Views on Media Violence and the Psychological Effects on Children
...ence and how it appears in film specifically with violent scenes that depict problem solving strategies so that the hero (protagonist) wins and the villain (antagonist) does not. Media violence is such a sensitive topic at times because of the culture that people are attune with. With media the economic imperative comes into play. People in media want to make the most money possible and they will make movies that portray violence with protagonists and antagonists. It is the only why that films can keep up with the demanding wants and needs to fulfill the viewers satisfaction. This article was important because it explored aspects that explain why media violence is in films and television programs and also helps the reader think about what they consider to be violent or non-violent. The fact of the matter is that media violence is a part of society and that the only way to deal with it is to be aware of it instead of just ignoring it. Media violence is not something that is going to just disappear; it is something that needs to be dealt with in our society so that people understand the differences in real world violence versus media violence. Studies that have been conducted on the topic of distinguishing violence in media, whether it is an action movie or cartoon, have had scrutiny from many producers and directors. It is a difficult task to classify films, cartoons and programs as violent, but certain standards have been put together to allow parents to know whether a program is too violent or contains subject matter that is too graphic for their children. The impact of television on children is easily understood because most infants have the desire and capacity to imitate adult behavior (Grobel 1998). Young children tend to mirror adult facial expressions and behaviors. As the child becomes a toddler, they are incapable of distinguishing reality from fantasy on television. Parents should continually remind their children that television is not real life. Violent television shows; such as wrestling are making kids fight more on the playgrounds and making society generally a more violent place to live. The more violence is watched by children, the more they may become less sensitive to the pain and sufferings of others and may be more likely to behave too aggressively or harmful towards others (Eric Digest, n.d.). Specifically speaking, most of the studies dealt with children that were in elementary school children. Perspective on Media Violence Doctor George Gerbner, from the University of Pennsylvania, says that children’s television shows contain about 20 violent acts each hour. A study was performed with preschool children where a group of the children watched violent cartoons while the other group watched non-violent cartoons. The researchers of the study saw vast differences between the children who watched violent cartoons and the children who watched non-violent cartoons. The children that did watch the violent scenes where reported to be more aggressive with each other and others. The two groups were closely observed in the playground and research found that the children sometimes reenacted the cartoon violence, sometimes expecting the reaction of cartoon violence from television. An example of this would be when a cartoon character punches another character; the result is stars over the characters head. This leads the children to believe that if they also participate in hitting someone over the head, stars shall magically appear, and although the imagination can open doors in children’s minds that they may have not known existed, peers will get hurt in the process. The study simply proved that preschool children that watched violent cartoons reenacted certain behaviors that they saw, while the preschool children who watched the non-violent cartoons were not violent. The questions being answered in this article are ones that have to deal with whether media violence has an affect on children, in this case the study did show evidence that children who watch violent cartoons are reported to be more aggressive and expect cartoon comebacks from their peers when hitting the face with a fist. The shocking reality is that if this comes from cartoons, how do movies such as “Tomb Raider” affect the children who are thirteen years old? This article reflects the information found by scientists and psychologist that prove there is some type of connection with people that watch violent media with real violence that exists in our society. It shows statistical evidence of 100 children that were separated into two groups in which half are shown violence and the other half non-violence. This article also discusses what parents should do about the choices that they make when they allow their children to watch certain types of programs. The main subjects of this research are children, but these are only a select part of where media violence reaches. Media violence is everywhere, some cultures have been able to be desensitized by watching so much of it. In countries around Europe the news could seriously disturb it’s viewers by its harsh reality of uncensored crimes or accidents that reports flock to in order to get a story. This article is very informative because it is set up in a debate form with specific details about a study that was performed on children and what the results show before and after the evaluation of these 100 children. It is interesting to see how far certain people that study the psychological effects of media violence will go. Certain degrees of censoring render the viewer so offended by the onset of violence in media, or there is the viewer that has viewed so much violence in media that they are desensitized to the violence itself. This is the only contradicting evidence that shows up in the debate between Dr. George Gerbner and a public affairs reporter when he debated the information that was collected in the study that the 100 children participated in. Children should have an imagination, but they should not include the depiction of violent acts that the children see in a cartoon. There are cartoons that children can watch and be able to differentiate the difference in real violence versus cartoon violence. The bottom line is that violence is presented in many different ways and whether or not media is responsible for certain violent acts that occur in our society, there are other factors that affect it (Gerbner 2003). Parents play a large role in explaining the differences in real violence and cartoon violence, just like a child learns wrong from right. Surprisingly some of the studies found had to do with college students. Individuals such as Guy Paquette and Jacques de Guise, professors from the University of Laval, explained that many children are exposed to media violence everyday, but have become so desensitized to it that they no longer apply it to real world situations, such as news and crimes in the real world. This type of desensitization is typical in teenagers because of