The Correlation Between Television Violence and Childhood Aggression

In today's changing world the types of programs children are watching on a daily basis are very different from the days when "Leave it to Beaver" and "The Brady Bunch" were family favorites. Guns, knives, blood, broken bones, flying fists, and death are everywhere. Child-centered programs often use physical violence as a way to solve problems and this is having a negative effect on children of all ages. Exploring the correlation between viewing television violence and subsequent aggressive behavior is an important topic is social psychology. Improvements in technology have made television accessible to almost all members of society. Almost everyone spends some time watching television daily. TV is a powerful tool in relaying news, information, and directly and indirectly influences people's beliefs, wants, desires, and actions. Numerous studies have shown that children who are exposed to a lot of television violence are more likely to be violent themselves.

The Glamorization of Violence on TV

"Television's level of violence has been painstakingly documented for more than three decades. Television often depicts aggression as effective in solving problems, exciting, funny, glamorous, justified, pleasurable, and rewarding" (Acock 25). How do we teach children about rational problem solving using words and creativity when their television heroes are getting th job done with fists? Researchers of television have identified lessons that are being taught by children and adult programming alike. THese lessons are "(a) television teaches that 'good guys' are almost as violent as 'bad guys'; (b) violence on television,more often than not, works to solve problems; (c) the use of violence to resolve dilemmas helps one to become a hero; and finally (d) violence is not really harmful since the victims of television's violence maker remarkable recoveries" (Acock 28). An excellent example of this is the episodic cartoon "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". These particular mutant turtles are able to walk, talk, move, think, act, and reason like human beings. They are heroes and defeat their enemies with weapons and karate moves. The message being sent is these four turtles are obvious good guys, but their actions are not that much different from the evil they eliminate. Violence is seen as justifiable in this type of representation and children absorp it like a sponge.

Increasing Incidences of Childhood Violence

Everyone know that what we see on a television set or a movie screen is not reality. Or do we? The events viewed are not actually taking place, but are they meant to be a representation of the real world? With all of the violence that is taking place in America it is a valid concern that what is seen might be affecting actions. "The incidence of violence in the lives of older adolescents has been of concern for some time, and recent evidence suggests violence extends into the lives of young children as well. Homicide rates provide the starkest testimony to the risk of vicitmization for children and youth. In 1998, the murder rate for youth under the age of 18 was seven per day, making homicide the second leading cause of death for adolescents in the United States adn one of the leading causes of child mortality" (Flannery 490). These facts are disturbing and a symptom of major problem's in the lives of America's youth. Children and teens are committing more violent and aggressive acts and these acts can be and often are deadly.

Correlation Between Aggressive Behavior and Television Violence

A number of studies have been done examining the correlation between the viewing of television violence and aggression. "In contrived experimental studies, children (both boys and girls) exposed to violent behavior on film or TV behave more aggressively immediately afterward. The typical paradigm involves randomly selected children who are shown either a violent or nonviolent short film and are observed afterward as they play with each other. The consistant finding is that children who see violent clips behave more aggressively toward each other and toward surrogate objects. In these settings, exposure to violent film scenes clearly cause more aggressive behavior in children afterward" (Eron 203).

Long-term aggression can also be a result of excessive viewing of television violence. "The prospective longitudinal design is most relevant to the most prominent explanation for media effects - that a diet of violent television and movies over time contribute to the aggressive socialization of a child who will, over a long period of time, develop aggressive habits" (Savage 113).

Causes of Aggressive Behavior

As many studies have proven, viewing television violence can and does lead to aggression in children. Why does this correlation exist and what causes a child to become aggressive? There are a number of theories in regard to this. One theory is the more violence a child views the more of their natural sensitivity toward violence is lost. "A major alternative or complimentary theory explaining long-term effects (of viewing television violence) is desensitization theory. This theory is based on the empirical fact that most humans seem to have an innate emotional response to observing blood, gore, and violence. Increased heart rates, persiration and self-reports of discomfort often accompany such exposure. However, with repeated exposure to violence, this negative emotional response to observing violence also indicates a flat response to planning violence or thinking about violence. Thus, proactive-instrumental aggressive acts become easier to commit" (Eron 202). In a sense, viewing too much violence actually numbs the conscience.

Another theory combines multiple factors to explain aggression. "One leading behavioral-psychological theory for the media violence exposure-aggression relationship, the General Affective Aggression Model (GAAM), proposes that related exposure to violence on television and video games causes changes in aggressive beliefs, aggressive perceptual schemata, aggressive expectations, aggressive behavioral scripts, and desensitization that interact with the individual's personality and the situation to cause aggressive behavior. GAAM has received support in literature reviews, experimental studies, and correlations studies" (Dunn 726).

A third and very popular theory is one that is based on observational learning. Children learn and imitate that which they see. "Building on the accumulating evidence that human and primate young have an innate tendency to imitate whomever they observe, these theories propose that very young children imitate almost all specific behaviors they see. Observation of specific aggressive behaviors around them increases children's likelihood of behaving exactly that way" (Eron 201). If a child sees their television heroes acting violently they are going to be instinctually prone to act the same way.

Evaluating Research Studies

Thus far research done in regards to the correlation between children's viewing television violence and acting aggressively has been extensive. Numerous empirical studies have been done sampling children of all ages, genders, and races. The results have been able to be replicated. The samples used are large and widespread and fairly representative of the population. The conclusions of the studies do acknowledge some limitation since not all parents are willing to allow their children to be participants. Conclusions do not usually reach beyond the data and the data is clear.

Personal Opinion on the Correlation Between Violent TV Viewing and Aggression

I do believe that children who view a lot of violence on television tend to act more violently themselves. The data clearly shows a link and science prevails. I have also seen the effects of television violence on children first hand. I worked in a high-quality child care center for nearly four years. I was able to see children frequently imitate their favorite and usually violent TV heroes, particularly within the pre-school rooms. The kids who watched programs such as Power Rangers were more likely to injure their peers accidentally in rough play.

I believe there is far too much violence that exists within children's cartoons and in the shows that are popular among children. Perhaps there should be stricter regulation in regards to what can or cannot be included in a program intended for younger ages. Perhaps researchers need to find more effective ways of educating parents on the effects of media violence on their kids and the benefits of putting children on a low TV diet. Something has to be done soon to curb children's consumption of television violence before elementary schools are overrun with violent children. I would be interested in hearing the neurological effects viewing television violence can have on children's brains and perhaps more research needs to be done in this area as well.

Works Cited

Acock, Alan C. et al. Mitigating the Harmful Effects of Violent Television (2004). Applied Developmental Psychology, 25, 25-47.

Dunn, David W. et al. (2005). Media Violence Exposure and Executive Functioning in Aggressive and Control Adolescents. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 61(6), 725-737.

Eron, Leonard D. et al. (2003). Longitudinal Relations Between Children's Exposure to TV Violence and their Aggressive and Violent Behavior in Young Adulthood: 1977-1992. Developmental Psychology, 39 (2), 201-221.

Flannery, Daniel G. et al. (2006). Exposure to Violence, Parental Monitoring, and Television as Contributors to Children's Psychological Trauma. Journal of Community Psychology, 32 (5), 489-504.

Savage, Joanne (2004). Does Viewing Violent Media Really Cause Criminal Violence? Aggression and Violent Behavior, 10, 99-128.