Effects on Children of Watching Violence on Television

Abstract

Television programing today is full of images of violence taking place, whether it is in news, movies, music, sports, or entertainment. This paper starts by creating a common scene at home when one browses through various television channels, looking for non-violent content. It then explores the issues surrounding the morality of watching programs with violent content, and the effect watching them has on the viewer. Since children are the most impressionable as well as who watch television the most, the effect of such violence is explored. The reasons why commercial television companies show violence are explained, and the excuses adults give for liking violence are stated. Statistics are extracted from a number of sources to show the nature and scale of television violence, and the effect it has, especially on children. Finally the paper links television violence to other antisocial behaviors like drug abuse, sexual indiscretion, real-life violence, bad language, among other vices.   

After settling down on the couch, Grace who is a spiritual person and a good student, switches on the television. There is a sudden and loud sound of gunshots that shatters the silence in an abandoned barn, which shaking Grace to attention. Then the police appear from nowhere, with their guns drawn, but a lone marksman behind a tree shoots them all down. Grace switches to different channels looking for harmless and inspiring programs. In the sports channel it is Fat Jo punching the life out of The Kid in the name of wrestling, and in the music channel it is some gyrating dancer wearing a gun belt is threatening to kill her cheating boyfriend. The news channel splashes “Breaking News: Scenes from location after bomb blast.” The above scenarios are typical of today’s television menu, with images of war casualties, suicide bombings, violent movies, and sports violence. Viewers have to either digest the content or do without television altogether. Television violence affects children and leads them to antisocial behavior.

Children watching television are left to be guided by parents. Some people enjoy watching action movies and have no problem with the violence meted out argue that it is harmless fiction. They ignore the slow but steady corruption of the children, who cannot differentiate between fact and fiction, and who become indifferent to violence in the real world. Studies show that children who support television violence have a tendency to commit domestic violence, mob action, and bad neighborliness in adulthood. Screen violence creeps into their minds and creates cold-blooded characters. In US alone, 32000 deaths are caused by gun violence each year, more than cancer, HIV and influenza combined (Bushman and Huesmann). One famous quote from the infamous Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi propagandist stated that a lie that was repeated many times became fact in the mind. Television violence is a lie that becomes real after repetition.

Television violence harms children the most because they are easy to influence, and they believe what they see on the screen. Before the age of four, children cannot differentiate between fact and fiction (Aafp.org). American children spend four hours each day watching television, mostly unsupervised, and two hours on video games. The common programs and games are violent fights, gun battles, crazy driving, and even cartoon programs (Bushman and Huesmann).  Extreme emotions coursed by the watching of violence on television can harm children with heart conditions. After watching violent scenes, children become distressed by the brutality and are unable to differentiate between true character and acting. They have been reported to have nightmares, bedwetting, restlessness, loss of appetite, aggression, and withdrawal after watching violent scenes (Aafp.org). Sometimes children focus too much on the screen and strain their eyes. Screen violence is often accompanied by bad language, sexuality, nudity, and sexual violence, which corrupt the children’s moral values. In later life they will be indifference to sexual violence, or even commit sexual violence themselves (Bushman and Huesmann). Violent television shows breed a generation of aggressive and angry children, and a culture of violence, with cases being reported of children who went berserk after watching violent movies and started shooting fellow students at school (Aafp.org). Some children innocently mimic screen actions like wrestling, and cause themselves harm.

Children are influenced by television commercials, which contain elements of violence. With competition for attention through advertising, companies disregard the effect on children who are watching. They capitalize on viewers’ interest in bad news, violent action movies, brutality of animals in the wild, and extreme sports. Despite the many non-violent yet enjoyable television shows, companies are more likely to sponsor violent or action programs. By the age of 18, America’s children will have viewed 200 thousand violent acts or 250 acts per day (Bushman and Huesmann). Companies refuse to take moral responsibility for the children, and the government leaves them to regulate themselves.

According to AAFT, children have learnt to resolve conflict through violence, as seen on television, and violence has been linked to bullying in schools (AAFP). Programs that promote violence also promote real violence such as excessive rage in sports, and bad language (Aacap.org). Domestic violence is influenced by television, and our human emotions are suppressed by too much violence. When adults attempt to control viewing it only creates curiosity in children. PG rating is easily ignored by children, and it does prevent some level of violence, for example in an advertisement.

Antisocial behavior among children is promoted by the types of events they see on television. For this reason, programs should be censored to a large extent. If the state is eager to enforce drug and drink laws because the problems compromise our sense of judgement, then it should also enforce anti-television violence laws, which compromise our children’s judgement in the long-term. While television pornography is frowned upon as corrupting the mind, the same television tolerates scenes of violence. Parental guidance does not prevent stations from showing disturbing images, and the stations merely advice for such control while disregarding the large number of children who tamper with and bypass PG settings, and those who watch television unsupervised. In American television, 91 percent of movie content, 85 percent of music video content, and 75 percent news content are about violence (Bushman and Huesmann). Many stations choose not to censor their content, but simply give advisories at the start of airing the program.

Television violence influences children into immorality. Children have a greater capacity to absorb content, recall it, and yet they have poor judgement on how to respond to it. Violent shows, like fiction laced with sexual scenes, drug taking, filthy language, and gun use, are constantly fed to children’s minds. Children get confused when they see an actor playing the good-guy in one show and the bad-guy in another, and since to them these are true characters, they assume it is alright to also be good and bad in real life. Negative characterization builds immorality, while positive characterization promote clean fun, such as comedy shows, regular sports, science, and game shows (Bushman and Huesmann).

In conclusion, television violent affects children and leads them to anti-social behavior. Viewer discretion does not stop violence on screens, which translates to violence in the streets. Television violence promotes antisocial behavior such as gun-violence, indiscrete sexuality, corrupt music, and other vices, and yet there are alternative shows that do not involve violence but are still fun to watch. The state is not enforcing censorship, with a view to eliminating violence from news and movies. Children should especially be shielded from violence on television. The only fool-proof PG rating for television is to not air the offending programs in the first place. Therefore, it is true that television violence leads to antisocial behavior among children and adults.

Works Cited

Aacap.org,. ‘The Impact Of Media Violence On Children And Adolescents: Opportunities For Clinical Interventions’. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Aafp.org,. ‘Violence In The Media And Entertainment (Position Paper)’. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Bushman, Brad J., and L. Rowell Huesmann. ‘Short-Term And Long-Term Effects Of Violent Media On Aggression In Children And Adults’. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 160.4 (2006): 348. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.

Bushman, Brad J. ‘Effects Of Television Violence On Memory For Commercial Messages.’. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied 4.4 (1998): 291-307. Web.