Watching violence tends to create a state of psychological arousal, where your attention level is high and you're in anticipation of what will happen next. It's important to understand the underlying reasons why we are attracted to different kinds of television shows. The issue of media violence is one of the most challenging and complex areas in which to engage students because there are so many important questions to consider. The powerful concepts of media literacy can be used to enhance students' critical thinking skills about the mass media, helping them to look at television and mass media in new ways and to understand the role that media consumers play in the economics of television. The following key concepts are central principles of media literacy.
All messages are constructions.
Awareness of the choices involved in the making of media violence sensitizes viewers to the subtle shaping forces at work in the choice of hero, conflict, resolution, and consequences depicted. Each form of communication has unique characteristics. Violence on television news is different from violence described in newspapers, and the impact of violent music lyrics is different from the violence in popular film. Individuals make unique interpretations of media messages. A violent scene on television will mean different things to each individual, depending on the age, race, religion, ethnicity, personal experiences, attitudes and background of the viewer.