Violent Television and Our Children

For years studies have shown a bond between viewing television violence and violent behavior, as well as a slur of mental health issues among the children, teenagers and adults who view it. The American Academy of Pediatrics: Committee on Public Education suggests that, even though there are many factors involved with youth violence and mental sickness, "...It is (television violence) an important risk factor." Pediatricians are not alone in their view of violent programs. "Douglas Gentile, as (an) assistant Professor of Psychology at Iowa State University and Director of Research for the National Institute on Media and the Family, based in Minneapolis, states 'while hundreds of risk factors contribute to aggression, television violence is certainly a major one'" (Hurst). Another prominent researcher affirms the link by positively declaring, "We can safely say that viewing violence does lead to more aggressive behavior" (Hurst). With such facts in evidence it is clear that the Federal Communication Commission needs to expand it's regulations of violent programming to include mandatory action on the part of the networks, instead of just voluntary.

Current Federal Communication Commission (FCC) standards are based around The 1996 Cable Act which includes several sections concerning the issues of screening indecent programs. One such monitoring system is known as the TV Parental Guidelines. According to the Federal Communications Commission these guidelines "(were) approved on March 12, 1998," and put in place to be used much like the common film rating system but for television programs. The rating system starts at "TV-Y" (TV-Young) and ends with "TV-MA" (TV-Mature Adult) (Federal Communication Commission). The FCC also offers the use of a "lockbox," which "prevents viewing of any channel on which objectionable programming may appear" (Federal Communications Commission). Lastly, "Section 506 of the 1996 Cable Act, allows cable operators to refuse to transmit any public access or leased access program which contains obscenity, indecency, or nudity" (Federal Communications Commission). These rules show the extent to which the FCC has gone to regulate violent programming on television.

Many of the above monitoring systems offered by the FCC rely heavily on parental supervision or parental discretion, a system that is less than trust worthy. "More than half of all parents say they always limit what their children see on TV, but almost half admit their children still see televised violence at least once a week, a John Hopkins Children's Center researcher reports in the July issue of Pediatrics" (John Hopkins Medical Institutions). This is most likely due to the fact that a child does not only watch TV at home, but in many places they may visit on a daily basis (John Hopkins Medical Institutions). In Addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics report that, "Many parents find the entertainment industry's media ratings systems difficult to use; sixty-eight percent of parents of ten to seventeen-year-olds do not use the television rating system at all... Many parents find the ratings unreliably low, with an objective parental evaluation finding as much as fifty percent of television shows rated TV-14 to be inappropriate for their teenagers" (American Academy of Pediatrics). The combination of low approval ratings, confusion, and lack of usage make the current FCC regulations inadequate and virtually useless.

The use of a mandatory action system by the networks and enforced by the Federal Communications Commission could stop the thousands of programs that are aired yearly featuring violence not suitable for children to view, and unhealthy for adults to subject themselves to. "Studies estimate that the average child watches twenty-three to twenty-eight hours of television a week, and that by the age of 18, a child will have witnessed 200,000 acts of TV violence, including 40,000 murders" (Hurst). In addition, "The National Television Violence study evaluated almost 10,000 hours of broadcasting programming from 1995 though 1997 and found that sixty-one percent of the programming portrayed interpersonal violence, much of it in an entertaining or glamorized manner" (American Academy of Pediatrics). Many of the televison violence viewed by children is seen on shows specially designed for a younger audience; television shows that can be viewed by young children on networks most people would deem as safe, such as The Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon (American Academy of Pediatrics). "'One problem with cartoon violence is that it has the same effect [on the brain] as realistic violence'..." (Hurst). So allowing a child to view the over abundance of violence available to them is no laughing matter, even when presented in a way that may appear harmless to a child's delicate mind.

To add to these disturbing numbers, is the fact that viewing these violent acts does not come without its price, the mental and physical well being of America's youth. Marianne D. Hurst explains, "Research has associated exposure to media violence with a variety of physical and mental health problems for children and adolescents, including aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, fear, depression, nightmares, and sleep disorders." Serious issues that can plague a child in almost every aspect of their everyday life. For example: David S. Bickham states, "'We found that the more TV they watch, the less time they spend with their friends, however, this relationship only holds true for violent TV'" (Pakistan Press International). This study can be used to explain the reason why children who frequently view violent TV tend to cause problems with their fellow classmates and other children in their age group; also noted was disturbing cases of "social isolation among children with higher levels of exposure to violent TV programming" (Pakistan Press International).

