Some people believe that violence on television and in computer games has a damaging effect on the society. Others deny that these factors have any significant influence on people's behaviour. What is your opinion?

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 behaviour.

Firstly

, I think that people act from their motives, regardless what they see on the television.

That is

to say, if someone intends to do harm to somebody,

that is

not because of watching TV or playing computer games, but due to that person's character and education.

Although

it is generally considered that violent media accustoms viewer to cruelty, I doubt

this

opinion. In my view, reasonable and intelligent people treat others humanely irrespective of what they see or hear in fictional stories.

Moreover

, video games and television may even reduce social brutality by providing a safe outlet for aggressiveness.

In other words

, truculent people may fight in virtual reality

instead

of evincing their combative spirit in the 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 the 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 behaviour. Television and computers are not the main factors that shape personal character, and they can even be useful in reducing the level of

violence

.