MEDIA VIOLENCE AND CHILDREN

Does Violence In The Media Contribute To Violent Behavior In Children?

Does Violence In The Media Contribute To Violent Behavior In Children?

Introduction

Decades of research have revealed that exposure to “violent” media can influence the development of aggressive behavior in children. Though some children's programs have an educational or prosocial theme (e.g., Blue's Clues and Sesame Street), others are saturated with violence. For example, as part of the National Television Study, Mussen (2003) found that 99% of children's superhero programs contained violence, and a “violent” act was portrayed every 4 minutes. Additionally, much of this violence is shown as justified and rewarded, sending the message that violence is acceptable when the cause permits. This paper discusses if violence in the media contributes to violent behavior in children or not.

Discussion

Popular culture has historically been the subject of scorn, especially its more violent forms. In 1751 author Henry Fielding chided eighteenth-century English culture for the "too frequent and expensive Diversions among the lower kind of People." Fielding censured pastimes such as bear baiting, which involved the pitting of bears, sometimes blinded, against other animals, particularly dogs. The impact of popular culture on youth has been of particular concern. Early in the nineteenth century, novelist George Meredith complained that the Punch and Judy puppet show, in which Punch and his wife Judy physically abuse each other, "inspires our street-urchins to instant recourse to their fists in a dispute." Nineteenth-century detractors also warned of the dangers of reporting on crime and vice in newspapers, claiming it would lead juveniles to imitate lawless and immoral behavior. (LeFrancois, 2011)

Media analysts note that critics most often direct their attacks against the most recent entertainment medium as it becomes more popular and available to large numbers of people. In his book Evil Influences: Crusades Against the Mass Media, psychologist Steven Starker writes, "Each technological innovation, or new media application, promptly has been declared a serious threat to the character and mental abilities of children, the behavior of teenagers, the morality and intelligence of adults, and the sanctity of the American way of life." Fears about the impact of violence in new media have raised particular concern. The pattern of society's response is relatively consistent: Once someone sounds the alarm, the public looks to science for answers and to the government for solutions.

This pattern can be clearly seen in the furor over program content when radio became popular. Media detractors condemned radio for airing "popular" music, believed to inspire sinful behavior, but it was radio's early developer, Lee de Forest, who expressed concern about the effects of broadcasting crime dramas. He bemoaned the state of radio in a 1950 speech: "What have you gentlemen done with my child? He was conceived as a potent instrumentality for culture, fine music, the uplifting of America's mass intelligence. You have debased this child, you have sent him out in the streets in rags of ragtime, tatters of jive and boogie woogie, to collect money from all and sundry, for hubba ...