the most valuable feature of human kind. If somebody wants to sell his or her body for money then it should be allowed. One might say that person who is selling her body for money might not know what is bad for her or she might not be aware of the consequences if she entered the prostitution industry. Well that argument doesn’t strongly hold because there is a minimum age law for it. So teenagers won’t be licensed and the adults would be able to make their own rational decision. How come a 21-years old girl won’t understand what is suitable for her and what is not? The answer could be seen in the irony that an adult is supposed to be old enough to decide for her future through voting but the same adult is addressed sensitively when she gets to decide for her own body.

Legalized prostitution would be an effective factor for generating revenue and boosting the economy. A certain amount of tax would be levied from the registered sex workers. For instance, in Germany where prostitution is legalized and the sex tax is generating millions of Euros of revenue. If we impose the same law here in our country then our economy would go up as well. Also this levied tax would be utilized to fight against many crimes like drug abuse, child abuse and human trafficking.

Thus we see that how our inclination to certain perceptions makes us blind to see the truth. As in the case of Prostitution which has always been blindly considered to be the most disgusting, immoral, mean and unethical human behavior. Well that can only be attributed to short sightedness and inflexibility to absorb the free-willed-paradigm of human civilization. Because we talk about freedom but still we make barriers in front of what people want. We talk about equality but still we are provoking the discrimination on the basis of profession. Human kind is different from all other creatures on the basis of cognition. Because we, the human being, can think, ponder and decide what is best for us. There is no external force needed to convert our behavior. So imposing flawed Anti-prostitution laws to mold our innate behaviors not only create the underground ills to grow but also tears down the freedom of individuality. In short prostitution is a matter of individual choice. Also by implementing sex tax the economy would flourish. This will be an effective source to fight against many social evils.

The Effect Of Media Violence On Children - Essay

 

There has been a lot of debate over the impact of media violence on children’s behavior since the advent of mass media. Researches and a lot of studies have been done to find the direct relationship between media violence and child aggressive behavior. Some of the studies have shown a positive relationship while other have shown no relation at all or very minute relation between media and child’s learning and behaving process. But deep insight on the issue makes it clear that those who favor non relation studies are either politically provoked or having unequivocal evidence. The evidence which proves positive relation between media and child aggressive behavior outweigh those which oppose it. In this essay we will briefly discuss about child psychology and it receptiveness to aggressive behavior while at the end we will review the consequences of media violence on children.

As mentioned, first of all we will briefly discuss child psychology in order to grasp the mechanism of child-mind-functioning.

“A young child is a human being who, unlike his elders, is still engaged in the fundamental process of developing the major portion of his mental capacity.  At least eighty percent of his intellectual aptitude (not his rote knowledge) is acquired during the first six years of his life.  During this critical period, his brain grows and develops in accordance with his exercise of his mind and the intellectual stimulation provided by his environment”¹(how children learn, 1962)

As stated above, most of the portion of intellectual aptitude is acquired in early years of childhood. Because this is the stage where brain development and functioning is at its peak. And child unlike adult make cognitive imprints in his brain without any logical and interpretational bounds. The brain in its early stages makes its own knowledge based on environmental factors. It is because the brain has natural learning acquisition device which is an innate pattern seeker and innately motivated to learn. Brain has a limbic system where the most instinctive behavior of human kind is monitored. In early ages this system is too sensitive and prone to slight intense stimulus which if triggered over and over again makes a deep imprint which is unwashable. To achieve some fruitful results from the experiments in 1984 some checklist of questions was prepared which was designed to count the frequency of those people who come to the clinic for psychiatric help are suffering from TLE-related symptoms. TLE stands for temporal lobe epilepsy. Which is a disorder caused due to early adverse experience. Out of 253 patients more than half of them were suffering from TLE. Which is shocking? Shortly, early stages of the childhood are the most important for the short as well as long term behavior of a human being.

Now coming towards the media, first we analyze some statistics about the range of media in the social life of human being. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, (KFF) “two-thirds of infants and toddlers watch a screen an average of 2 hours a day”². This average time spent in front of TV shows media to be an integral part of child’s environment. TV is the best of all environmental factors that can influence a child more than any thing. Because its all motion which grasps great attention. Also it has sound affects to fully speedup brain functioning as music and visual aids together are the most influential factors for learning. Now the question arises that whether media is influencing positively or negatively?

To answer this we have to separate the TV motions i.e. movies commercials and dramas into two categories

1.                          Those which are healthy for mind and helps to improve the true knowledge about the society and the world. Examples, talk shows, kids programs and mild video games.

2.                          Those which are adult oriented and kids are mostly unable to grasp the story and moral lesson out of it. Examples movies, music videos, violent video games e.t.c. 

Unfortunately the media is oriented in such a dimension that we can not easily differentiate between the two categories and children are drastically victimized.

            Now let’s analyze how media violence truly influences child behavior. According to the researches done by psychology professors of the major universities of America:

“Well-supported theory delineates why and when exposure

To media violence increases aggression and violence. Media

Violence produces short-term increases by priming existing

aggressive scripts and cognitions, increasing physiological

arousal, and triggering an automatic tendency to imitate observed

behaviors”³.

