Cartoon violence on televison - Research Paper Example

All the children were observed both before and after the program while playing in their classroom. The researchers reported that children who had watched the Power Rangers episode exhibited a greater number of aggressive acts the next day at play than did children who had not been shown the episode. Indeed, children who had watched the episode committed seven times as many actions classed as aggressive as did the other children. (p.104) Because of the TV program’s popularity,it even became a movie.

For the last three decades, this seminal study paved way to numerous studies that tried to establish the influence of media on children. The studies conducted were of different varieties: cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental ( Gentile et.al 5). Sadly, the studies confirmed that there is a strong correlation between mass media and aggressive behavior among children. Foremost among mass media types that have a high influence on children’s behavior are movies. Watching movies is a favorite activity of most people.

Movies can educate, entertain, stimulate bonding sessions with friends, and influence people’s thinking. Before, people watch movies on theatres or buy vcds for home viewing which entails expenses. Today, movies can easily be viewed by watching cable television programs. In fact , almost all homes in America have television sets. Aside from this, the television sets are not only found in the living room but in children’s bedroom as well. Situations like these presents moral danger to young children since their parents are unable to supervise the programs they watch in the confines of their room.

Most of the time, parents leave their children at home and regard the television as a nanny substitute since it hold the attention of the young viewers. To illustrate this fact, an article published in American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry claimed that : Children watch approximately 28 hours of