Effects of Television Violence and Children free essay sample

Effects of Television violence and Children Outline: I. THESIS STAEMENT: Although the television serves as a form of entertainment, when you abuse its use, and make it a habit to watch, it gives negative effects on the behavior of children especially in their brain’s development. II. PORPUSE OF THE RESEARCH III. INTRODUCTION IV. HIPOTHESIS METHOD A. CHILDREN QUESTIONNAIRE 1. HOW IT CAN AFFECT VIEWER’S BEHAVIOUR 2. CHILDREN RESPONSES B. EFFECTS RESULTS 1. NEGATIVE EFFECTS a. Behavior of children . Brain development C. Discussion V. CONCLUSION VI. REFERENCES VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY Thesis Statement: Although the television serves as a form of entertainment, when you abuse its use, and make it a habit to watch, it gives negative effects on the behavior of children especially in their brain’s development. Purpose of the Research: This paper aims to explore the effect of violence seen on TV on children’s behavior. Television violence and its effects on viewers has been a  controversial issue for many years. Some viewers believe that there is  an increasingly large amount of violence on television and this   widespread  public  concern has: â€Å"Led to calls for stricter controls on the depiction of violence in   programs. (Gunter and McAleer 1990) I chose this research topic because I have a three year old boy who  I babysit from time to time and enjoys watching television. I thought it may give me an insight into  the effect these so called, children’s programs are actually having  on him, if any. The vast majority of research is inconclusive but demonstrates strong  links between viewing violence and committing violent acts. To try and  add value to previous research I conducted my own research through   collating information from questionnaires issued to   children (ages 5-17) in my best friend work place, New Era Educational School in Toa Baja PR; however the results did not directly  support my hypothesis. INTRODUCTION The sole purpose of this project is to examine whether children behave  differently after they have been watching violence on television. In  addition the question that is of paramount importance to this whole   piece of investigative work is:  Ã‚ · Are children more likely to imitate acts of violence or aggressive   behavior because of what they have seen on television? A continuing debate between Broadcasters and Scientists is permanently  ongoing and in spite of the accumulation of evidence between the links  of viewing television violence and children’s behavior the debate  goes on. Furthermore, media professionals would rather believe that television  has no effects other than those intended, thousands of studies have  pointed to casual relationships between television violence and   real-life crime. In spite of numerous research studies, the perception  continues that the effects of television violence are unclear, even  contradictory. Moreover, blaming the media could be an easy option for some and can  serve to divert attention from other causes or change going on in a  child’s life, and so claims about the, â€Å"Effects of Television† could   be massively exaggerated. This ongoing debate has inspired a great deal of research, one of the  most well known and publicized experiments was that of Albert  Bandura’s Bobo doll studies, which are now widely regarded as early   research classics in the field of psychology. I am going to discuss  this experiment in greater detail within this project and hopefully  link it with more recent research, my own research and observations to   support my hypothesis. HYPOTHESIS METHOD HYPOTHESIS: It is predicted that children will imitate violence or   display violent behavior after viewing violence on television. METHOD: My initial first step of this investigation was to carry out literacy  research in my chosen topic, in order to gain a more in-depth  knowledge of the subject area. This involved searching Internet web  sites, books, newspaper articles, magazines and of course watching a  television programs on the issue to enable me to gather information  on previous research that has already been written on the effects of   television violence. As a means of carrying out my own research I compiled a  questionnaire for children to complete. Finally, I collated the results of the questionnaires. RESULTS The results obtained from the questionnaire do not directly link  to the hypothesis of this experiment. What they do show however is  that of the 20 parents asked 100% of children watch television and 50%   of children have access to television in their bedrooms. In addition the results did show that 2 children did display levels of  violence after watching television but the program in both instances  was not completed on the questionnaire, for what reason I do not know. Furthermore the questionnaire revealed that the average time  children are watching television is between 3-5 hours per day.. The children’s questionnaire did not support the hypothesis because  the majority of children said they felt happy when watching the  selected programs and none of the children felt angry. The majority of the results are linked to this experiment but not  directly, they do support research of the hours children spend  watching television and from what age . In addition the only direct   link made was the 2 displays of violence after watching television a  program, however more information would have to be gathered on this  question for it to be conclusive. The results obtained could still be used as further evidence to  support previous research as the information obtained is relevant to  the nature of the experiment. DISCUSSION Before we move into the discussion of the effects of television  violence and whether or not children imitate what they have seen on  television, it is important to offer a definition of violence. The  following statement gives a clear and concise explanation: â€Å"Violence is a general term to describe actions, usually deliberate,  that cause or intend to cause injury to people, animals, or non-living  objects. Violence is often associated with aggression. †(www//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Violence  17. 