Advice on a paper: School Violence + Violent Music

[rmorse]

Hey guys,

I have a 12 pager due in 2 days, and I have been so swamped with other work that I am just now starting on it. Need some ideas as far as what direction to go in this paper.

As of right now, the argument for my paper is: Violent themes are extremely prevalent in today's lyrics. However, these themes do not cause school violence. Rather, the problem is the adolescents' inability to decipher between entertainment and real life.


How I plan on approaching this paper:

Brief overview of my argument.
Address the violent themes in music (heavy metal and rap primarily)
State again the idea that the adolescents can't decipher the difference
Address the fact that violence is prevalent everywhere in today's society (through cartoons, movies, shows, every music, etc), and that if the violence in music is truly a cause for school violence, then the other violent media is also to blame.
Discuss how entertainers are able to tell the deference between real life and their work.
Conclusion



Any advice/ideas of what else I should include?

 

[CichlidAddict]

Hmm.. That might be a tough argument to prove. Do you have any studies showing adolescents "can't decipher between entertainment and real life"?
And even if you do, it's a pretty big leap to say that that is the cause of school violence. What about lack of family structure, morals, etc?

Whatever you decide on, good luck. I don't miss having to write papers.

 

[rmorse]

Hmm.. That might be a tough argument to prove. Do you have any studies showing adolescents "can't decipher between entertainment and real life"?
And even if you do, it's a pretty big leap to say that that is the cause of school violence. What about lack of family structure, morals, etc?

Whatever you decide on, good luck. I don't miss having to write papers.

Haha, I hear that....


You're right. It will be hard to prove that. What I am going to try to do is to show that heavy metal/rap is not unique in regards to the violent themes. I plan on more examining our (USA) "violent culture". I figured if I can show that our entire country revolves around violent themes, then the claim that the violent themes prevalent in the lyrics cause violence wouldn't hold water.


But then again, this is why I am asking for advice. I know I want to do something regarding violent themes in lyrics and school violence.

 

[arkmann]

You are dead meat bro. I only know of one person who can write a 20 page paper and still get an A.

That's me... AND I WILL NEVER DO IT AGAIN!!!!! Hehehe...

Just do something about the deterioration of music/lyrics and how it affects the children and what they aspire to be to make it easy for yourself. Something like the pushing of "thug life" in rap music or being emo and suicidal and downing heavy drugs in rock.

 

[cichlid2006]

you could also research how some people are just evil to show the other side of the coin. how no media needs to be involved in the construction of their personality or maybe how family life may be the key as an alternative arguement to being influenced by media.
the majority of people watch horror/violent movies and a lot of gamers play violent video games but they dont go around murdering people, me for example. i also listen to rap and heavy metal music while playing violent video games. i did when i was at school where i was bullied for a while too but i didnt kill my class mates.
if your allowed to show both sides that is, it will make stretching out your paper easier if you are.

 

[Pyramid_Party]

Anything voilent might contribute to voilent acts but I wouldnt say they are all responsible. You are focusing on the music aspect, and I am with you on this one. You cant blame music for all the voilence. Voilence is caused by numerous things, mental illness can contribute to it. Kids being bullied too can contribute.


I guess what I am trying to say is, violent music cant be to blame in all causes. Bullying, mental illness, bad family relationships, other abuse, other people encouraging voilent acts etc, all play a part.

 

[mrfeddown]

Sweet something I might know something about.
Alright so it seems the sticking point on your paper is in proving your ideas about adolescents deciphering reality vs entertainment. There is quite a bit of research about brain plasticity and impressionability at that age. The last part of the brain to develop is the frontal lobes (big section rather not get into the details) basically, the section responsible for judgment. Our brains develop until we are at least 25, so by this logic we should not be expected to have our full reasoning and judgment faculties until this age. This is part of the reason the drinking age was raised to 21. I don't really do developmental psychology so I can't give you specific names of researchers, but my instinct tells me that you should be able to find plenty of research talking about adolescent brain development vs reasoning, judgment, and impressionability. Good luck, hope this helps prove your point. I'd be interested in reading your paper.

 

[Juxtaroberto]

Ahhhh, the good old days when essays only had to be 5 paragraphs, no?

Violence is depicted everywhere these days, even "necessary violence", such as cops pursuing and apprehending fleeing criminals. I think most kids do know the difference, they just don't know where to draw the line. Of course there's always a few that think life is just a video game. It's not the media that causes violence, its lack of education at home. Parents are responsible when their children grow up to be school shooters.

First of all, you could cite examples of situations where music has been blamed for violence, such as the school shooting that Rammstein supposedly inspired, and the school shooting that Marilyn Manson supposedly inspired. (The Rammstein thing is bull, by the way, their lyrics aren't all about going out and killing people. And Manson... well, he's/she's just creepy.) I think it was Mindless Self Indulgence who printed something on one of their album's inside covers that said something along the lines of 'If our 60 minute album can corrupt your child and undo YEARS of your upbringing, then the problem is you, not us.' Look it up so you can quote it.

What about the violence in rated "G" movies? So it's okay to kill my uncle the same way he killed my father (Lion King)? Everywhere you look you're going to see violence, but that's not the violence that makes people become violent all by itself. It's the lack of education by their parents coupled with overabundant violence.

It is the parents' responsibilities to educate their children and teach them why sometimes violence is necessary (to apprehend dangerous criminals), but why its not appropriate for them to do it. And if they have an unstable life at home, then you just have to do the best possible. If your husband divorces you I'm sorry, but you've still got a son to raise and teach "morals" to. But ultimately, everyone is held responsible for their own actions. It's like people who try to sue fast food places because they stuffed their faces until they gave themselves a heart attack. If we blame it on media or whatever, it's almost like we're saying that people are only partly responsible for what they do, that the media made them do it.

Therefore, the root of the problem cannot be fixed by censoring music and movies and books and video games. While I completely agree with parental advisories, I think that parents need to be educated on how to approach their kids about violent issues. If you censor the violence, you're not really fixing the problem. There will still be violence. However, if everyone is taught how to deal with issues WITHOUT bringing a gun to school, then its a step in the right direction.

Fat chance that's ever going to happen, though.

 

[Liam]

this thread reminds me of the song vicarious

 

[oddballer]

i would touch upon another issue which i feel is much more detrimental to society..... and that is how the media glorifies bad behavior... ie be violence... stupidity.... laziness.... or just plain self intrest.... we will never have another socrates or plato.... instead we got paris hilton.... and kanye west (though i like some of his music) its scary how careless the media is in promoting panic and prestige...... look at the whold swine flu issue..... and octomom..... nuff said....