How Aggressive TV Cartoons Effect Children's Behavior - Assignment Example

Your How Aggressive TV cartoons effect childrens behavior Introduction Television is a widely consumed source of entertainment that influences people of all ages. Children, in particular, are mostly exposed to television for viewing cartoons. Not all parents think of the content in cartoons that is getting into heads of their children and shaping their personalities. They don’t even imagine how their children are affected by cartoons that are violent. Television has its own advantages and disadvantages; therefore, it can influence children in both negative and positive way. It can be entertaining and educational, and can open up new worlds for kids, giving them a chance to experience and know the world, learn about different cultures, and gain exposure to ideas they may never encounter in their own communities. At the same time, television can also affect children’s behavior in a really alarming way. It can ruin all the efforts parents put in teaching them the appropriate behaviors. Aggressive action sequences and, in particular, violent cartoons can trigger aggressive and violent behaviors among children of all ages. The problem is even worse among young children, who can’t differentiate among fiction and reality, right and wrong and, moral and immoral, who shape their mental models on the basis of such exposure. In this research paper, I studied five of the extensive research studies regarding violent cartoons’ effect on children behavior and found that violent cartoons and action heroes trigger aggressive behavior in children, and in many cases, children try to imitate them. Violent Cartoons and Aggression among Children In order to understand violence and their effect on children, it is absolutely critical to define violence, particularly in cartoons. According to National Television Violence Study (NTVS 1997), “violence can be generally defined as any intentional or accidental action that causes physical or psychological harm (as in the case of verbal abuse) to oneself, another person, animal, or at times, an inanimate object” (qtd in Blumberg et al., 101). It is alarming that violence has become an integral part of cartoon content, and surprisingly, frequency of violence in cartoons is higher than live-action drama or comedies (Potter and Warren qtd.in Kirsh 548).Moreover, according to the research evidence collected by six major professional societies through more than 1,000 studies; there is a casual relationship between children’s exposure to media violence and their aggressive behavior (Joint Statement qtd. in Miranda et al., 82). Surprisingly, such impact is not limited to children alone, in their research study, Ostrov et al. suggest that not only children but adults show asocial behaviors, increased physiological arousal, and increased aggression in thoughts, behavior, and feelings as a result of exposure to media violence(614). It is interesting to note that exposure to violent media effects adults with fully developed personalities; therefore, we can clearly imagine the effects of such exposure on tender and developing minds of children. Such an extensive body of research is enough to establish that violent cartoons do aggravate aggressive behaviors among children. Peer Relationship and Social Behavior Considering that violent cartoons trigger aggressive behavior among children, most of the parents remain concerned about other negative manifestations of such viewing, such as, fear anxiety, and social presence of their children. In an effort to evaluate the relationship between TV viewing habits and peer relationship, Gülay’s research found a negatively significant relation between duration of TV viewing and children’s pro-social behavior levels. It is evident that children’s number of friends decreased with the increase in their TV watching duration. In the similar way, with the decrease in their TV watching duration, their number of friends and pro-social behavior increased. Most importantly, Gülay observed increased levels of asocial behaviors, anxiety, fear, exclusion, hyperactivity-distractibility, and victimization with increased duration of television viewing habits (928). Therefore, it is established that higher levels of television watching leads to problems in peer relationship among preschool children. As a result of being more exposed to negative role models on television, these children exhibit more aggression, anxiety, and shyness. Parental Involvement and Vigilance Considering such devastating impact of prolonged television watching on children behavior, one may think of completely getting rid of television. However, it is not advisable to deprive children of a creative medium of exposure that can widen their imagination. There is no doubt that children’s exposure to violent media can lead aggression in their behaviors (Brown and Hamilton-Giachritsis qtd. in Miranda et al., 79).However, there