TV Violence Is Harming Our Children

In his book, The Index of Cultural Indicators, William Bennett reports the approximate number of deaths recorded in five popular movies:

· Die Hard 2 264

· Rambo 3 106

· The Wild Bunch 89

· Robocop II 74

· Total Recall 74

And there’s more. Many of the people in charge of broadcasting this content agree.

A 1993 survey in Electronic Media magazine revealed that 74% of TV station managers agreed that TV was too violent.

So, now we know that the violence is there, what do we know about its effects?

The long-term effect, according to some studies, is very damaging.

Many psychologists seem to agree that the more violence viewed, the more accepting children are of violence, the more it desensitizes them, and the more likely they are to become violent.

Drs. Eron and Huesmann of the University of Illinois carried out a 22 year study of violent behavior.

They found that the quarter of the children with the heaviest exposure to violence in 1960 at ages nine and ten were found to be convicted of criminal offences during their adult lives 150% more often than the quarter of children with the smallest exposure to violent entertainment.

Other researchers have looked at broader issues such as personality changes in young people.

When you read the results, you find some familiar observations:

· Less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.

· More fearful of the world around them.

· More likely to behave in aggressive ways towards others.

· Likely to think of aggressive behaviour as normal.

All of these statistics have a problem, of course.

You can’t draw a clear line of connection between what seems to be the cause – TV violence – and what appears to be the effect – violent people.

However it seems clear that at the very least, all this violence does have an effect on our mental well being.

Violent messages reinforce beliefs that:

· The world is a violent and generally unsafe place.

· Violence is an effective solution to problems.

· Violence is safe, glamorous, gratifying, and often has no apparent consequences.

Media violence hardly ever shows us the true effects of real life violence, and the pain and suffering it causes.

Alternatively, for example, if we think of the characters of Micky and Mallory in the Oliver Stone movie Natural Born Killers, the violence is all too real.

Even then, though, the characters are caught up in the glamour of the whole affair, and the message, once again, has the potential to leave a dangerous impression.

In my view, we can all agree on this much: media violence contributes to a culture of violence and the acceptance of violence as an effective solution to problems.

What can we do about it?

My message today is this:

Don’t assume that as a viewer, there’s nothing you can do about it.

You don’t have to be a couch potato. You can assume responsibility by becoming media-aware.

Here are some possibilities to think about:

Think about which sorts of violence you condone on a personal level, and how your beliefs are being confirmed (or neglected) through the mass media.

· Talk to children about the realities of violence and its effects.

· Ask them their opinions on the violence they witness on TV, video games, and the movies, and discuss the differences between reality and fantasy.

· Discuss problem-solving alternatives other than violence with children

I’ll admit that the effect of media violence on viewers depends on many things.

I know that a lot of it depends on the sociological and psychological makeup of the audience.

But if we’re worried about the level of violence in our society, if we’re worried about our safety, then we should be looking for some solutions.

And if we can at least be giving children the message that violence is not okay, and that what they see on TV is often bad and wrong, then I guarantee you: we will be helping to turn the problem around.