04. 05) There has been a considerable amount of research into  inter-relationships between the viewing of violent films, videos and  TV programs and aggressive behavior by the viewers of such  material, in particular the behavior of children. The range of media to which children have access to has grown rapidly  in this generation. Take the books, newspapers, magazines, films,  radio, tapes, records, and broadcast television familiar to children   of the previous generation, then add dozens of cable TV. hannels,  thousands of videos and video games, and millions of Internet sites. The result is a crowded media frenzy in which children are engrossed   in, on a daily basis. Therefore we have to ask ourselves, what effects is TV violence having  on our children and does it really inspire them to violence? I am now  going to look at previous research to see if I can find the answers to   my questions. In 1996 and1997 UNESCO conducted the Global Media Violence Survey. More than 5,000 12-year-old children in 93 countries participated,  representing all regions of the world. Under the supervision of Dr Jo Groebel of Utrecht University, the  study aimed to understand the role of media in the lives of children  and the relationship between media violence and aggressive behavior   among children in different settings. The study found that 93% of children watch an average of three hours  television a day. This is at least 50% more than the time spent on any  other out-of-school activity, including homework, being with friends,   or reading. This evidence leaves  little  doubt that television is the  most important medium in the lives of children almost everywhere in  the world today. In addition the study revealed, television, expose’s children to high  levels of violent images on a daily basis. Furthermore it revealed, in  many countries, there is an average of five to ten aggressive acts per   hour on children’s television programs. The study found evidence that media images reinforce the experiences  of children in their real-life environments. Almost half (44%) of  both boys and girls reported a strong overlap between what they   perceive as reality and what they have seen on screen. Many children  experience both real and media environments in which violence appears  to be natural and unfortunately the most effective solution to lifes   problems. This research did not directly answer the question, does seeing  violence on television affect childrens behavior? Instead the study  chose to link the evidence to, Compass Theory† Which states: â€Å"Depending on a childs existing experiences, values, and the cultural  environment, media content offers an orientation, a frame of reference  which determines the direction of the childs own behavior. The   child does not necessarily adopt the behavior portrayed, but the  media images provide a model, a standard for what may be considered  normal and acceptable. † (http://www. ppu. org. uk/chidren/advertising_html) More recent research suggests young children who watch a lot of  television, are more likely to become bullies. The authors suggest the  increasingly violent nature of children’s cartoons may be to blame. (www. timesonline. co. uk/article/0,, 2-1489580,00. html) The researchers used existing data from a national US survey to study  the amount of television watched by 1266 four-year-olds. Then they  compared that amount with follow-up reports by the childrens  mothers, on whether the children bullied or were, Cruel or Mean to  others when they were between six and 11 years old. The study showed that four-year-olds who watched the average amount of  television e. g. 3-5 hours per day were 25% more likely to become  bullies than those who watched none. And children who watched eight  hours of television a day were 200% more likely to become bullies. Frederick Zimmerman, an economist at the University of Washington in  Seattle asserts:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Parents should understand that, just because TV shows or movie is  made for kids, it doesnt mean its good for kids especially  four-year-olds. † (http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1899533. stm) Further studies show that children of pre-school age overwhelmingly  prefer and pay close attention to cartoons. Saturday morning cartoons,  for example, have 20 to 25 violent acts per hour compared with five   violent acts per hour in prime time viewing. Because of their desires to watch cartoons children are being exposed  to large numbers of violent acts in their daily viewing. Based on  their viewing patterns, it has been estimated that, by the time   pre-school children start school, they will have seen an average of  8,000 murders and 100,000 assorted other acts of violence and  destruction on television. (Huston, Donnerstein et al. , 