FREE ESSAY ON EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VILOLENCE ON CHILDREN

EFFECTS OF TELEVISION VILOLENCE ON CHILDREN

Jeremy Lohr
Dr. Jordan
4/17/98
Final Draft
The Effects of Television Violence on Children
Television violence without doubt effects and influences children. Television violence
effects children's development and makes them more aggressive. Children cannot
distinguish between the real world and the television world, which makes them more
susceptible to the violence on television. It is up to the parents and the television
stations to monitor television more closely and restrict violence from children.
According to Websters Dictionary, violence is rough or injurious physical force, action
or treatment, unjust or unwanted exertion of force or power. In today's society there is
enough violence in every day living that television violence is not necessary, 80 percent
of Americans feel that television violence is harmful to our society and there is too
much of it in our entertainment (Zuckerman 64).
Violence comes in many forms on television. The violence that will be discussed in this
paper are violence's such as; murders, muggings, rapes and random property destruction
(Katz 113). Violence can be viewed in cartoons, soap operas and prime time shows.
Statistics have proven that children view too much television and too much violence. The
average child sees 8,000 murders and 10,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary
school and by the age of eighteen a youngster will see 20,000 acts of murder and 40,00
acts of violence ( Weir 14). Television violence is definitely on the up-rise. Violence
acts on television in the past decade had increased eight percent, where as educational
programs have only increases three percent, which means that the amount of violent
programming and viewing violent programming is twice that of educational programs (Katz
113). Our society should be concentrating on education our children, not scarring them
with violence.
One thousand studies have been published world wide on violent entertainment and most
experts now agree that the impact on viewers is largely negative (Posch 13). Violence has
long lasting effects on children behavior (Katz 113). According to George Cornstock, at
least 10 percent of all violent behavior in America's society is a result of viewing
violence in movies and on television(Katz 113). Doctor Belson did a study in 1978 on
1,565 boys from ages 12-17. He exposed them to television violence for six months, he
also had fifty judges rate the program for twenty five different forms of violence (
Posch 44). The violent behavior was measured by asking the boys if they had committed any
violent crimes in the last five months. The out come showed that a little over on half of
the boys had committed a crime or had some sort of aggressive behavior. This experiment
proved to Elgor Belson that boys like to watch violent programs which make them more
aggressive and more violent (Posch 115). 
Study after study has found that children who watch more hours of violent television than
average before adolescence were committing such violent crimes as rape and assault at a
rate of 49 percent higher than the boys who watched fewer than average hours of violent
television. (Weir 14) 
Television violence affects youngsters of all ages, both genders and all socioeconomic
levels and levels of intelligence ( Wier 14)
Leonard Eron, the chair of the American Psychological Association commission on violence
and youth, says television can arouse children to commit violent acts or even teach them
techniques (Brady 60). Dr. Park Dietz, a Los-Angeles based psychiatrist,who testified at
the 1991 trial of Jeffrey Dohmer (a serial killer), estimated that 5 percent of assault
by urban males in the United States of America is due to antisocial personalities, which
television can arouse and cause the individuals to commit a violent act or teach them
techniques on how to commit the violent acts(Brady 60).
Television is the most powerful behavioral model for children because of the time spent
watching it (Slaby 5). Children will view 10,000-15,000 hours of television before they
graduate from school (Slaby 4). Television violence is viewed more because 50 percent of
both parents work at least eight hours a day leaving children alone to watch what they
want (Weir 4). The television then becomes the mother, the father, the baby-sitter , the
preacher, and the teacher all in one (Weir 14).
Preschoolers are particularly vulnerable because they are not yet fully able to
distinguish fantasy from reality ( Brady 10). Television is especially harmful to those
preschoolers who faithfully watch television. It gives many of them the idea that what
they see portrayed on the screen as a matter of coarse is what other are expected to do
in real life (Berry 13).
Television makes the unthinkable a little more thinkable, a little more O.K. For example,
when a violent car accident happens on Television vision, the person heals quickly, even
when close to death: when in reality healing is a slow process and the person doesn't
always live. This gives children false guidance and makes them angry and aggressive when
things in reality don't work out this way. Children who view violence are more likely to
be developmentally damaged according to Barry Zuckerman , a pediatrician and professor of
developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Boston City Hospital/Boston University school
of medicine (Zuckerman 64). Young children often internalize trauma. They cannot
articulate it verbally but we can see it in their drawings and play (Zuckerman 15). One
young boy who viewed a show about a mother being killed and her children being left alone
had severe nightmares and drew pictures of boys with gaping mouths scream silently for
their mother; another child's drawings showed a school bus being driven off a cliff with
children in it. The child was drawing from what he saw on a Sunday Movie(Zuckerman 14).
Other children exhibit signs of traumatic stress disorder which results from too much
exposure to a violent television show ( Zuckerman 64). Children often become highly
agitated or withdrawn and more pessimistic about the future (Zuckerman 64). Children also
become less sensitive to others, more fearful of the world around them and may be more
willing to behave in aggressive harmful ways toward others (Fitzgerald 13).
Role playing for children is a very important part of a child's development (Katz 54).
