Children and TV Violence

Television (TV) has its good side. It can be entertaining and educational, and can open up new worlds for kids, giving them a chance to travel the globe, learn about different cultures, and gain exposure to ideas they may never encounter in their own community. Programs with positive role models can influence people to change their behavior for the better. However, the reverse can also be true: Kids are likely to learn things from TV that parents don't want them to learn. TV can affect kids' health and family life.

These days, just about every time you turn on the TV you’re met with a barrage of violent images including explosions, suicide bombings, and war casualties. And that's just the news! Many popular television shows -- even those in the so-called “family” time slot of 7-8:30 p.m. -- also feature much more violence than shows aired in this time slot just a few years ago.

American children watch an average of three to fours hours of television daily. Television can be a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior. Unfortunately, much of today's television programming is violent. Hundreds of studies of the effects of TV violence on children and teenagers have found that children may:

· imitate the violence they observe on television
· identify with certain characters, victims and/or victimizers
· gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems
· become "immune" or numb to the horror of violence

A great deal is known about children and television, because there have been thousands of studies on the subject. Researchers have studied how TV affects kids' sleep, weight, grades, behavior, and more. It's worth looking at what the research says when deciding how to manage television in your family.

Spending time watching TV can take time away from healthy activities like active play outside with friends, eating dinner together as a family, or reading. TV time also takes away from participating in sports, music, art or other activities that require practice to become skillful.

How does watching television affect performance in school?

Watching TV at age four was one factor found to be associated with bullying in grade school. TV viewing may replace activities that we know help with school performance, such as reading, doing homework, pursuing hobbies, and getting enough sleep. One research study found that TV's effects on education were long term. The study found that watching TV as a child affected educational achievement at age 26. Watching more TV in childhood increased chances of dropping out of school and decreased chances of getting a college degree, even after controlling for confounding factors.

Children who watch more TV are more likely to be overweight:

· While watching TV, the metabolic rate seems to go even lower than during rest. This means that a person would burn fewer calories while watching TV than when just sitting quietly, doing nothing.

· University of Michigan researchers found that just being awake and in the room with the TV on more than two hours a day was a risk factor for being overweight at ages three and four-and-a-half.

· The food and beverage industry targets children with their television marketing, which may include commercials, product placement, and character licensing. Most of the products pushed on kids are high in total calories, sugars, salt, and fat, and low in nutrients.

· The effects can carry on into adult weight problems. Weekend TV viewing in early childhood affects body mass index (BMI), or overweight in adulthood.

· Results from recent studies have reported success in reducing excess weight gain in preadolescents by restricting TV viewing.

· Researchers who investigated whether diet, physical activity, sedentary behavior or television viewing predicted body mass index (BMI) among 3- to 7-year-old children, found that physical activity and TV viewing are most associated with overweight risk. TV was a bigger factor than diet. Inactivity and TV became stronger predictors as the children aged.

· Many TV ads encourage unhealthy eating habits. Two-thirds of the 20,000 TV ads an average child sees each year are for food and most are for high-sugar foods.

· Children who watch TV are more likely to be inactive and tend to snack while watching TV.

· All television shows, even educational non-commercial shows, replace physical activity in your child's life.

Extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater aggressiveness. Sometimes, watching a single violent program can increase aggressiveness. Children who view shows in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely to imitate what they see.

Children with emotional, behavioral, learning or impulse control problems may be more easily influenced by TV violence. The impact of TV violence may be immediately evident in the child's behavior or may surface years later. Young people can even be affected when the family atmosphere shows no tendency toward violence.

Here are some key research findings to keep in mind as you decide what kind of role you want TV to play in your family:

· Advertisers target kids, and on average, children see tens of thousands of TV commercials each year. This includes many ads for unhealthy snack foods and drinks. Children and youth see, on average, about 2,000 beer and wine ads on TV each year.

· Excessive TV viewing can contribute to poor grades, sleep problems, behavior problems, obesity, and risky behavior.

· Kids see favorite characters smoking, drinking, and involved in sexual situations and other risky behaviors in the shows and movies they watch on TV.

· Kids who spend more time watching TV (both with and without parent and siblings present) spend less time interacting with family members.

· Most children' s programming does not teach what parents say they want their children to learn; many shows are filled with stereotypes, violent solutions to problems, and mean behavior.

· TV viewing is probably replacing activities in your child' s life that you would rather have them do (things like playing with friends, being physically active, getting fresh air, reading, playing imaginatively, doing homework, doing chores).

While TV violence is not the only cause of aggressive or violent behavior, it is clearly a significant factor.

Parents can protect children from excessive TV violence in the following ways:

· to offset peer pressure among friends and classmates, contact other parents and agree to enforce similar rules about the length of time and type of program the children may watch

· set limits on the amount of time they spend with the television; consider removing the TV set from the child’s bedroom

· refuse to let the children see shows known to be violent, and change the channel or turn off the TV set when offensive material comes on, with an explanation of what is wrong with the program

· point out that although the actor has not actually been hurt or killed, such violence in real life results in pain or death

· pay attention to the programs their children are watching and watch some with them

· disapprove of the violent episodes in front of the children, stressing the belief that such behavior is not the best way to resolve a problem

Parents can also use these measures to prevent harmful effects from television in other areas such as racial or sexual stereotyping. The amount of time children watch TV, regardless of content, should be moderated because it decreases time spent on more beneficial activities such as reading, playing with friends, and developing hobbies. If parents have serious difficulties setting limits, or have ongoing concerns about their child’s behavior, they should contact a child and adolescent psychiatrist for consultation and assistance.

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It is no secret that video games and television programs often depict graphic violence. But now, three new studies show violence causes children, teenagers and young adults to behave more aggressively than those who watch non-violent media.

In addition, there is also a debate swirling in Washington, D.C. on how to shield children from violent TV shows. Some U.S. lawmakers want to sponsor legislation to shield children from TV violence. But Howard Kurtz, a media reporter for The Washington Post newspaper, predicts a fierce fight from the entertainment industry.

The legislation would also prompt a court battle. Caroline Frederickson from the American Civil Liberties Union says, "Congress is going to have to become a bureau of censorship, and I think I'm hopeful that many members of Congress will recognize that that is not the appropriate role for them to play."