“Research shows that television violence increases levels of
aggression, fear, and desensitization among some who consume it”
(Hamilton). This quotation by James Hamilton briefly summarizes the
potentially negative effects of television on young minds. A child’s favorite
television show can keep a child occupied while the mother prepares dinner
or makes a quick trip to the store. However, leaving a child alone to watch
whatever show is on can be dangerous to the child in the long run. With the
amount of violence on television, parents should not allow the television to
become a babysitter for children no matter how tempting it might be. A
television set is a bad babysitter because unsupervised children who watch
violence on television exhibit violence in their everyday lives and develop
into aggressive adults. “The violence-content on television programs exceeds all other contents on television programs.” (Comstock et al 30)
Although the above table was put together in 1963, it still provides a
snapshot of the amount of violence that existed on television. And since
there are more sources of violence on television today, commercials, rap
songs, documentaries, one can only imagine what that table would look like
today (Hattemer). Alarmingly enough, the child-program type has the most
violence, which means that children–who cannot tell the difference between
fiction and reality–are absorbing more violence than adults–who can.
The violence on television sends the wrong message by making the
perpetrators look attractive. Almost half of t…
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… South Holland, IL. 11 Feb. 2004 .
Overholser, Geneva. “Is It Child Abuse? Assessing the Effects of Violence in
TV Programs and Films.” Chicago Tribune 22 Dec. 1999. Chicago
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Sweet, David, and Ram Singh. “ TV Viewing and Parental Guidance.”
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Source. South Suburban Col. Lib., South Holland, IL. 11 Feb. 2004
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Tischler L. Henry. Introduction to Sociology. 7th ed. Florida: Harcourt CP,
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Weber, Lara, and Michael Morgan. “ Kids’ Exposure to TV Violence Linked
to Aggression as Adults.” Chicago Tribune. 10 Mar. 2003.
Chicago Tribune. NewsBank. South Suburban Col. Lib., South
Holland, IL. 11 Feb 2004 .
Television and Media – Link between TV Violence and the Violence of Children
The Link between TV Violence and the Violence of Children
Children watch a lot of television. TV has even become a babysitter.
There is more violence portrayed on television than in earlier years. Crime has increased
steadily over the years as well. Many children have been involved in violent crimes in recent years, and
there is a link between violence on television and the increase in crime.
As early as 1960, Leonard Eron and L. Rowell Huesmann, researchers in Columbia County,
New York, discovered a connection between violence on TV and how aggressively children behaved.
Children seeing violence on TV, beginning as young as eight years old, exhibited more aggressive
behavior. As they grew older, still watching violence on TV, the aggressive behavior continued.
There seemed to be a cumulative effect in the children’s behavior. Being aggressive as a child
is a good indicator as to the type of behavior that will be exhibited as an adult. Several studies followed
participants over three decades and revealed that those people, who showed the most aggressive behavior
at age eight, had continued to be aggressive and had the most arrests for violent crimes (Mortimer, 1-4).
At the Indiana University Center for Adolescent Studies, researchers asked kids what causes fights.
The kids said gossip and bullying. The survey showed that those kids who exhibited the highest bullying
behavior also watched violence on TV, fought, misbehaved at home as well as in the community, and were
disciplined forcefully by their parents. The bullies had fewer adult role models and less contact with adults.
Also, not possessing the social skills for coping with co…
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…ne. proquest.umi.com. 3 Oct. 2000.
Levin, Diane E., and Nancy Carlsson-Paige. “Disempowering the ‘Power Rangers’.” Education Digest 61.9 (1996): 1-5. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000.
Mortimer, Jeffrey. “How TV Violence Hits Kids.” Education Digest 60.2 (1994): 1-4. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000.
Richey, Warren. “Group Enlists Parents to Fight TV Violence.” Christian Science Monitor 88.245 (1996): 1-2. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000.
Institute on Media and Family in Minneapolis”, which can be accessed on the Internet at www.mediaandthefamily.org
“TV Violence and Kids.” Education Digest 62.1 (1996): 1-4. Online. ehostvgw1.epnet.com. 3 Oct. 2000.
Zuckerman, Mortimer B. “The Victims of TV Violence.” U.S. News