Is television teaching children violent behavior and leading them to become violent adults? When children view substantial amounts of violence, I believe the possibility of desensitization becomes probable. Does desensitizing cause children to accept violent behavior as normal and aid them to mature to be violent adults? A study done by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry reported that television does increase aggressiveness in children’s behavior. The majority of violence viewed by children contains a substantial amount of unrealistic violence.
50). Overall, media violence effects on children has many negative consequences such as attention problems, aggression, impulsiveness and the fear of the world. Media violence is considered as social problem. Parents should be more aware of dangerous effects on their children from media violence. Children are more likely to act out at the school with other children in violent act because of what they learned from media.
Children can become desensitized to real world violent behavior. Young kids can develop a fear of being victimized by violence. The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Academy of Adolescent Psychiatry believe that television does influence the behavior of children from as young as one years old (Kalin.) These are all seemingly reliable resources to encourage that belief violent cartoons does affect young children. But just how much does it affect them?
The impact of violent media on young children’s minds is always something psychologists wondered about, but in the past few years the wonder has changed into worry about the effects of violent media on a child’s brain. The issue in question is how violent media affects a young child. Children are very susceptible to what they see and hear, so the idea of violent media harmfully effecting children is not farfetched. Violent media can have children fearing the world around them. Violent media can also lead children to have a lack of sensitivity toward others who are in pain.
We need to examine exactly what these companies are telling children and the effects these violent stories are having on the children who watch them. One of the first negative effects researchers discovered while observing children who were frequently exposed to violence on television was a lack of empathy towards other people’s pain and suffering. It was discovered that children who watched excessive amounts of violent programming were less likely to help victims of real-life violence ( Kinnear 6 ). Why does viewing violence on television have this effect on children? Children viewing acts of violence on television are essentially being trained to be spectators to violence.
Children and Television Violence Through what they experience on television, children are forced into adulthood at too young of an age. The innocence of youth is lost when children stare endlessly at a screen displaying the horrors of murder, rape, assault, devastating fire, and other natural disasters. Although these are occurrences in everyday life, things adults have grown accustomed to hearing about, children do not have the maturity level to deal with these tragedies appropriately. Children's behavior changes because they become desensitized to the violence. There are many preventative techniques that can be applied to ensure that negativity on television will not interfere with a child's development.
According to Strasburger and Grossman, (2001) the offenders of recent school shootings were exposed to and captivated by many different forms of violent media. Children are more susceptible to being influenced by their surroundings and, unlike adults, they cannot always distinguish between reality and fiction. Violent media has a clear, negative effect on the ... ... middle of paper ... ...hieve the same status as their idol. Overall, violent media places our children in unnecessary danger. There is no way to end violence in the media, but by understanding its effects on children, society can develop new ways to protect our youth.
Should the parents be responsible for allowing the child to be affected by the violence that's available to them on the screen? Does violence on television even make an impact to the physical and mental growth process of a child? In addition to others, all of these answers could potentially lead to solving this critical issue. Violence, including homicide, suicide, and trauma, is a leading cause of death for children, young adults, and adolescents, over diseases, cancer or congenital disorders. (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001) Is television responsible?
Huesmann says, “ Violent scenes that children are most likely to model their behavior after are ones in which they identify with the perpetrator of the violence, the preparatory is rewarded for the violence and which children perceive the scene as telling about life like it really is.”(Potter 82) Children who watch these violent shows do not have the wisdom and understanding to be able to decide what is really wrong or right in the situations. The developing brain is beginning to mimic what is on television with no understanding that hitting one another as proceeds in “Tom and Jerry” is an act of violence and is not funny which this act does have consequ... ... middle of paper ... ...avies, Pamela, Peter Francis, and Chris Greer. Victims, Crime and Society. Thousands Oaks: Sage Publications Inc, 2007. Print.
Violence on television can be harmful in more ways than one. On the one hand, kids will imitate what they watch, but kids are also very easily brainwashed. Children may get a false impression of what the world is really like. If all the children see is violence on television, then, of course, the children will be a little apprehensive about the world. All of the violence could also m... ... middle of paper ... ...e lack of exercise shows for children.