Media influence on young people: violent media contents Stanislav Kink
Summary: Television and film media as well as the world wide web influence the awareness of the viewers – users; they define what is appropriate in social relationships and what is not and they try to balance the users’ perceptions through a symbol system and shape them into media consumers. Research has demonstrated that media show more violence than we actually perceive in real life. Electronic media are intensively involved in the lives of young people of the third millennium and have a decisive impact on the formation of their identity. This article highlights the significance and expansion of the role of electronic media in the everyday life of a media user. Do media actually have the power to directly spread their influence on young audience that is not fully aware of the topical problem of violence? In a way, the socially constructed reality trapped in media presentations ‘cultivates’ and tries to balance the perceptions of each individual. The symbolic system of values presented to young media consumers through media stories permanently imposes various forms and shows them how they are supposed to perceive the modern society and its social structuring. The sum total of violent (including verbal) acts shown by the media, either in the scope of information programmes or through various other genres, is definitely too large which raises doubts about their educational significance.