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Television Violence and the Effects on Children
Although the debate goes on as to whether or not television violence has a negative impact on children, there is ample evidence to verify that indeed, children are impacted in largely negative ways by being witnesses to violence on television. This paper provides six reasons why allowing children to watch violent TV is a bad idea and can create aggressive people later in life.
Reason ONE: An article in the peer-reviewed journal Pediatrics (van der Molen, 2004) points out what may not be obvious to parents and others involved in raising and educating children. That is, local news on television, which is not fiction of course, is found to "rely heavily on sensational presentations of violence" (van der Molen, 1771). And what kind of news is typically shown on the "local news"? Certainly violence is a constant theme, along with rape, robbery, shootings, car wrecks, and kidnappings. Studies show that children in the highest grades of elementary school watch local news "at least several times a week" and even 3-to 8-year-olds watch local news or national news often. The bottom line for Reason ONE: children of all ages are "regularly confronted with highly dist4ressing and violent accounts of murders, catastrophic accidents,...
103). When a meta-analysis is conducted (examining of many similar tests in laboratories) of existing research, those studies consistently show "substantial media effects" on the subjects involved (Felson, 105). There are arguments as to whether lab experiments are valid, but when looking at a meta-analysis, and they all indicate that violence on TV has a negative effect, it's believable.
Reason THREE: An article in the peer-reviewed Psychological Science in the Public Interest asserts that based on "unequivocal evidence" it can be stated that "frequent exposure" to violence on television in childhood is linked with "aggression later in life" (Anderson, et al., 2003, p. 81). Moreover, the aggression later in life is apt to include physical assaults and spousal abuse, Anderson explains (81). Recent surveys show that there is an "extensive presence of violence in modern media," and many children and adolescents spent "an…
Works Cited
Anderson, Craig A., Berkowitz, Leonard, Donnerstein, Edward, Huesmann, L Rowell,
Johnson, James D., Linz, Daniel, Malamuth, Neil M., and Wartella, Ellen. (2003). The
Influence of Media Violence on Youth. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 4(3),
81-98.
In contrast, TV influences children in abandoning the theories they were taught and embrace other concepts, most related to violence. Also, after being exposed to TV violence children feel that it is perfectly natural for them to behave similar to the characters on TV (Langone, 1984, p. 48). It is extremely important for a child to be assisted by an adult when watching TV. Studies have shown that children are
Two of the most important things that the industry is doing now is making sure that all television programs are rated, and using v-chips to keep children from seeing programs that contain violence (Szaflik, 2000). Neither one of these ideas are foolproof, however, and therefore more must be done. Unfortunately, not that many parents and educators are aware of what else can be done to help, and therefore television violence
It seems that violence on television does contribute to aggressive behavior, yet it is important to note that television is only one of many causes of aggression (Gunter and McAleer, 1990). Many other factors unrelated to television influence violence, and the specific impact of televised violence is dependent upon age, sex, family practices, and the way violence is presented. One statement is often repeated: television has major effects on
The study in this report involved a 14-year-old adolescent female who was 5-feet 2-inches and weighed 132 pounds; she was given a challenge to walk for exercise and use an exercise machine at home -- and in turn she agreed to cut back on television and other media usage. The bottom line was, she lost weight, but moreover, one year after the study she was increasing the level of
Attitudes and practices varied by age of the child and the gender of the parent. Colorito, Rita. (2002) "Violence on Television News Programs is a Serious Problem." Is Media Violence a Problem? Ed James Torr San Diego: Greenhaven, 2002. 24- 30. Colorito says that even though rates of crime decreased in the 1990s, television news coverage of violent crime increased. TV news shows like 20/20 and Dateline frequently show stories on
Television Viewing and Violence in Children Television has become a kind of a modern, technological 'babysitter' for children. It is not unusual for even very young children to have unsupervised television time. Because of the famous studies conduced by Bandura which suggested that children are apt to mimic observed behaviors and imitate the behaviors of others (even when they are not directly praised for doing so) many researchers have attempted to