Violent Television's Influlence on Children's Behaviour
Concern about children and popular media has a long history. Plato
proposed to ban poets from his ideal republic, because he feared that
their stories about immoral behaviour would corrupt young minds. In
modern times, moral pressure groups have tried to 'protect' children
from popular literature, the music hall, the cinema, comics,
television and 'video nasties'. It's important to see the issue of TV
violence and children's behaviour in a broader social, cultural and
historical context. Why is it such a popular subject? This isn't often
the fate of academic research issues. Well, it may be partly that it's
a convenient scapegoat. Blaming the media can serve to divert
attention from other causes of change, and so claims about the
'effects of television' can be massively exaggerated.
At the same time, we can hardly ignore the fact that TV does feature
aggressive and violent behaviour. One commentator notes that by the
age of 14 the average American child has seen 11,000 murders on TV
(Harris, 1989). In fact, studies have shown that violence is much less
prevalent on British TV than on American TV (Gunter & McAleer, 1990).
However, the type of programme matters: there's more violence in
cartoons than in many other fictional programmes, but children do
discriminate between cartoon violence and more 'realistic' violence.
NeverthelEss, violence is commonplace even on British TV.
There has been a considerable amount of research into
inter-relationships between the viewing of violent films, videos and
TV programmes and aggressive behaviour by the viewers of such
material, in par...
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...ent of more
time than you have as an undergraduate student:
§ Watch out for those who present children as passive viewers, and who
make no allowance for individuality or varied contexts.
§ And you can also criticize researchers' definitions of violence
which aren't those of the viewers involved.
§ No methodology is without its disadvantages, and specific research
projects are rarely without failings: you are in a better position to
point these out than the researchers are. What factors does a specific
study leave out?
§ You may also check any generalisations cautiously against your own
experience as a viewer, and maybe as someone with younger siblings.
And don't neglect the similar expertise which surrounds you amongst
your fellow-students. However, beware of generalising from your own
experience.
According to the article, Violence in the Media, written by the APA, it provides information on how ferocious television episodes can affect a child’s senses, feelings, and attitude. To be more specific, it can make them become numb, frightened, and more pugnacious due to the amount of violent TV they watch. Furthermore, according to the same article, the APA also wrote, “By observing these participants into adulthood, Huesmann and Eron found that the ones who'd watched a lot of TV violence when they were 8 years old were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults.” Psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard Eron held a study that concluded that the result of watching violent television can lead to jail and criminal actions. This will also cause a child to become more aggressive and therefore will become a nefarious person. All in all, the American Psychological Association decided that violent television can shape a child’s disposition. In fact, it can also encourage a child to execute bad deeds and crimes when they become
It seems like everywhere we as a society look today, violence rears its repulsive head. We see violence in the streets, back alleys, and even our schools. Violence can now be seen in many people's living rooms while they are sitting down watching television. Children and teenagers seem to be the most effected by violence on television.
“Myriad studies show that television violence affect children by desensitizing children to the horror of violence, teaching them to accept violence as a solution to problems, teaching them to imitate the violence they see on the television and leading them to identify with characters seen on television (and thus imitate the characters they identify with) (Parenthood Web).” The amount of violence in television programming is obviously directly related to the amount of violence witnessed by children. The more of a role that television plays in the daily activities the more of a role violence will influence that child. In 1985 alone, 85% of all television programming contained violence, with 92.1% of cartoons aired containing violence. These cartoons generally contain one violent act every three minutes ...
TV heroes endorse tanks of noxious,flesh-eating gas The complex age of elaborate laptops, portable color televisions in every room, and pocket radios the size of a basic calculator have all taken their toll on American society. In a furious outburst reflecting the contemporary society in which we live, television has come to represent all that is evil and wicked for our children. Through gruesome, explicit, and often unrealistic portrayals of death and violence, the impressionable clay of our children's minds are being molded into vicious statues incapable of comprehending the gap between what is real and what is injurious. What you see is what you get has taken on an all too terrifying reality. It's not just an escapist ideal, denial, or unavailable evidence that define why people equate violence on TV with the violence in their lives and in other Americans lives. It's a founded and plausible justification. Over 1,000 detailed studies confirm this link. Advanced scientific research illustrates the horrific results we hate to hear: television is bad for kids. Our electronic babysitter has reached the end of her employment - she shoots out too many intensely violent acts in a surprisingly perfunctory way. Leonard Eron, PhD at the University of Illinois, conducted a close study of television viewing from age 5 to age 30. The results hurt our television-loving brains: the more hours of television violence viewed, the more the tendency for aggressive behavior in teenage years becomes as does the likelihood of criminal acts and arrest in later years. Brandon Centerwell, professor at the University of Washington, depicted the doubling of the homicide rate after the introduction of tele...
There is a strong agreement among American society that violence in the country is on the rise. It is easy to see why this is a strong argument among the American people, especially because of the rising popularity of violent video games and television programs. However, as these violent video games and television shows are creating their own place in our society, the reports of violence among children are escalating. This correlation has been studied extensively in the scientific community in an attempt to discover whether media violence does negatively impact children but there has yet to be a consensus. There is a split between those that believe that children are becoming more violent because they are exposed to violent media and those that believe that correlation is not causation, who argue that media violence does not have any notable effect the youth.
