Overview
American children spend an average of three to four hours every day watching television, according to the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. To boot, Science Daily reports that male adolescents spend an additional hour per day during the week and over 90 minutes on the weekends playing video games. On average, American children witness 200,000 violent acts on television by the time they reach the age of 18. Video games, prime-time television programs, and even programs intended for young viewers are filled with violence. Typically, TV and video-game programs glorify violence, presenting it as a legitimate form of justice. The dramatized perpetrators of violence rarely face consequences for their violent acts. On the contrary, they are portrayed as heroic. Parents and experts alike question whether the steady diet of media violence inspires children to be violent or aggressive.
Negative Effects
Hundreds of studies document the negative effects of media violence, as described by the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry and the Kaiser Family Foundation. Studies of every design–experimental, cross-sectional and longitudinal–suggest that children who view television violence evince heightened risk of aggressive behavior. Media violence produces other effects, including loss of empathy for victims, anesthetization to violence, identification with either victims or perpetrators, and acceptance of aggression and violence as viable ways to solve problems. Further, young or sensitive viewers can become emotionally distressed by media violence.
Program Characteristics
Several factors moderate the influence of media violence on children. Action that is portrayed in a more realistic manner produces greater imitation from children and adolescents. Cartoon violence elicits less imitation than live-action violence. Also, media violence produces less imitation when the perpetrator of violence is punished. On the contrary, when the perpetrator is portrayed as admirable and the aggression is represented as justified, children are more likely to imitate the aggressive acts.
Viewer’s Characteristics
Media violence affects some children more than others. School-age children have not yet established a clear sense of reality. They have a more difficult time distinguishing between television and reality. School-age children more readily imitate media violence. Adolescents possess more cynicism, and display greater independence and critical thinking. Teens more ably discriminate between staged action and actual events, and so are less influenced by violence perpetrated by media models. Nonetheless, even adolescents may imitate media violence, especially if they identify with the characters, tend toward violent fantasies or have emotional problems. Further, if the violent action portrayed by media models is reinforced or advocated by peers or other models in the child’s environment, both children and adolescents are more likely to replicate the actions they view in the media.
Social and Environmental Factors
Families’ attitudes and responses to each other and toward people outside of the family temper the effects of televised violence. Children and adolescents tend to imitate the behavior of the people who constitute their social environment. Parents, peers, teachers, relatives, siblings and the scores of other role models who pervade a child’s social environment influence children’s behavior. If these agents of culture act aggressive or violent, children will likely emulate this behavior, whether they view violence in the media or not. Consider that people the world over engage in violent behavior, even when they have limited access to television or other media. Conversely, when a child’s parents, siblings and other primary relations advocate rational, nonviolent approaches to conflict, they defang the potential influence of media models.
Interventions
Monitor and regulate the viewing habits of your children, and especially of your school-age children. Guide your child into viewing educational and nonviolent programs. If your child acts aggressively or violently, then you absolutely should restrict access to violent video games, movies and television shows. As they approach adolescence, many children develop the cognitive and emotional capability to view mild media violence without ill effects. Familiarize yourself with the content of video games and television programs. Watch TV with your child and supervise her game play. Insist that your family adhere to the rating systems of TV shows and games. For example, don’t let your 14-year-old play M (for Mature)-rated games. If you or your child is uncomfortable with the content of any media, change the station, eject the DVD or stop the game play. Monitor and discuss your child’s reactions to media violence, and help your child to develop a mature, realistic sensibility about what he sees portrayed in the media.
About this Author
Ed Donner is a clinical psychologist and freelance writer. He has performed, presented and published research on a variety of psychological and physical health issues. He has a Bachelor of Science in psychology from Ohio State University, and a Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago.