Unfortunately, the damage does not stop within the young years of a child's life, it is carried well over into the teenage years of their life and onto adulthood. Rhea R. Borja states that, "Teenagers who watch an hour or more a day of television are four times more likely to be violent as adults than those who spend less time staring at the set," Borja goes later goes into specifics citing that, "Boys who had watched less than an hour of TV a day had a 5.7 percent rate of fighting or assaulting someone as young adults. That proportion jumped to 18.4 percent in those who had watched one to three hours of TV, and rose to 25.3 percent for boys who had watched more than three hours of TV daily." High exposure to television violence has also been linked to the association among viewers that violence is an acceptable way to solve issues in a persons daily life, thoughts of victimization can also be used to explain why many violent TV viewers come to the resolve of obtaining a firearm or weapon of some kind (American Academy of Pediatrics).

Some doubt has been cast down on the validity of research showing that violence among young people and television violence are linked. Skeptics may question that, "Is it possible that some of the youth grew up in violent households and that this contributed to the initiation of violence? (Mcintosh). To this James C. Mcintosh offers, "The short answer is: yes, with a disclaimer. Research has shown that children who grow up in violent homes have a seventy-four percent increased incidence of committing crimes against a person. However, since 1992 what researchers have had to face is that the majority of children are growing up in violent homes. For it was in that year that the center for Media and Public Affairs reported that the average American child witnessed over 200,000 acts of violence on television including 16,000 murders before the age eighteen" (Mcintosh). Using this information, many children are subject to living and growing up in a violent home and thus their fragile mind is warped by the violence being spewed through the family TV. The American Academy of Pediatrics supports this conclusion offering the statement, "Children are influenced by media- - they learn by observing, imitating and making behaviors their own. Aggressive attitudes and behaviors are learned by imitating observed models" (American Academy of Pediatrics). This information is not new to the American people. Children have always been known to act out what they see. The only solution to this problem is to provide positive role models on TV not violent people who commit assault and murder with no repercussions to their actions.

In an effort to avoid any further damage to America's youth and to help circumvent the damage that has already been done to children watching violent programs on the television, a mandatory plan of action must be put in place. It can be in the form of a fine being imposed or a program being pulled from it's network for showing violent behavior that is damaging both mentally and physically to the American people. Whatever is chosen, it is imperative, that the Federal Communications Commission take action, and take control of the violent epidemic at hand.

Works Cited

American Academy of Pediatrics: Committee on Public Education. "Media Violence." Pediatrics 108.5 (Nov. 2001): 1222(5). Health and Wellness Resource Center. Thomson Gale. University of Maryland University College Lib., Adelphi, MD. 22 April 2007 http://www.galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu.>

Borja, Rhea R. "Study: Even Hour of TV Daily Is Linked to Later Violence." Education Week 21.30 (10 April 2002): 3, 1/5p. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. University of Maryland University College Lib., Adelphi, MD. 22 April 2007 http://www.ezproxy.umuc.edu>.

Federal Communications Commission. Fact Sheet: Cable Television Information Bulletin. June 2000. 21 April 2007 http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/csgen.html>.

Hurst, Marianne D. "Researchers Target Impact of Television Violence." Education Week 24.12 (17 Nov. 2004): 8-8, 1p, 1c. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. University of Maryland University College Lib., Adelphi, MD. 22 April 2007 http://www.ezproxy.umuc.edu>.

John Hopkins Medical Institutions. "Children See Televised Violence Despite Parent Monitoring."

Ascribe Health News Services (5 July 2004): NA. Health and Wellness Resource Center.

Thomson Gale. University of Maryland University College Lib., Adelphi, MD. 22 April 2007 http://www.galenet.galegroup.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu>.

Mcintosh, James C. "Violence- Blame it on the Media." New York Amsterdam News 97.51 (14 Dec. 2006): 1-40, 2p. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. University of Maryland University College Lib., Adelphi, MD. 22 April 2007 http://www.ezproxy.umuc.edu>.

Pakistan Press International. "Media Violence Harm Kids." Pakistan Press International (21 April 2006): NA. Health and Wellness Resource Center. Thomson Gale. University of Maryland University College Lib., Adelphi, MD. 21 April 2007 .