Violence in Media

Erika Catriz
9/25/15
Engl 102
Deadrick

Violent Media is Good For Kids, written by Gerard Jones, illustrates the perspective
Jones holds on the topic the effects of violent media (i.e. movies, video games, comic books)
on children. In his article, Jones includes personal stories and experiences that prove his point
that violent entertainment can have positive effects on children. Jones starts off his article with
his own story in which Marvel Comics, especially the character, the Hulk, led Jones into a new
group of friends with similar interests in comic books and eventually into his vocation as a
writer. Jones argues that violent entertainment can have a developmental purpose for children if
used correctly. With research, Jones and Melanie Moore, a psychologist, discover that heroic and
violent stories can help children overcome feeling powerless, fearful and insecure, socializing
issues, or becoming more independent. Jones is illustrating to parents that using violent media
the right way could potentially shape up their children so that they become independent,
confident, courageous, and intelligent people. Gerard Jones use of personal stories, which
establish his credibility and reach to his audiences emotions, effectively conveys his message to
parents that violent media can positively effect the development of their children. On the
contrary, his argumentative methods do not make his argument valid.
Jones claim in his article is that using violent media well as in showing the useful
characteristics of the heroic characters and taking out the lessons or morals of the stories can
benefit the developmental growth of children. Jones provides enough personal story examples
that support his claim. The issue with his personal examples is that they are not representative of
a large population of children. Each of Jones examples had a personal connection with Jones,
one being his own story. The second example Jones gave was of his son and although he does
explain how Tarzan inspired his son to become less fearful, the outcome of the story was not as
life changing as the other examples. A little child, influenced by heroic comics, being brave

enough to climb a tree is not that great of an achievement compared to finding ones vocation,
like Jones did after associating himself with the Hulk. Also the last example of the girl who lived
in a violent environment seems irrelevant because all the other examples Jones used had a
connection to fictional characters except in this example the girl who was influenced by violent
music. Despite these two issues, Jones other examples are well developed and support his claim.
All of Jones evidence is personal experiences from his own story to the stories of
children he had worked with. The use of personal experiences falls under the category, ethos,
because Jones is establishing himself as an expert of the topic. The first example Jones gives is
his own experience, describing how his mother gave Jones Marvel Comic books in hope that
they will teach Jones pacifism and tolerance[and] benevolence (Jones 58). However, what
Jones got out of the comics was the idea of being true to oneself. Jones also writes of an
experience with his son who identified himself with Tarzan and was fearless enough to climb a
tree at school. Later, Jones introduces Melanie Moore, a psychologist, who agrees with Jones
claim on violent medias effect on children. The two worked together to study in depth the
different effects of violent entertainment on children and how parents can teach their children
with those mediums in a healthy manner. Jones includes two more examples of children he had
worked with in which both stories of both girls ended with a positive outcome from violent
media. For instance, the first girl wrote and acted out her violent-like fantasies which were
inspired by TV shows like Sailor Moon and as a result she became more self-controlled and
socially competent (Jones 60). Jones article is similar to a short story of how he is involved in
establishing a connection between violent media and the development of children. The article
begins with how he first was involved with violent media to a short example of his son to the
experiences of two girls Jonas had worked with during his research process. The use of ethos is

important in argumentative writings because the author illustrates how trustworthy he or she is.
The audience should believe the authors argument since the author is showing that he or she is
knowledgeable in the topic at hand. Jones provides good examples that do establish his
credibility in the topic. However, the examples are very personal. This can make his claim seem
bias because Jones only included a few success stories of violent media positively effecting
children, all of which had a connection to him.
Jones personal experiences and the detail as he explains them can also be considered as
appealing to pathos, or emotions. In both stories of the two little girls, Jones wants his audience
to feel sympathy for the girls because of their background. The first little girl started becoming
involved in violent media when her parents were separating, and she was small, an only child, a
tomboy (Jones 60). The little girl was alone since she was an only child and her parents may
have been more focused on their separation, so the little girl looked up to Sailor Moon and began
acting like the characters. After the audience learns that the little girl has grown to become more
self-controlled and sociable because she expressed her violent fantasies through art, the audience
feels proud and happy for the girls development. Similarly, the second girl Jones mentions grew
up in a violent neighborhood where her friends were getting into trouble with drugs. Again the
audience feels empathy and bad for her situation until they learn that she got herself into college,
studying to become a writer and political activist (Jones 60). Jones use of pathos makes his
audience, particularly parents, have a connection with the kids in the stories. By doing this, Jones
is indirectly manipulating parents to believe his claim that violent entertainment has benefits for
their children.
Jones does not use logos, or the appeal to logic, in his argument. Jones never included
any statistics or information from other reliable researchers about the effect of violent media on

children. Logos would be useful in his argument if Jones found information comparing the
positive and negative outcomes of exposing violent media on children. Jones would write his
argument so that parents see that the positive overcomes the negative. Jones argument would
have been more effective if he combined his examples of ethos with logos.
The opposing view of Jones claim would be that violent media does in fact have negative
and dangerous effects on children and their development. Jones brings up the idea that violent
media can cause children to act violently and then participate in school shootings. Jones then
introduces Moore and explains that violent media is necessary for children to exert their need for
power and feelings of anger and fear through. This is a generalization. The audience is not given
enough information that proves that Jones and Moores research findings are accurate or not. Not
all children need or want to use violent media as their outlet for violence, but in fact have to or
choose to be physically violent. For instance, children act violently because they are rebelling
against their parent or guardian or they are being influenced by friends or they have a form of
disorder that makes them violent. Jones does, however, acknowledge that not all violent media is
harmless in his concluding paragraphs. Jones then reiterates his statements like violent
entertainment needs to be used well and taught to children by parents and that the feeling of
confidence and independence outweighs the feeling of fear. Jones does not refute the opposite
positions well enough to convince the audience to agree with his side since Jones does not
explain what the negative effects are in violent media.
Jones examples effectively show his audience what his claim is that violent
entertainment can positively affect the growth of children. However, the argument overall is
ineffective because Jones only includes personal experiences which creates bias. By not writing
more in depth the opposing view of his claim and refuting it, Jones is telling his audience that he

is not confident about the statements he has said to support his side and that the other side
possibly has better and reasonable information that is against exposing children to violent media.
Another piece of bias is found in the short description about Jones in the preceding paragraph
before his essay. Jones, himself, is a comic book writer and author, which could mean that Jones
is trying to indirectly keep the sales of comic books up. Jones provides good evidence with
appeals to ethos and pathos that support his claim that violent media can be educating to
children, however, the bias he creates makes his argument weak and not serious.

Works Cited
Jones, Gerard. Violent Media Is Good For Kids. Practical Argument: A Text and
Anthology. 2nd ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martins, 2014. 58-61. Print.