television violence and its effect on children

The children of today are surrounded by technology and
entertainment that is full of violence. It is estimated that the average child
watches from three to five hours of television a day! (Neilson 1993).
Listening to music is also a time consuming pastime among children.
With all of that exposure, one might pose the question, "How can seeing
so much violence on television and video games and hearing about
violence in in music affect a child's behavior?" Obviously these media
have a big influence on childrens' behavior: we can see it in the way they
attempt to emulate their favorite rock stars by dressing in a similar style
and the way children play games, imitating their favorite cartoon
personalities or super heroes. Studies have shown that extensive
television viewing may be associated with, aggressive behavior, poor
academic performance, precocious sexuality, obesity, and the use of
drugs or alcohol (Deitz). Television, video games, and music are very
influential and if there is too much violence available for children to watch,
play, or listen to, this can sway their attitudes in a negative direction.
Television is especially influencial on the children today. The hard
truth is that children spend an average of 28 hours a week in front of the
television (Neilson 1993). This is almost two times the amount of time
that some children are in school. At this very impressionable age it is no
wonder that the images that kids see sometimes has a profound impact
on their behavior. Fifty-five percent of children watch television with a
friend or alone. (TV-Free America). Too often parents assume that their
children are responsible enough to choose suitable programming. But
the sad fact is that even some shows deemed as "children's television"
are violent. A survey in Mediascope showed that a staggering sixty-six
percent of children's programming contained violence. Many times the
violence occured in cartoons which were the least likely to show the long
term consequences of violence and in many cases portrayed the violence
in a humorous way (Mediascope 2/96). Studies done in various countries
across the world show the homicide rates doubling 10 to 15 years after

the introduction of television even though the study was taken at different
times in each country (Centerwall). Another study showed that eight year
old boys who watched the most violent programming were the most likely
to get into fights or problems with the police (Eron). If parents knew what
their children were watching maybe they could help to point out the
shortcomings in television. Music is also a large part of children's
lives today. A recent study showed that between the seventh to twelveth
grade alone children listen to almost as many hours of rock music as they
spend in school, for a full twelve years (Entertainment Monitor, 1995). As
a teenager I can personally attest to the fact that most parents don't know
what their children are listening to. Much of the popular music of today
contains messages about sex and violence. The artists who sing the
music often become the idols of countless children across the country,
many of whom copy everything from the singers habits (drugs, alcohol,
violence, etc.) to their style of dress. Another threat to children
are video games. Today's most popular video games include many
different fighting games. These games such as Mortal Kombat and
Street Fighter include graphic images of blood and violence. Other
popular types of games include sports games such as NHL '96 also
include many violent aspects. The violence in these video games can
desensitize children to violence and alter their perception of reality. It can
give them the idea that violence is the way to deal with problems and
conflict. Little is known of the actual numbers of how video games affect
children because the technology is so new. It has been assumed that
studies dealing with other forms of media will also apply here (McAfee).
In the first few year of a child's life he is very impressionable.
Much of his personality is formed by the time he goes to his first day of
kindergarten. There is nothing wrong with him listening to music,
watching television, or even playing video games. It becomes a problem
when the parents lose control of what a child sees and how he interprets

it. Many of the facts in this paper are startling, but does this mean we
should ban all violence from everything? That will never happen. In all of
the examples I have presented one thing is very clear: If parents played
a more active role in what children watched, listened to, or games they
played, things would be fine. All too often children are left to make up
their own minds about things. Next time you wonder about how easily
children can be convinced of something think of the myth of Santa Claus:
One man bringing presents to the WHOLE world, in one sled, pulled by
flying reigndeer. All in the couse of one night. If they believe that, how
hard can it be to convince them of other falsehoods?WORD COUNT:
784