The effect of television on children’s behavior is a topic that has continued to evoke interest in psychologists. In the investigations educators suggest that television has replaced other forms of socialization such as school and family, reason being that children spend more time in watching television as compared to time spent in school.
Psychological and government experiments together with congress investigations have been implemented with the aim of establishing the effects of television on children behavior. Main interest of the methods is to analyze whether social violence results from the violence portrayed in television programs.
While other behaviors aimed at helping others, less often studied, are compared to helping people in distress.
From its inception, television’s effect has grabbed the attention of many investigators following the question of its unbecoming consequences in its programming and the results affecting influence on aggression. The subject’s sole purpose is the focus on its effect to teach pro-social behaviors and attitudes.
Investigations suggest that commercial programming serves as positive socializers and modeling cues provided by television increases the generosity of the young observers (Bryan, 1970). Among the studies, one succeeded in its deductions concluding that broadcasted televised materials convinced pro-social behavior in children. In the experiment 3-to-5 years old children were subjected to varied forms of programming, the three programs selected contained scenes of aggression, dieting and neutral programs, the results confirmed previous works since certain types of pro-social behavior increased following the exposure. The intention of the experiment was to establish whether specific ...
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... steer the children to taboos, it should be a lesson to those who air the programs to add emphasis on programs that develop character and promote goodness.
Regardless of nationality the nature of humans is good and what tarnishes the spirit is the exposure that people receive, at the tender age pro-social behavior happens to be the only form of learning that is willingly and innocent. Despite its simplistic nature it sticks and shapes the character of the audience. A form of regulation that works should be implemented to protect children from unintended on incomprehensive messages.
Works Cited
Experimental psychology: A case approach eighth edition accessed from http://www.coursesmart.com/bookshelf
Tannis MacBeth Williams.The Impact of Television: A Natural Experiment in Three Communities" accessed from http://world.std.com/~jlr/comment/tv_impact.htm
In “Television Harms Children”, Ann Vorisek White claims that the intellectual and cognitive development of children who frequently watch television is threatened. To support this claim, she points to the findings that “the more television children watch, the weaker their language skills and imaginations” (White, 2006). Before the brain fully matures around age 12, it is in the stage of rapid development. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) “recommends that children under the age of two not watch TV or videos, and that older children watch only one to two hours per day of nonviolent, educational TV” (White, 2006). A study from the AAP (as cited in White, 2006) found that the average American child watches four hours of television every day. Considering "expression and reasoning are not automatic" abilities, young children who routinely watch television eventually become "passive and nonverbal" to stimuli in their environment (White, 2006). Since the normality of curiosity and imaginations of young children are the foundation of how they learn, remaining passive for extended periods of time affects their intellectual and moral development.
Eron, L.D., Huesmann, L.R., Lefkowitz, M.M. & Walder, L.O. (1972). Does television violence cause aggression? American Psychologist, 27, 253-263.
Television with its far reaching influence spreads across the globe. Its most important role is that of reporting the news and maintaining communication between people around the world. Television's most influential, yet most serious aspect is its shows for entertainment. Violent children's shows like Mighty Morphing Power Rangers and adult shows like NYPD Blue and Homicide almost always fail to show human beings being able to resolve their differences in a non-violent manner; instead they show a reckless attitude that promotes violent action first with reflection on the consequences later. Contemporary television creates a seemingly insatiable appetite for amusement of all kinds without regard for social or moral benefits (Schultze 41). Findings over the past twenty years by three Surgeon Generals, the Attorney General's Task Force on Family Violence, the American Medical Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other medical authorities indicate that televised violence is harmful to all of us, but particularly to the mental health of children (Medved 70-71).
Children in their adolescents years watch a great amount of TV each week and it is almost inevitable that they will start to be influenced by what they see on their television. They will see diffe...
American children, on average, spend more time watching television programs than they do engaging with adults, siblings, or attending school (Feldman, Coats, & Spielman, 1996). This finding introduces the challenge for big networks to use television to positively guide children’s social learning while they are home from school. Studies have shown that even a brief exposure to television can produce positive effects on learning during childhood (Rice and Woodsmall, 1998), and television programming can also positively influence pro-social behaviors and gender-role concepts (Forge & Phemister, 1987, Mares & Woodward, 2001, O’Bryant & Corder-Bolz, 1978 and Signorelli, 2001). Furthermore, many of the existing educational programs directed at young children aim to influence attitudes relating to racial prejudice (Persson & Musher-Eizenman, 2003). If mainstream networks had psychological research to back up their efforts, then television for children could be as socially awakening as it is relaxing.
