Reader Response Number One

“Violent Media Is Good For Kids”

    When you first hear a title stating that violent media is good for kids, it sounds a little strange and kind of, well out there. In Gerard Jones’s passage, I felt that there was no other option but to agree with his arguments for violent media actually helping children in society today. Before I read this, I felt completely different about this topic, I believed that violent media like games and comic books made kids want to mimic what they saw. After reading deeper, I found that, “ children use violent stories to meet their emotional and developmental needs.” Maybe not every violent video game and explicit comic or movie is the best for a four year old child, but to some extent, I would have to agree that violence is key to helping children grow and be less fearful about their surrounding world. I know that when I was young, I hated being around my family members because I was the smallest and the most powerless person there. That’s why media with some violence is helpful, because it “helps children conquer those feelings.”    
    I also found that some of Jones’s arguments were very effective, because he gave examples of a child’s problem with violence and how it was possible to fix them. I specifically liked his example of the little girl who was outcasted at school because of her violence, and the more that her superiors told her, “No,” to her acting out scenarios and telling stories, the more that she acted upon her violence. I feel that this is a perfect example, because when someone tells you no about anything, a common reaction is to, go against those demands, especially as a child.
    I really like this piece on violence in media. Usually when you hear a story about such a thing, you would think that it would be the same repetitive story , but this piece had a very effective and capturing tone that made me want to keep reading. At some points it sounded like it was coming from a parent, which made it a very relatable article for people with children who are going through the same things. Overall, I feel that this was a very effectively written passage that made a very clear argument about violence and aggression and its positive influence on children in society today.