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What are the societal impacts created by lack of censorship in media, and a lack of awareness from parents?
Introduction
Today’s world is one that revolves around a constant stream of media; streaming platforms, gaming, and social media have dominated the daily lives of many in the United States since the release of Facebook. With so much content flooding personal algorithm's and gaming platforms, how can we keep children safe?
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For this article, I’ll delve into the dangers of violent media in multiple forms-short form video content, video games, streaming, and news-and how they can affect children, as well as the impact it has had on those that grew up with the rapid changes of the unrestricted internet.
Violent Media Encouraging Aggressive Behavior
Many parents today have turned to technology as an in between to keep their children occupied while they work, shop, or even eat. Unfortunately, many times, this goes unrestricted and unsupervised. Platforms such as Youtube Kids have made efforts to keep content ‘child friendly’, but depending on the poster, thousands of videos have slipped through the cracks.
Jessica Parker, an educator that works with students on the spectrum, notes that there has been a significant uptick in her students behaving more aggressively in direct association with the media they consume.
Series like Happy Tree Friends have been marketed to kids with cartoonish friendly forest animals, but quickly slip into excessive violence and gore. More videos pop up all the time, with spliced video from fun animations to instructions on how to self harm or commit suicide, as reported by CBS (link below). Horrifying survival games like Poppy Playtime are advertised to children, with even the developer recommending ages 8+, despite the official rating being T for teens, recommending ages 16 and up. With excessive violence and gore being pushed onto and advertised to young children, what are the lasting effects?
A Cautionary Tale
Unfortunately, cases have already been documented of violence caused in reaction to internet culture; one of the most well known being the 'Slenderman stabbing' in which two teen girls lured their victim into the woods and attacked her with a knife to please a fictitious being- Slenderman.
A screenshot shows Anissa Weier, then 15, one of the suspects in the stabbing, Sept. 12, 2017. Both her and Morgan Geyser were convicted, claiming they wanted to 'please' Slenderman. (Rick Wood / Milwaukee Journal Se/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Imag/Rick Wood / Milwaukee Journal Se)
Survey
After the survey, I left one final open ended question- Is there is a certain piece of media you've watched that has stuck with you in regards to violent or disturbing content?
First, a summary of specific shows or movies that were given in short answer format:
-The boys (numerous responses)
-Castlevania
-Mad God
-Super Dark Times
-Blink Twice
-Family Guy
Personal Stories
-Movies but mostly how accessible it is to see violent/disturbing content on social media without warning. For example, news outlets showing videos or having headlines that are extremely disturbing.
-I think a lot of graphic things can go uncensored on certain social media sites, and I think those are the things that really stick with me the most because of the fact that regardless of who is watching, graphic things like killings are able to go uncensored.
-When I was in early high school I played through black ops 2. That game has a scene where a character who betrayed you is captured by the bad guys, and his legs are blown off by a shotgun while he is strapped to a chair. The scene would not have phased me, if my father weren’t in the room at the time and happened to point out how grotesque it all was. At that young age I was already desensitized to violence so much that a horrific maiming/murder didn’t phase me, but it phased my father. Oh yeah, also the isis beheadings I saw in hs were brutal so I try not to think about that
Graphic Gaming
War games have been popular with young boys for decades; nerf evolves into bb guns, which evolves into first person shooters. Games like Call of Duty and Modern Warfare shot into unsurprising popularity. One such game, Modern Warfare 2 features a highly controversial mission in which the player is an undercover CIA agent participating in a terrorist massacre at the airport, shooting every innocent civilian in sight. Though there have been arguments made that this has no influence on aggressive or antisocial behavior, a quick look through comments made on videos posted of this ‘mission’ shows a disturbing trend. Although the player can choose not to participate in the massacre and still complete the mission, many comments read, “I ran out of ammo during this mission”, “best cod mission ever played it so much”, “Use to actually replay this mission and made sure everyone was dropped at such a young age”. Although it has been difficult to measure and prove in a scientific manner, a quick trip through the online gaming space reveals disturbing mindsets in young men and children.
More than just content
Many games allow for online communication, through microphones or chatrooms. While some games require an age minimum to purchase, there's nothing preventing older gamers from interacting with children.
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Sophia Dalby played numerous online games in which she was talked to inappropriately. Speaking on one of those occasions, she said, "There was a guy in my guild when I was about 16 that took it a bit too far. He was older, old enough to reasonably be married I think and he started getting really personal, asking for videos of me and sending flirty texts."
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Some even resort to trickery. "There was another guy that used a voice modifier to trick me into thinking he was a girl and trusting him then tried to ask me out after he revealed he was a man.
Sophia Dalby plays Lethal Company at her home, Saturday, Nov. 22, 2025. It is one of many games available on the popular platform 'Steam'.
​In more recent years, the gaming platform Steam has allowed for smaller developers to upload their own games. One such developer published a game called No Mercy, in which the player sexually assaults and beats numerous women, including family members. Though the game was mass reported and removed from the platform, those that bought it are legally permitted to continue playing the game.
Desensitization in Older Generations
I spoke with fellow film major Maya Hall about her experience with violent media growing up, and her thoughts on censorship.
Video obtained by CNN affiliate WCNC from the Charlotte Area Transit System shows the moment before the fatal stabbing.
WCNC/Charlotte Area Transit System
Trigger Warning
When asked, "Why do you feel as though you're more sensitive to these visuals?" Lisa responded, "I grew up reading a lot of books. I think it makes it easier to visualize tough situations, and increases your empathy." Continuing, she added, "Youtube and Facebook were still new when I was growing up. There wasn't a whole lot of access to ultra violent media before then. Now, it's everywhere."
Newsworthy violence
In recent years, news stations have grown comfortable showing increasingly more violent footage which can be shocking to many viewers; 23 year old Iryna Zarutska fatally stabbed, the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and many more have been broadcast across news channels and social media without any censoring, which has led many to criticize why it has been shown without censorship.
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On the flipside, others seem to seek out these videos, some gleeful to witness the level of violence, especially in the case of Charlie Kirk who was controversial for his political discourse.
Lisa Sentgerath sits down to watch Netflix, Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025. Before watching most films, she checks websites like "Does the Dog Die", shown above, for potential triggering or excessively violent scenes.