the video games, television programs, and movies that teenagers are exposed to. Studies were conducted at the University of Laval that examined 138 students. The study found that memories of frightening media images continued to disturb a significant number of participants. Over 90 % reported that they continued to experience effects from images that they viewed as children, ranging from sleep disturbances such as nightmares, to avoidance of certain situations. This shows that the effects of media on people as a whole is an important part of showing that media violence effects everyone in the world, because that is where media is, everywhere. Social Learning Theory Social learning theory defines human behavior as a continuous interaction between cognitive, behavioral and environmental influences of the individual. The social learning theory claims that children imitate violent scenes from television, believing that this type of behavior is acceptable, because the child does not see any type of consequence that the a character on a television program would have in the real world. This theory is the main argument for the side arguing that violence on television leads to aggression in children. A prominent advocate of the social learning theory is Albert Bandura. The social learning theory of Bandura emphasizes the importance of observing and imitating the behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions of others. Acquisition and performance are two basic principles that are involved with observational learning. Acquisition describes the learned behavior through observation. Performance is the process by which the observer acts out the learned behavior out. Although it must be noted that acquisition of a behavior does not automatically lead to its performance. (Bandura, 1965). As children acquire the action performed by their favorite actors or cartoons, they are more likely to perform these aggressive acts if their hero or the antagonist in the program is rewarded. One of the most noted studies to prove this theory is the infamous series of "bobo doll" studies that were conducted by Bandura in 1963. Bandura demonstrated just how easily viewing aggression influences a child. He and his colleagues observed preschoolers in a contrived situation, which included aggressive behavior. His study consisted of four groups. A control group set up for this experiment contained children who had not witnessed any events involving a bobo doll. The other three groups had witnessed the bobo doll being verbally and/or physically abused by different figures. These figures included a live model, a filmed model, and a female dressed in a cat costume. All the children had been irritated beforehand, by having their toys taken away from them. This made the children more prone to use aggressive behavior. So the study could have certain aspects of violent behavior that should not be generalized under the circumstances that involved the children to have aggression from the beginning of the study. The children were then put into a playroom with the bobo doll. Out of the four groups that were involved, three exemplified aggressive behavior toward the bobo doll. By either hitting it or yelling at the doll, this showed imitation of aggression in certain cases. The exception was the control group that had not witnessed any violence. This experiment supports the theory that after observing violent behavior, children are more likely to imitate the aggressive acts of the characters involved. Banduras findings definitely have direct bearing on the implications for the effect of violence shown on television. Even though this study was done such a long time ago, people need to realize that media violence is something that has been on television for so long that they could be desensitized to it. It is important to give this example because it shows proof that children can be prone to aggression by the simple form of having it shown to them. Just because the doll was an inanimate object does not justify the aggression toward the doll. Studies such as this one could be considered unethical in our society today depending on the type of violence that a child is shown in a study. Earlier Studies and their importance In a study done on television shows and just how much violence is carried out the results are alarming. Of all violent acts, attractive characters committed 40%, and 75% of violent actions went unpunished and the perpetrators showed no remorse. In 37% of the programs, the bad guys, or protagonists were not punished, and more than half of all violent incidents did not show the suffering of the victim (Congressional Digest, 1999). This survey suggests that violence viewed on television by children may lead to increased levels of aggression if social learning theory comes into play. Acting out these acts of violence or imitating their favorite character after viewing these seemingly acceptable acts of violence seems to be innocent enough to the children. This imitating behavior justifies Bandura’s research and implies that environmental influences such as television violence can indeed moderate and control the expression of aggression in children and as well as in adolescence. After so much is viewed, the violence in the child’s mind becomes a natural occurrence, which may cause the child to become non-compassionate or insensitive towards others, as he or she grows older. Consequently, children can become desensitized to aggressive behavior. In other words, the television violence absorbed can also make children more accepting of aggressive behavior. Studies have shown that the children tend to act differently after viewing acts of violence on television. The child is wither absorbing so much or is becoming slowly desensitized to the violence occurring. An early study investigated young children's willingness to hurt another child after viewing videotaped sections of aggressive or neutral television programs. The boys and girls were in two age groups, five to six and eight to nine-years-old. The aggressive program consisted of segments of The Untouchables, while the neutral program featured a track race. Following viewing, the children were placed in a setting in which they could either facilitate or disrupt the game-playing performance of an ostensible child playing in an adjoining room. The main findings were that the children who viewed the aggressive program demonstrated a greater willingness to hurt another child (Liebert & Baron, 1972). It is important to the well being of children as well as parents that they should know how the media is having an affect on their children, and the previous research of media violence can be applied to a very long time ago. This means that it must have been becoming apparent that children who viewed violent acts on television were becoming in some ways aggressive. Events that linger in the minds of elementary and high school children when they occasionally hear that a child brought a gun to school or got shot by his or her class mates. That is rea...