When violence is interpreted by children. It falsifies their role playing abilities (Katz
54). It makes them believe that violence is a way to solve problems or just plainly a way
of life. Cartoons are a good example of this, children watch cartoons to see a happy fun
way of living, but when violence enters the picture, children get the concept that this
is how things should be. Teenage Mutant Ninga Turtles is thought of to be one of the most
violent cartoons that ever appeared on television according to Terry Harrison, a
preschool teacher (Brady 60). The sound of a three year old boy yelling cowabunga is a
war cry that unleashes chaos in the classroom. Suddenly we are faced with a little gang
of ninja's trying to kick and punch each other in the face, and when they are told to
stop, the boys reply, The turtles do it so why can't we? This is just another example of
how children apply behaviors observed on television programs to their real situations
(Brady 50). The worst cartoon for children in 1997 and 1998 is probabaly South Park. This
cartoon has many accounts of violence in it. There is violence such as derogatory
language and numerous violence acts with intent to hurt someone. In fact, every show ends
up with the one character, Kenny, encountering a very horrible and repulsive death. The
show, when viewed by young children, is a sure ticket for disaster. The show is about
elementary children and there different adventures with each other. The children have
very foul mouths and many prejudices. The cartoon is definitely not a show that should be
viewed by children or even early teens. The show is more based for adults but could be
confusing to children because if they see cartoons acting in a violent manner then they
will think it is alright to mimic the cartoon's actions.
A 1991 study of one hundred children's cartoon programs showed that one half of the
cartoons involved violence and showed three times as many acts of violence as Prime Time
television (Brady 66). Mohammed Shafi, (1992) a child psychiatrist at the University of
Louisville claims that cartoons in the 1990's are a public health hazard Shafii says that
cartoons are the worst offenders for children because children can not separate reality
from fantasy, and parents are not always around to explain the difference (13).
Children's cartoons are becoming more like movies with violence being the main
attraction. Children are vulnerable and violence is like a Pied Piper that lures them
into a darker world (Zuckerman 13). The survey below, was done on ten cartoon shows,
gives an estimated amount of violent acts on cartoons in one hour.
The media's coverage of violence is also very excessive and may also have a harmful
effect on children (Scully 44). Media and public affairs did a study on violence in the
news media, and their research showed that violence in news reports doubled in the last
year, while the overall national crime rate was unchanged. The study also showed that
murder coverage had tripled in 1993 (Scully 44). Such excessive new coverage actually
glamorized violence and give children the impression that violent behavior is acceptable
(Scully 44). There are more stories in the news today about violence and crime than any
other subject. Television devotes less attention to education than newspaper and
magazines, which is bad because television is the most commonly used medium, of the three
(Scully 44). Children Now, an advocacy group, states that the media's coverage of
children most frequently involves reports of crime and violence (Scully 47). News reports
on violence air more frequently than that is actually occurring on the streets (Stem 47).
This means children are able to view more violence on television than in actual life,
which makes them believe there's more violence out there. Hillary Clinton spoke earlier
this year at a conference on children and the news media (Scully 44). She asked
journalists to provide more balanced coverage when reporting on violence (Stem 47).
Clinton also said good caution and prudence do not violate first amendment rights (Stem
47). Hillary Clinton, the first lady, is trying to control television violence, she
believes something must be done in order to help our children (Stem 47). A retired
psychologist in Victoria, Canada, Mary Morrison, said the screen portrays an angry,
hostile world and television is no longer reflecting the world, but the world is starting
to reflect television (Brady 50). 
Many things can be done to control television violence. The first one is a computer chip
that would automatically lock out programs rated V for violence (Scully 44). The computer
chip would be produced by Zenith Consumer Electronics (Scully 44). The chip would be more
expensive and it would be added to the price of the television, and would cost ten to
twenty dollars more which is a small price to pay (Scully 44).
The computer chip could also be included on the remote control. The parents would have to
enter a password in order for shows to be blocked or added to the cable. The only problem
with the remote control is that it may be too large at first, but in time, with
technology progressing forward at a fast rate, the remote control will be small enough
within three to five years (Scully 44). Another way to stop television violence is the
rating system which some stations have already adapted (Scully 46). The system would be
the same as the movie ratings system except V would be used for excessive violence
(Scully 46). As of right now, this system is all that parents have to control television
violence.
Therefore, it is up to the parents to monitor television more closely and to discuss with
their children what the violence on the television means or simply to just shut the
television off so they make sure that there won't be any violent content viewed. Parents
have to make sure children know the difference between real violence and television
violence.
The last way to control television violence is to stop advertising instruction agencies
from placing commercials on during violent programming (Weir 44). This would stop
television stations from running violent programs because if advertisers would pull their
money the television industry would stand to lose $251 million dollars a year with as
little decrease as 1 percent (Weir 44). With this kind of loss advertisers will not be
able to run violent programming.
Bibliography
Works Cited
Berry, G., & Asamen, J. Children & Television. California: Sage Publications, Inc. 1995
Brady, D. The Power of 'Cowabunga': Does T.V. Violence Influence Behavior? Maclean's,
1995. 60.
Fritzgerald, R.L. It's Safer on Television. Time Aug. 1993: 17.
Katz, L. How TV Violence Affects Kids. Parents' Magazine Jan. 1994: 113 
McAvoy, K. Hillary Clinton Describes Excess Violence on Television. Broadcasting & Cable
Mar. 1994: 47.
Posch, R. What You do Emerges From who you are. Direct Marketing Jan. 1994: 43-47.
Scully, S. V Blocker is Easy Chip Shot Away. Broadcasting & Cable Aug. 1993: 64.
Scully, S. Anti-Violence Tools for TV. Broadcasting & Cable May 1993: 44.
Slaby, R. Closing the Education Gap on TV's Entertainment Violence. Education Digest Apr.
1995: 4-8.
Stem, C. Hillary Clinton Against Violence. Broadcasting & Cable Mar. 1994: 47.
Weir, W. Advertisers Hold Solution to Problem of TV Violence. Advertising Age Aug. 1995:
14.
Zuckerman, M. The Victims of TV Violence. U.S.News & World Report Aug. 1996: 64.