is considerable evidence that sometimes, parental involvement in television viewing process can suppress aggression (Singh et al., qtd. in Miranda et al., 79).According to research conducted by Miranda et al. in order to measure the impact of parental control over children behavior during violent media exposure, parental supervision and their active disapproval of violent act can suppress media’s negative influences. On the other hand, it is crucial to understand that passive or distracted parental supervision may not work here. It means that merely presence of an adult is not enough to save children from negative effects of the exposure, but adult has to actively supervise the activity, highlight and criticize the bad behavior, condemn violence, and appreciate compassion and humane behaviors. Children’s experience and Process of Consumption While we are analyzing and discussing children exposure to violent media and their behaviors, it becomes crucial to study what they feel while experiencing such media. What goes through their minds that lead to aggression? Understanding the whole process of this transformation may not be easy and will take several studies, however, children can narrate what they feel about the experience. Therefore, Bjorkqvist and Kirsti interviewed children and found that younger children (5-6 years) experienced cartoons in fragments, not as a continuous story or events. They didn’t understand much of the content and made moral inferences on the basis of what they already knew. The things which made them most anxious were the ones that they remembered even after six months. On the other hand, children with aggressive fantasies had exhibit lower level of moral reasoning, they preferred violent scenes, felt less anxious while watching violence, and provided illogical explanations of violent character’s behavior. Moreover, they found that levels of anxiety were more associated with the way violence is represented (sound) rather than the amount of explicit violence. In another research study, Krcmar and Hight found that children who watched action cartoons or super-hero image where more likely to think and create aggressive endings of stories in comparison to those children who watched neutral images of animated characters. Moreover, they found that children who are exposed to aggressive cartoons once or more came up with more aggressive responses as compared to those who had not been exposed to violent cartoons. They also found that stereotypical appearance of cartoon character or action hero is more of a contributor to aggression, and most of the time only appearance can trigger aggressive mental models. Surprisingly, a still photo of the characters is as likely to trigger aggressive story ending as an active chase scene (261-63).Therefore, it is absolutely critical to screen cartoons and other media before exposing children to them. This kind of screening and controlled exposure goes a long way to protect children from its negative impact. Imitation of Violence in Real Life Most of the scholars agree that violent cartoons trigger aggressive behaviors among children, but as far as children’s likelihood of imitating the acts or violent acts in cartoons is, there are different opinions. According to Kaiser Family Foundation’s report (2006), an examination of children’s electronic media viewing revealed that approximately 68 percent of 6 years of age children imitate behaviors showed on television, while 24 percent of those behaviors were identified as aggressive (Rideout and Hamel qtd. in Blumberg et al. 102). Ergün’s research findings confirmed KFF’s report that children tend to imitate violent behaviors shown in cartoon. More precisely, Ergün observed a significant difference in conditions of children’s imitating action cartoons with respect to gender. Interestingly, she found that male children imitated the actions of cartoon characters much more than female children. In addition, her research revealed that male children are more inclined to watch violence-oriented cartoons, and they prefer cartoon characters that exhibit power, while female children preferred emotional, educational, and didactic cartoons (139).Children’s choices of cartoons on the basis of gender, with same viewing time duration, indicate that boys are more prone to be affected by violent cartoons in comparison to girl children. They are influenced by characters’ influence and power on others characters and try to imitate it in real life. On the other hand, some argue that comedic element can trivialize violence and keep children from considering it real, thus minimizing the negative effect of violence. As Blumberg et al. reject the claims that violent TV program or cartoons influence children’s behavior or aggression level in negative way because it is highly unlikely that they emulate violent actions. They further suggest that young children have limited understanding of television programs in