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Violent TV Effect on Kids
Effects of Violent TV Programming and How to Impose Limitations to Exposure
"Violence on Television -- What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?" By the American Psychological Association (APA) provides an introspective view into how violence on television affects children and presents an argument that exposure to violence should be monitored. Alternately, Tim Goodman provides an argument based upon personal opinions and observations in which he defends television programming and shifts the blame of exposure onto the individual. Both articles provide an insight into violence on television and what can be done to limit exposure to said violence.
In "Violence on Television -- What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?," the American Psychological Association provides evidence that supports their claim that exposure to violence on television has a negative impact on children, provided these children are exposed to violent television programming. According to the studies conducted by the American Psychological Association and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), it has been determined that children that are exposed to significant amounts of violent television programming are prone to be less affected by violence and are also "less likely to call for help or intervene when they witness violent acts among their peers" (American Psychological Association). Furthermore, the APA and NIMH argue that exposure to violent television programming can have negative psychological effects on a child including becoming "less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others," being more fearful of their environment, and being more prone to displaying aggression or exhibiting harmful behavior...
These arguments are corroborated by extensive studies conducted at the University of Pennsylvania which found that children exposed to television programs that contain approximately 20 violent acts and children that watch excessive amounts of television are "more likely to think that the world is a mean and dangerous place" (American Psychological Association). Moreover, studies conducted at the University of Illinois also found that these children, in addition to exhibiting higher levels of aggression, were also "more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults" (American Psychological Association).
While there is no doubt that excessive exposure to violent television programming can have negative effects on a child's psychological development and possibly have an impact on their future, the American Psychological Association provides suggestions on how parents can help their children cope with violent television programming. For example, the APA contends that limiting the amount of hours that a child watches television can reduce their aggressive tendencies. Additionally, parents should participate in television viewing and watch at least one hour of television programming that his or her child watches on a regular basis in order to know what their child is exposed to on a regular basis. Parents should also discuss any violent incidents that they witness on television and extend the discussion to include an introspective view into what motivated the violence. Furthermore, parents should be proactive and ban any programming that they find to be too violent, impose limits on how much television a child can watch a day, and/or encourage their children to…
In D.A. Gentile (Ed.), Media violence and children. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishing. [the authors of this book contend that learning comes from repetition. The fact that the violent games require violent acts to be played over and over again creates an ideal learning situation. But what the players are learning is antisocial behavior and the idea that violence is a good way to resolve conflict.] Hockenbury, S.E. & Hockenbury, DH
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
S., Canada, and in South Africa. He chooses South Africa because TV was banned there from 1945 to 1974. Homicide rates increased enormously in the U.S. And Canada (93% and 92%, respectively) in those time periods -- but homicide rates declined by 7% in TV-less South Africa. Is that really empirical evidence to support his case? Hardly. Meantime, Centerwall asserts that because minority households didn't all have TV at a time
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
Lowenstein) These children also might see their own feelings of a wish to do physical harm toward another reflected in the feelings of others, the psychological term known as projection, and may be afraid or paranoid of others intentions. Sometimes the criminal act of murder is an extension of previous anti-social acts of less serious forms of delinquency and criminality and children merely graduate to more extended and more violent and extreme
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