Media violence creates a long term behavioral change in personality which determines the rest of a child’s life. In the article ‘scares that won’t heal’, Martin H. Teicher says that childhood adverse experience can manifest itself at any age. The cycle of this experience can switch between two phases. It can influence internally creating depression, anxiety, tension and suicidal thoughts. While externally it can be expressed as aggression, impulsiveness, delinquency, hyperactivity or substance abuse. Media violence acts as a virus which erodes genuine thought of fraternity out of human society as today’s kids are tomorrow’s citizens.

Is media too violent to be held responsible? To answer this lets analyze the recent surveys:

“Recent surveys reveal an extensive presence of violence in modern media. Furthermore, many children and youth spend an inordinate amount of time consuming violent media”⁴. With the progress of mass media not only there has been an increase in TV channels but the content that they telecast has also deteriorated. “A September 2000 Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report showed that 80 percent of “R” rated movies,70 percent of restricted video games, and 100 percent of music with “explicit content” warning labels were being marketed to children under 17”⁵. Such a huge mismanagement and distribution of restricted products to specific group (children) is not only illegal but morally disgustful as well. As the child grows up he sees nothing other then an image of a violent world. Which molds his mind in such a way that it’s almost impossible to recover. “By the time the average child is eighteen years old, they will have witnessed 200,000 acts of violence and 16,000 murders” ⁶.

The statistics shown above only refer media violence as an extreme physical punishment or killing but some researchers have classified the term “violence” into three dimensions after considering their impact on children. And the classification is shocking as they include behavior, thoughts and emotions also. Any violent behavior, violent thought or violent emotions are also included in the definition of media violence. After classifying the term violence to such an extent it seems almost impossible to truly separate the non violent content from the violent one. As in such a rapid growth of showbiz world it is very difficult to categorize the content as children oriented or not and also to make sure that children are strictly looked after not to watch violent contents. To have some practical understanding of this dilemma a documentary has been made to give an explanation to this issue. In this documentary the host meets different psychologists and sociologist to get into the root of the matter. For a practical example he introduces a teenager who has been playing violent video games since his early childhood. And when he has been asked whether he experience any violent behavior or not , he answered “I love to play violent video games but never in my life did I experienced any aggressive behavior which is different from other normal people”. To explain this situation one of the child psychologist argued that violent behavior is not something which can be learned by all those who are exposed to violent content at the same level rather violent behavior is caused by many other factors as well like genetics, family life, society and culture. With this situation an ideal definition of violence is required to balance out both the sides Here follows a summary of the developmental phases of the concept media violence. As early as 1972, Dr George Gerbner, an expert on media violence in the United States defined media violence as follows: “the overt expression of physical force against others or self, or the compelling of action against one's will on pain of being hurt or killed. The expression of injurious or lethal force had to be credible or real in the symbolic terms of the drama. Humorous and even farcical violence can be credible and real, even if it has a

Presumable comic effect. But idle threats, verbal abuse, or comic gestures with any real consequences were not to be considered violent”. This definition of violence is somehow precise and accurate to clarify the current violent content from the non-violent content of the media. Still the media has been increasingly showing unnecessary violent content without any justification. Such rude examples can be seen in the movies.

 Whenever movies are discussed nobody leaves a chance to mention Hollywood. Hollywood has been a revolutionary element to promote inter-continental closeness. With its good applications came its negative consequences as well. Due to lack of proper regulation most of the movies are very mind distracting and violent which is not good for children. As the heroes of the movies are depicted in such a way that whatever they do is considered justifiable. Whether they blow the villain’s head with a short gun or crush it with a baseball stick. Heroic attitudes are mostly copied by the kids and in the process of that some dire consequences are encountered. As in the movie ‘jack ass 2’ the characters have performed some stupid stunts for the sake of fun and those stunts were so dangerous that it took lives of two kids who copied them. They were performing the stunt on camera and the video tape has been shown on BBC (Dec 29, 2006).

            Other then copying the dangerous stunts kids also experience three major potential responses to media violence which are:

1.                          Increased fear—also known as the "mean and scary world" syndrome.

This is a disorder which makes the patient terrified about the surrounding. Girls are more prone to this syndrome then boys.

2.                          Desensitization to real-life violence:

In which cartoons are humorously shown which encourages violence and realistic violent consequences are seldom portrayed.

3.                          increased aggressive behavior:

This is a more drastic disorder in which kids develop aggressive and alien attitude towards life which is almost unmoldable.

            So far we have discussed about child psychology that how a child’s brain is receptive to violence and how badly it affects child’s behavior. We analyzed that children do what they see and they see what the environment shows them. As media is an integral part of child environment as children are spending a lot of time watching TV and playing video games. So violence in media is very influential in aggressive behavioral development of children. Which grows with the age and it’s very difficult to mold those behaviors. So some serious actions should be taken by the policy makers to either reduce the media violence or limit the viewership of those contents before it creates a whole new alienated human society.

By  Shah Fahad Ul Mulk