comparison to their higher levels of moral reasoning. They stress that for children, immoral grounds of violent acts and its unreal status is similar to the comic sense of cartoon that is clearly distinguishable from reality. Considering the comic contextualization as a savior, Blumberg et al. conclude that children will refrain from perpetrating it in real life since they know that nothing in cartoons is real. . Kirsch also agrees with Blumberg et al., when he suggests that the element of comedy in cartoons may influence the belief of children about the applicability of such acts in real life (qtd in Blumberg et al., 101).Kirsh believes that children are exposed to violence in cartoons in greater frequency as compared to live-action drama. Moreover, comedic element in violence may suppress violence for adults; however, the results are doubtful when it comes to children (555). It is true that violent cartoons are made of the consumption of youth and there is a comedic element in them, such as, Woody Wood-Pecker and Scooby Doo. However, some of the other cartoons just portray violence, such as, Samurai Jack, X-Men Evolution, and Batman. In addition, animated series only portray violence with any comedic angle in most cases. Another point is that violence is showed in the beginning or ending of certain dispute, and presence of comedy at the time of violence is an important thing to consider if we want to trivialize its impact (King; Potter and Warren Kirsh 548).Here, it is important to consider that comedic elements during violence may trivialize its intensity for adults, but the idea that same is true for children is doubtful and need more research. Furthermore, violence is not justified in any case, even if someone practices it in a humorous way. Conclusion Television is easy available and widely consumed media. With more career-oriented parents today, children are more exposed to television content, particularly cartoon. Despite the claims of some scholars, it is evident that children are exposed to violence in cartoons in greater frequency as compared to live-action drama. More than a thousand studies found a positive relationship of violent cartoons exposure and aggressive behavior among children. Moreover, it is also evident that with prolonged exposure, children become more aggressive, asocial, fearful, shy, anxious, and victimized. On the flip side, some scholars believe that aggressiveness can be suppressed or neutralized due to comic angle and unreal nature of it. However, we cannot justify the use of violence in cartoons even if it is suppressed through comedic angle. Violence must be condemned whether it is presented seriously or humorously, in particular for children. Children at young age develop the idea of morality, right and wrong, and establish mental models. Despite the presence of comedic angle, we have no evidence that children will not consume violence at their subconscious level and imitate it. Some believe that active parental control can save our children from negative impact. However, it is a fact that children consume violent cartoons and observe violent characters, even if they don’t imitate, such actions shape some part of their personalities. Therefore, it is high time to actively supervise children’s exposure to violent media, and teach them to think critically about violent acts. Works Cited Bjorkqvista ,Kaj, and Kirsti Lagerspetz. “Children’s Experience of Three Types of Cartoon at Two Age Level.” Tylor & Francis Group.1985:77-93. tandfonline.Web16 Nov.2014. Blumberg Fran C.,Kristen, Bierwirth P., and Allison, Schwartz,J., “Does Cartoon Violence Beget Aggressive Behavior in Real Life? An Opposing View.”Early Childhood Educ J.26 August.2008:101-104.Springer.Web.15 Nov.2014. Ergün, Sibel. "The Influence of Violent TV Cartoons Watched By School Children in Turkey." Acta Paulista De Enfermagem (2012): SciELO. Web. 29 Oct. 2014. Gülay,Hülya. “The Evaluation of the Relationship Between the TV-viewing habits and Peer Relations of Preschool Children.”International Journal of Academic Research.3.2.(2011):922-30.Web. 15 Nov.2014. Krcmar,Marina, and Anna Hight. “The Development of Aggressive Mental Models in Young Children.”Tylor & Francis Group 5 Dec.2007:250-69.tandfonline.Web16 Nov.2014. Kirsh, Steven J. "Cartoon Violence and Aggression in Youth." Aggression and Violent Behavior 11.1 (2005): 547 – 557. Science Direct. Department of Psychology, SUNY-Geneseo, Genese. Web. 4 Nov. 2014. Miranda,Priscilla, Nicholas McCluskey,Benjamin Silber J.,Christian Von Pohle M.D.,Charlene Bainum K., “Effects of Adult Disapproval of Cartoon Violence on Children’s Aggressive Play.”Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research.14.2.(2009):79-84. Web. 15 Nov.2014. Ostrov, Jamie. M., Douglas Gentile, A., and Nicki Crick, R., “Media exposure, aggression and prosocial behavior during early childhood: Alongitudinal study.”Social Development, 15(2006): 612–627.Print. Read More