English 1B Reader Response #1: “Aggression: the Impact of Media Violence” by Sissela Bok

In the article “Aggression: the Impact of Media Violence” by Sissela Bok, the issue of whether the media is the cause for the increase in child and adolescent violence today. Bok explains that part of the responsibility belongs to the media, but understand that there are also many other factors that can cause an increase in aggression.

The arguments behind Bok’s mostly bias opinion are strong. She backs her main points with statistics, dates, and credible sources that help her prove her point, but at the same time she allows room for debate. On page 226 in Perspectives on Contemporary Issues, she uses a quote from the American Psychological Association’s Commission on Youth and Violence which shows the reader that she has done her research on the subject and has also found credible sources. The statistics used in this article are over ten years old, but she is still able to prove that suicides, rapes, and homicides have increased dramatically and will continue to increase. Her choice of wording is also specifically chosen to show that her points are still up for debate and that there are other factors that affect the increase in aggression in people.

A few parts of this article that I would have liked to see more of are who her sources are and more of a stance on where her opinion lies. Although Bok does use strong statistics, she does not always list who her sources are. The lack of information on the source leaves the reader questioning how reliable the data and the source are. As well as her sources being unnamed, her stance on the issue is not very clear to the reader. At first, Bok seems to place all the blame on the media. But as the article progresses, her opinion changes to that it’s mostly the media’s fault. By the end of the article, Bok states that there are many factors that play into the increase in aggression and that the media is only one part of a bigger picture. Her lack of a clear stance confuses the reader especially since she starts out with a strong argument and bias towards the issue.