The Opinions of Russian School Students and Teachers About Media Violence
European Researcher, Vol. (73), № 4-2, 2014
24 Pages Posted: 30 Jun 2015
Date Written: June 30, 2015
Abstract
The influence of media violence upon Russian teenagers is rather significant. About half the teenagers were positive about its demonstration: they enjoyed films, television shows, and computer games containing on-screen violence and they admired the characters -- including "bad guys". A third of the teenagers were not sure about their opinion of on-screen violence, although they claimed to not be attracted by it. Just 18% of teenagers discuss and share their opinions with their parents. The influence of Russian schools upon the teenage relationship with on-screen violence is minimal.
The findings of our analysis:
-- on the whole students are more tolerant than the teachers to screen violence (men outnumber women);
-- entertainment is the leading factor attracting audiences to violent scenes in both groups;
-- watching violent programs in high spirits is for students three times oftener than for teachers;
-- both students and teachers are most likely to watch and discuss violent scenes together with friends;
-- students do not like watching violent programs alone;
-- 1 out of 5 teachers is eager to watch violent content media with their students, 1 out of 3 teachers is ready to discuss it with the students;
-- on the average, 1 in 10 students would like to share this activity with the teacher;
-- students talk about violence on the screen twice as much as teachers;
-- 3 times more students than teachers reported that their aggressiveness increases after the violence seen on the screen;
-- images of the screen violence linger in girls‘/women‘s mind longer than in boys‘/ men‘s;
-- about half of the respondents reported that they remember scenes of violence for a long time;
-- both the majority of students and teachers tend to believe that screen violence affects the increase of crime in society;
-- one third of teachers and students agree that most violent media texts should be banned;
-- quarter of teachers and students think it is necessary to prohibit all violence on the screen;
-- 5 times more students (vs. teachers) think things should remain like they are now, and 1 in 10 pupils consider that even more violence can be shown.
Keywords: Russian school students; teachers; media violence; films; screen; influence
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