1992. )   In its crudest form the relationship between children and television  is portrayed as a matter of single cause and direct effect, which puts  this kind of research firmly in the behaviorist’s tradition. The most famous psychological studies of children and aggressive  behavior are Albert Banduras Bobo doll studies, which are now widely  regarded as early research classics in the field. These were  experimental studies in which children of nursery  school  age observed  a playroom in which an adult was hitting, punching, kicking and  throwing a large inflatable doll. Particular actions were used for  e. g. using a hammer and saying, â€Å"Pow boom boom† which children  would be unlikely to perform spontaneously. The children were then observed as they played alone in the playroom  with the doll for 10 to 20 minutes. A control group of children was  allowed to play with the doll without observing the aggressive adult   behavior. As one might expect, the children who witnessed the adult  aggression performed similar acts; the others did not. In a series of  studies, Bandura and his colleagues have shown that children display  novel acts of aggressive behavior which they have acquired simply  through observing someone else engaged in these acts. In a later version of the experiment (1965), the children were divided  into 3 groups. One group went straight into the playroom. The second  group saw the model being rewarded for aggressive actions before they   went in. The third saw the model being punished. Those who saw the  model being punished showed significantly less aggression than those  who saw the model rewarded or who saw no consequences. This suggests that seeing a model punished leads to less learning of  the models behavior. However, after all the children had played in  the playroom with the doll, they were offered rewards to behave in the   playroom like the adult model had done. In the first stage of the experiment the consequences for the adult  affected the childrens behavior. The second stage showed that they  had in fact learned the behavior because they were able to perform   it. Therefore those children who had seen the model punished had still  learned the behavior but would only behave like that if offered an  incentive. Bandura suggested that:  Ã¢â‚¬Å"We should distinguish clearly between the acquisition of aggressive   responses and the performance of aggressive acts: observation of  modeling is sufficient for aggressive behavior to be learned, but  reinforcement is necessary for aggressive acts to be actually   performed. †(www. apa. org/publicinfo/banduraviolence. htlm) Further laboratory experiments by Liebert and Baron (1972) using real  television programs, in which they measured the willingness of  children to hurt another child after watching a program were   conducted. Within the experiment children were shown either a race track or an  aggressive program and then allowed either to facilitate or disrupt  another childs game. They could hurt the other child by pressing a   button to make the handle hot which the child was holding. The  children who had seen the aggressive program were significantly more  aggressive than those who had seen the non-aggressive program. This   was particularly the case with boys. In addition, when the children were later observed at play, those who  had viewed the aggressive program showed a stronger preference for  playing with weapons and aggressive toys than did the other children. Similar results have been found in most experimental studies. They  suggest that the more violence is viewed, the greater the likelihood  of aggressive behavior. However, apart from ethical objections one   might raise, such experimental studies have major limitations in terms  of their artificiality. They have been criticized for a lack of,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Ecological Validity† since they were concerned with strange behavior   in strange settings. In contrast a few researchers and theorists have claimed that  televised violence does not have negative effects. Seymour Feshbach in  the early 1970’s proposed that viewing violence on TV provides an   opportunity for the discharge, or catharsis, of aggressive feelings  and therefore reduces the possibility that the viewer will participate  in aggressive or violent behavior. The theory underlying the catharsis hypothesis proposes that a child  who views violence on television indirectly experiences the violence  and therefore harmlessly discharges his/her unexpressed feelings of   anger, hostility, and frustration. In other words, viewing violent  fantasy may serve nearly as well as actual violence in ridding people  of their hostile impulses. For example, Feshbach and Singer (1971) found that adolescent and  pre-adolescent boys at a residential school were more aggressive if  they watched non-aggressive TV programs than if they had watched   aggressive programs. Watching the programs seemed to be therapeutic, harmlessly  discharging aggressive feelings. This study has however been found to  be flawed, and an attempt at replication did not produce the same   findings. Furthermore the catharsis theory does not agree with evidence that  more aggressive children prefer to watch aggressive programs, and  are more likely to do so than children who are less aggressive   (Chaffee, 1972). Another version of Catharsis  Theory  is that watching violent   programs decreases levels of arousal, leaving viewers less prone to  aggressive behavior. CONCLUSION In conclusion it is fair