TV Violence and the Hays Code

The Hays Code shows the intended path for Hollywood from the 30’s. This was brought to my attention from On Combat. Lt. Col. Dave Grossman discusses the impact that movies have on society, especially the area concern violence and our youth. When I first came across this information, I didn’t realize how much influence movies have in our lives. From his book, he states the correlation between violence on television and a significant increase in assaults among teenagers 17-20 years old 15 years later. The reason why that delay is fifteen years in duration- that’s how long it takes for children exposed to tv violence to grow up and act out with what they have seen through tv. Studies taken from societies around the world compared the time television was introduced in an area and the number of assaults.
Another interesting point Grossman makes deals with the violence in our society today. Many areas, especially big cities, tout the fact that murders per capita have dropped over the years, thus being a safer city. The flaw in this statement comes from the assumption that the murder per capita is the correct statistic to use when addressing the level of violence in a community. Assaults should be the standard where community violence is judged; the reasons why murders have not spiked year after year come from the advances in medical technology.
The Hays Code speaks at length on the reasoning it gives for it’s principles and recognizes the impact that films and stories have on people. Just from the movies in my lifetime, I have seen them become more violent and explicit. The Hays Code has a few other interesting statements concerning the views of 1930.
Getting to the point here, for anyone who wants to have a little more insight to the violence we see in today’s society, take a look at his book, whether it be On Killing or On Combat, each book offers an extremely interesting read on the subjects of psychology in stressful environments through history and in today’s world.

The Hays Code is found here:

http://www.artsreformation.com/a001/hays-code.html