Many psychologists have studied the effect of the media on an individual’s behavior and beliefs about the world. There have been over 1000 studies which confirm the link that violence portrayed through the media can influence the level of aggression in the behavioral patterns of children and adults (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001). The observed effects include, increased aggressiveness and anti-social behavior towards others, an increased fear of becoming a victim or target of aggressive behavior, becoming less sensitive to violence and victims of violent acts, and concurrently desiring to watch more violence on television and in real-life (A.A.P. 2001). According to John Murray of Kansas State University, there are three main avenues of effects: direct effects, desensitization, and the Mean World Syndrome (Murray, 1995, p. 10). The direct effects of observing violence on television include an increase in an individual’s level of aggressive behavior, and a tendency to develop favorable attitudes and values about using violence to solve conflicts and to get one’s way. As a result of exposure to violence in the media, the audience may become desensitized to violence, pain, and suffering both on television and in the world. The individual may also come to tolerate higher levels of aggression in society, in personal behavior, or in interpersonal interactions. The third effect is known as the Mean World Syndrome, which theorizes that as a result of the amount of violence seen on television and also the context and social perspective portrayed through the media, certain individuals develop a belief that the world is a bad and dangerous place, and begin to fear violence and victimization in real life (A.A.P. 2001).
Some research studies e.g. Friedrich Cofer et al 1979, have shown and increase in anti social after children viewed programmes that contained both types. Studies on pro-social influence show limited support for the beneficial effects of conflict without resolution messages. Children younger than eight may not benefit as older children. Media influence of antisocial behaviour. There have been many different research studies investigating the influence of media on anti social behaviour.
Selnow, Huang. "DOES TELEVISION VIEWING AFFECT CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOUR?." Pacific Economic Review 14.4 (2009): 474 - 489. Advanced Placement Source. EBSCO. Web. 3 Apr. 2011.
and prosocial TV and tolerance of others, see Marie-Louise Mares and Emory Woodard, “Positive Effects of Television on Children’s
American Psychological Association. "Violence on Television. What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?" APA Online. www.apa.org/publicinfo/violence.html. Accessed October 23, 2001.
There are many facts that show how children are affected by television. The most obvious is the effects that television has on the brain. 'Television interferes with the development of intelligence, thinking skill and imagination.';(LimiTv) A huge element of thinking is taking from what you already know and deciding how it applies in different situation. School makes you do this, but television does not. Michael and Sheila Cole, sociologist, say that 'Children socialized to learn from television had lower than normal expectations about the amount of mental effort required to learn from written texts, and tended to read less and perform relatively poorly in school.';(Development of Children 24) Which means that it takes very little effort to follow a television show and kids are raised on television believe that it takes less effort to learn from television rather than books because they have been 'spoon-fed'; information by television. 'Opportunities for a child's imagination to develop are also denied by habitual viewing.'; (Neural Activity and the Growth of the Brain) Children need some unstructured time to allow imagination skills to form by thinking about a book or story, a conversation, or an event.
Without a doubt, television is the central and principal form of communication in many people’s lives. This form is most often exposed to a child who instantly becomes accustomed to its presence. Children are televisions largest audience, as Morris shows, “Children aged two to five look at the TV tube on an average of 28.4 hours a week; those between the ages of six and eleven average 23.6 hours a week”. Television has played an important role in many children’s lives and its viewing has been a favorite activity for many of them. The effects of television on children have been disputed. Some people have said that viewing time has a negative impact on children. Other people, however, feel that the early educational television productions for children help tehm learn.
... for children. Children are exposed to 20,000 advertisements a year. The average child watches 8,000 televised murders and 100,000 acts of violence before finishing elementary school. By the time children graduate from high school, those numbers more than doubles. Furthermore, television is shown to influence attitudes about race and gender. Pro-social and anti-social behaviors are influenced by television.
Furthermore, television violence causes aggressive behavior in children. Many people believe that children who watch violent television programs exhibit more aggressive behavior than that exhibited by children who do not (Kinnear 23). According to the results of many studies and reports, violence on television can lead to aggressive behavior in children (Langone 50). Also, when television was introduced into a community of children for the first time, researchers observed a rise in the level of physical and verbal aggression among these children (Langone 51). The more television violence viewed by a child, the more aggressive the child is (“Children” 1).
Frazier, Stacy L., and Others And. “The Effects of Television Violence and Early Harsh Discipline on Children’s Social Cognitions and Peer-Directed Aggression.” (1997): ERIC. Web. 24 Sep. 2013. .