Safermedia’s response to the riots and looting on our streets  

Dear Friends

The Parliamentary Home Affairs Select Committee (HAC) is holding an emergency meeting tomorrow, Thursday 11 August, to consider the terms of reference for their Inquiry into the Causes and Policing of the Riots.  We have sent them a submission today to feed into that meeting and trust that our substantial past involvement with the HAC will give weight to our argument, that violent media content is partly to blame for the riots.  We have also noted the role of the news media.

Just one example we give is the hugely popular videogame (produced in the UK) ‘Grand Theft Auto’ which glamorises criminal and anti-social behaviour. To get an idea of what we mean, go to:

http://www.listal.com/viewimage/282475h

 

We are also writing to the Home Secretary, Theresa May, to Jeremy Hunt and to Kit Malthouse, Deputy Mayor for Policing, London.

 

ACTION

 

With MPs also gathering in Parliament tomorrow to discuss the serious social disorder that we are witnessing around the country, it is important to draw their attention to the influence of the media as one of the causes, and our apologies for sending you yet another action email.

 

Please would you:

 

1.  Email your own MP supporting our arguments (see below and attached).   To make it as easy as possible, you can write just a short message and then attach the points we make.  You can also call the House of Commons on 020 7219 3000, and ask for your MP’s office.  If no one is there, leave a message.

 

2.  Forward this email to your own contacts and churches.

 

3.  If you use them, post this topic on Facebook and Twitter.

 

4.  Pray for our Nation and for our young people at this time.

 

Many thanks!

 

 

Safermedia’s Submission to HAC re Inquiry into riots

 

  • Research would suggest that violent media content (in films, internet, videogames and rap music) could have created an attitude in young people which has encouraged them to break the law during the riots of the last week. 

 

  • The HAC’s own Report on Knife Crime in 2009 examined such research and concluded that ‘violent DVDs and video games exert a negative influence on those who watch and play them’.

 

  • Many are suggesting that the riots are linked to poverty, social tensions or failings on the part of police or parents.   But in addition the role of the media must not be ignored or underestimated, especially its influence on the young and vulnerable.

 

  • Even the most caring parents are finding it hard to protect their children from harmful media content and control their media use. They need the help of far better media regulation and advice. 

 

  • At the same time the police are seriously undermined by media content that ridicules and demonises them.   

 

  • Many onlookers have noted the sheer criminality, greed and even enjoyment of the rioters and looters and discounted purely sociological reasons for their behaviour.  Sadly this is not surprising in a generation raised on media which portrays anti-social behaviour as fun, cool, and entertaining, e.g. the hugely popular Grand Theft Auto (GTA).  For a sobering description of GTA, go to:

 

http://www.listal.com/viewimage/282475h

 

Our urgent requests are therefore that the government should:

 

1. Examine the harmful role of anti-social and violent media content and ‘entertainment’ in the recent riots.  It is largely videogames, films, TV and pop music that form youth culture, and currently many of them normalise and glamorize lawless and violent behaviour, while undermining authority. 

 

2. Consider how the media can be regulated far more effectively, so that parents and police are not undermined.

 

3.  Look at the role of the news media who, by giving massive television coverage to the riots have probably, albeit inadvertently, provided criminals with  strategic information and also made copycat behaviour far more likely among younger viewers.