to say that it is clearly obvious from the  research already done concerning television and its effects, that  violence is quite prevalent on British television. Violence on television can do one of three things. The first is making  us more violent (Huesmann 1982), the second is make us less violent  (Feshbach 1972) and the third is to have no effect at all (Freedman  1984, Kaplan and Singer 1976). Most evidence has supported the first argument namely that television  violence does increase our own violent behavior. In addition most of the research evidence tends to suggest that over a  long period, â€Å"Heavy viewing† of violent programs increases at least  slightly the likelihood of a disposition towards aggressive behavior   amongst children and adolescents. I have shown that various explanations have been offered to describe  processes which violent TV might have on childrens behavior. All I  have done here is to refer to some of these proposed processes   briefly. No single process is likely to offer an adequate explanation. In contrast however we have to take into account the following  contradictory findings:  · If watching violence and acting aggressively are correlated, this  does not prove that watching causes the aggression. It may be, for  instance, that aggressive people seek out violent programs. Even if watching violent programs does increase aggressiveness,  this may be only a short-term phenomenon.  · As in all social science research, other factors are likely to be  involved, in complex inter-relationships. These might include economic  hardship,  family  and peer relationships, gender, sub cultural values,   various uses of TV by individual children and so on. Therefore I have to admit that my own primary research and previous  research does not support my hypothesis because I feel there is no  clear-cut evidence. Moreover, I am a great believer in that children learn from their  environment and learn through imitating others and there must be some  element of truth in the vast amounts of research that exists. Maybe   one day somebody will make a direct link and be brave enough to  publish their findings and have them supported 100%. Finally I think it is of paramount importance to remember that the  most critical argument against watching television, in addition to the  violent content is that it affects the three characteristics that  distinguish us as human beings. In the first 3 years of life, a child learns to walk, to talk and to  think. Television keeps us sitting, leaves little room for  conversations and seriously impairs our ability to think! REFERENCES BIBLIOGRAPHY REFERENCES: www. apa. org/publicinfo/banduraviolence. htlm) (www//en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Violence 17. 04. 05) (http://www. ppu. org. uk/chidren/advertising_html) (http://news. bbc. co. uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/1899533. stm) IBLIOGRAPHY: Beaver, m. , Brewster, J. , Jones, P. , Keene, A. , Neaum, S. and Tallack,   J. (2001) Babies and young Children, 2nd edition, Nelson Thornes,   Cheltenham. Gross, R. (2001) The Science of Mind and Behavior, 4th edition,   Hodder Stoughton, London. Jarvis, M. Chandler ,E. (2001) Angels of Child Psychology, Nelson   Thornes, Cheltenham. Karmen, T. (2000) Psychology for childhood studies, Hodder    Stoughton, London. Bandura, A, D Ross S A Ross (1961): Transmission of Aggression   Through Imitation of Aggressive Models, Journal of Abnormal and   Social  Psychology 63: 575-82 Bandura, A (1965): Influence of Models Reinforcement Contingencies   on the Acquisition of Imitative Responses, Journal of Personality and   Social Psychology 1: 589-95 /www. digitalcenter. org/webreport94/ib. htm www. mhhe. com/socscience/comm/bandur-s. mhtml campus. murraystate. du/ academic/faculty/j. dillon/cathar. htm 26k   http://interact. uoregon. edu/MediaLit/mlr/readings/articles/kalin. This questionnaire is designed to get your input on television violence and its effects on children. I realized that most studies I read did not include childrens opinions. Questions 1-4 will give me information about you because I’m are inte rested to see if the opinions of children is different because theyre either male or female, young or old, or from a particular place. The personal information will be private and not shared or sold to anyone else, it is strictly for research purposes. Top of Form A Little about You 1. Are you Male  Ã‚  Female 2. How old are you? 5-8  Ã‚  9-12   Ã‚  13-16  Ã‚  17+ 3. Do you live in a  Rural or an Urban area? 4. How much television do you watch a day? less than 2 hrs  Ã‚  Ã‚  2-3 hrs  4-6 hrs  7+ hrs What Do  You  Think About TV Violence? 5. What type of television show do you watch the most? Situation Comedy (a comedy series in which the same characters star in each episode) Cartoons  Soap Operas Talk Shows  Drama 6. How much violence do you think there is on television? Little Amount  Medium Amount Large Amount . Do you think that violence on television will make children act violently after watching it? Violent = causing harm to anything living or non-li ving. Yes  Ã‚  No 8. Do you think the V-Chip will solve the problem of violence on television today? Yes  Ã‚  No 9. Do you think that violence on television is a problem? Yes  Ã‚  No 10. Do you think have a television set in your bedroom? Yes  Ã‚  No Any other comments on television violence? What do you think the solution is? Optional: What television programs do you mostly watch? Thank you very much! Your opinion is important to me and my research.