As television has become increasingly popular over the past few decades, it has allotted researchers a large amount of time to collect data and explore many aspects of this wonderful, yet harmful invention. It is safe to say that almost every household in America has a television, and it is on and used for multiple hours a day. The vast variety of different shows to watch is outstanding; shows about food, homes, the news, imagination, reality, horror, action-thrillers, the list could go on and on, there is always something to watch for everyone. However, is everything on television appropriate for all of its viewers? The answer to that question is up to the reader, but may they be informed of the effect violence on television has had on children, and will effect those children for the rest of their lives.
The hypothesis that screen based media violence consumption has a detrimental effect has been widely researched and the American Academy of Paediatrics recognises exposure to violence in the media, including television, movies, music and video games, as a significant risk to the health of children and adolescents (Committee on Public Education, 2001). It has been fairly well documented in our society that children become ‘purposeful TV viewers’ by the age of three (Murray, 2008) and by the age of sixteen, the average child has witnessed more than 20,000 murders on television (McGinnies, 1994). There is general agreement that violence exists on tele...
The study only looked at British television programs that were the most popular among adolescents at the time. The study excluded less popular programs which may have portrayed aggression differently than the popular programs did. Similarly, the study only looked at one type of television program, soap operas, that might actually appeal to an adult audience. The violence which may have been shown in these types of programs could be vastly different than shows gaged towards younger
On July 26, year 2000, six medical and public-health professional organizations had disseminated a Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children. This statement acclaimed that “entertainment violence can lead to the upsurges in aggressive attitudes, values, and behavior, notably in children.” The body of research on TV violence continues to grow. In addition, important changes are arising in the landscape of entertainment-media use, and some of it has aroused new areas of research. Therefore, it is important to identify the factors, which include media violence, which, individually and together, may play a part in these outcomes in childhood.
There is no avoiding it! Wherever we go it’ll find us. We’re stuck! We can’t run away or hide from it. Instead we are addicted to it. In this globalization era, a powerful force in the world is media. It affects everybody and everyone. Children minds are sponge-like, absorbing information that makes them easy targets in terms of manipulation by the media. Media plays an important role in the upbringing of a child. Despite its many advantages, children can be affected negatively through it. Current studies have shown that there is a direct correlation between violence in media and a child’s aggressive behavior. So the question that arises is how do children develop a worldview of violence through media? Based on this question, I interviewed Irene Vlachos Weber –a proud mother of two children and a professor at Indiana University, Bloomington who has done her Ph.D. in Psychology from Indiana University itself and completed her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree from Colorado State University. Her areas of interest include Community and Clinical Psychology. Through this interview and the course readings, it was revealed that when children see any acts of aggressiveness on media, they tend to show a worldview of violence either by imitating it, by using deadly forces to solve conflicts, or by absorbing that violence in their minds, thereby desensitizing themselves from reality.
Have you ever looked at someone and thought, I wonder what made him/her the way she is today?” When you do this, you often have to look back on a person’s childhood. How did certain events affect them? Over time violence has become dramatically evident is children’s lives. Parents do not seem to be careful with their children’s viewing habits. They are beginning to let them watch whatever is on TV. For example: Family guy, all those shows on Adult swim. These violent TV programs could cause so many problems for the children and parents later on in life. Parents should carefully monitor children’s viewing habits so they have limited exposure to violence, increase their physical activity, and decrease aggressive behavior.
As early as 1958 investigations were being conducted of the effects of television on children. During this time, the researchers found that most of the television content was extremely violent. In almost half of the television hours monitored, the programs main focus contained violence. The common theme that was seen throughout the programs were crime, shooting, fighting, and murder. The universal definition of violence used was, "Any overt depiction of the use of physical force, or the credible threat of such force, to intend to physically harm an animated being or group of beings." In this investigation, Wilbur Schramm concluded that under some conditions, some violent television could effect some children. For the most part, most television is neither helpful or harmful to most kids under most circumstances. As you can see this conclusion is quiet vague, and does not give a lot of crucial information for us to correct and improve. Schramm and his colleagues came up with a solution for parents to provide a warm, loving, secure family environment for their children, and they would have little to worry about.
The Effects of Television Violence on Children's Behavior. Television violence causes destructive behavior in children, however television can be a powerful influence on young viewers in our society. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming is very violent. Many researchers, like scientists, pediatricians, and child researchers in many countries, have studied to find out what it is about television violence that makes it such a big affect on the way kids act and behave.
When children are taught how to tie their shoes, it is because of how their parents showed them. When children are taught how to do math problems, it is because of how their teachers showed them. So with all of these role models, why is there so much violence? It is because children learn from what they see, even if it's on the big screen. Violence in the movies should have strict regulation because it has negative effects on the behavior of children.
Thanks to the miracle of television the average American child watches 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary school (Early Concerns 113). Television violence is responsible for the increase in childhood violence. Watching violence is a popular form of entertainment, and watching it on television is the number one way that children are exposed to violence. Local news shows provide extensive converage of violent crimes in order to increase their ratings (Felson 96). Violence usually refers to physical aggression and aggression is usually defined as any behavior involving intent to harm another person (Sege 34).