These days, the amount of violence in media is growing. While some people argue that this trend will undoubtedly lead humans to dangerous future, others claim that it has no damaging effect on the society. I believe that in most cases media violence doesn’t affect people’s behavior.
Moreover, video games and television may even reduce social violence by providing a safe outlet for aggressiveness. In other words, truculent people may fight in virtual reality instead of evincing their combative spirit in real world. This may not only help those people, but also reduce the level of social violence in long-term perspective.
Finally, despite many claims and assumptions about negative effects of television and computer games I have never seen any proven connection between violent media and illegal activities in social life.
Taking everything into consideration, I would say that violence in contemporary media has no substantial influence on people’s behavior. Television and computers are not the main factors that shape personal character, and they can even be useful in reducing the level of violence.