Violence on Television Increases Violence in Children - Essay Example

? Violence on Television Increases Violence in Children In Little Colorado, two armed teenagers with semiautomatic weapons and explosives first killed 13 people at Columbine High school on April 20, 1999 and then took their own lives. This is not the only instance of carnage, rather it was followed by a series of unfortunate incidents of violence, a 15 year old wounded six students in a Georgia High school, a teacher was shot dead by a seventh grader in a middle school in Florida; and a fifteen year old boy opened fire at a high school in Santee, Columbia killing two students and injuring 13 others in March 2001. All these shootings and other violence by children and teenagers have opened a public debate concerning various issues. Some blamed the easy availability of weapons for the shootings while some focused on the problems of bullying and peer abuse in American High schools as the reason behind this violence. However, there were some researchers who looked beyond the obvious and pinpointed the media behind the increase in violence. In this paper, we shall debate on the controversial issue that violence on television increases the violence in children and teenagers and stand by it. According to a research, children in America watch four hours of television daily on an average which implies that television has a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior. But sadly, most of the programs broadcasted on television are violent nowadays. From the daytime talk shows, most of which are portrayed by unashamed emotional, psychosomatic, and corporeal exploitation by jury guests towards each other, to the prime time shows and the WCW (World Champion Wrestling), all these programs proliferate excessive violence and aggressiveness. Most of these programs are watched by a growing number of young children and adolescents who view them along with their parents. As the matter of fact, violence forms the key constituent of the Network news too, as most of it is plagued with explicit renderings of murders, traffic mishaps, kidnappings, international war scenes, and the like. The story is the same everywhere; the good people slaughter the bad people, most often with an arsenal of weapons that has become a humdrum possession for today's T.V. characters (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry [AACAP] n.pag.). This starts the debate that whether these television programs really affect our children or not. Various studies done to evaluate the impact of T.V. violence on children and teenagers have revealed that children are affected in different ways by these shows. They may become immune or dumb to the horror of violence, or gradually accept violence as the means to sort out problems, or try to imitate the violence shown on television, and identify with certain characters, victims and/or victimizers. Children who become violent watching such T.V. programs will show a range of behaviors including explosive temper tantrums, threats, bullying, aggressiveness, armed assault, and harm to animals and peer groups. In fact, a research done by psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann, Leonard Eron and others also revealed those children who watch long hours of brutal programs during elementary school level tend to show higher level of aggressive behavior when they become teens. They further found that eight years old children, who watch too much of television, are mostly the ones who get prosecuted for criminal behavior as adults (American Psychological Association [APA] n.pag.). Additionally, many children who are overexposed to violence, and specially, to pragmatic violence start judging the society as one which is, by and large, hazardous and perilous. This misjudgment makes them fearful towards life as they start considering themselves future victims of violence (AACAP n.pag.). However, researcher David Buckingham stated that “one may well discover that children who are violent watch a lot of television violence, but this does not prove that violent television causes real-life violence” (qtd. in Kolata n.pag.). In addition, Surgeon General David Satcher asserted that it was excessively complex for researchers to establish that an individual has behaved violently after watching media violence or, as a result of other causes, such as childhood trauma, substance abuse, or due to a family history of violence. For this reason, he did not include media violence as a key casual factor in youth violence in his 2001 report (Zuckerman n.pag.). In fact, one theory even claimed that watching media violence may actually help reduce aggression. According to them, youngsters who watch violent entertainment get the opportunity to explore their violent instincts without hurting anyone through these programs (Kolata n.pag.). To counteract the above claims, researchers who focus on television violence claimed that T.V. is the most pervasive system for media violence. Almost 67% of the children programs in America contain violent subjects (Strasburger 57-58). On an average, a normal American child views 28 hrs of television per week which implies that he or she has watched around 8000 murders by the time their elementary school is over, which is at the age of 11, and worse than that, these programs show that 75% of the times the murderer escapes unpunished displaying no signs of repentance or liability. According to some surveys, children who suffer the maximum are mostly the ones below eight years of age since within this tender age group it is not easy for them to alienate fantasy from actuality. At this age, things are accepted by children without any exploration and assessment. Moreover, children tend to spend more time watching T.V. than doing school work or playing with friends (APA n.pag.). Hence, these violent programs will definitely make children invulnerable to violence and belligerence; some may even become terrified of living in such a treacherous society. Furthermore, the American Psychological Association have been continuously conducting research on television’s effects on viewers and in its 1993 report it had confirmed that there exists strong correlation between increased viewing of violence on television and increasing aggressive attitudes and behaviors. They added that children’s exposure to violence in the mass media, particularly at young ages, can have harmful lifelong experiences. As in the case of the Columbine school shooting, it was found that the teenagers were instigated to make killings after watching violent films or video games. Furthermore, the 1994-1997 National T.V. violence study revealed some of the major effects of watching violence on television: (1) children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of the others, (2) children may become more fearful of the world around them, (3) they are more likely to behave in more harmful or aggressive ways towards others. These facts sufficiently prove that television has a profound effect on children or teenagers in their lifetime. In addition, these researches clearly indicate that lifelong exposure to media violence will undoubtedly have a negative impact on young minds (APA n.pag.). Conclusion To summarize, we can agree that increased viewing of violence on television has increased violent effect on children and teenagers. In 1996, the argument that television violence is too pervasive led Congress to pass the Telecommunications Act, which required television broadcasters to develop a voluntary ratings system for TV programs. The act also required television manufacturers to include the V-chip, an electronic device that allows parents to block out any program with a particular rating, in all new television sets made after 2000. Parents can protect children from excessive TV violence by paying attention to the programs their children are watching and watch some with them, set limits on the amount of time they spend with the television, refuse to let the children see shows known to be violent, and disapprove of the violent episodes in front of the children. The great tragedy of American media is that they can be so astoundingly creative, informative, and provocative at times, yet they continue to do so little for children and adolescents. It is up to pediatricians and other public health activists to teach parents how to harness the good aspects of media for their children and to teach the entertainment industry that it has major responsibilities for young people that it has not fulfilled. Work cited American Psychological Association. ‘Violence in the Media-Psychologists Help Protect Children from Harmful Effects.’ American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association, 19 Feb. 2004. Web. 13 Mar. 2013. American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. ‘Facts for Families: Children and T.V. Violence.’ American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 13. American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Mar. 2011. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. Kolata, Gina. ‘A Study Finds More Links between TV and Violence’. The New York Times. The New York Times Company, 29 Mar. 2012. Web. 14 Mar. 2013. < http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/29/us/a-study-finds-more- links-between-tv-and-violence.html?src=pm> Strasburger, Victor C. ‘Children, Adolescents and the Media’. Current Problems in Pediatric Adolescent Health Care, 34.2 (2004): 54-113. Web. 13 Mar. 2013 doi:10.1016/j.cppeds.2003.08.001 Zuckerman, Diana. ‘What is blame for Youth Violence?’ National Research Center for Women and Families. National Research Center for Women and Families, Mar. 2011.Web. 13 Mar. 2013. Read More