The way in which children learn (by watching, imitating and assimilation), makes the portrayal of violence, sex, drugs and alcohol within the media an important contributor to the behavior of children and teenagers. Daily exposure to violence by the entertainment industry- gun battles, sniper attacts, riots, murders, beating and torture, warline video games, cartoons that depict violent events- can arouse aggresive tendencies in children. Media violence typically does not encourage virtues like patience and compromise as solutions of conflict, neither does it show the consequences that real violence has on the lives of the victims and their families. The frequency of viewing and the absence of consequent control can make children think that violence is an acceptable fact of life.

I have isolated another important phenomenon and that is the high sexual content in the media that heightens teenagers' sexual behavior and attitudes. Young people who watch a lot of television have the highest prevalence of sexual intercourse, according to some statistics I found. And that may also be the reason for increasing teenage pregnancy rates nowadays, among other causes. Advertising and the entertainment industry have a strong influence on youth behavior and are in that way responsible for various risky behaviors.  Media’s growing sexualization enroots in their minds and it can stimulate the risky sexual behavior among them, potentially jeopardizing their health. In writing this I have shared my thoughts with you and I hope that it will inspire you to think more about these issues.

I've used this research as a starting point: http://www.researchgate.net/publication/11070557_Media_influences_on_children_and_adolescents_violence_and_sex