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Americans are the largest consumers of television programming in the world. Many children are exposed to and watch television on a daily basis, with, on average, 3-year-olds watching 7 hours per week, 7-year-olds watching 17 hours per week, and 11-year-olds watching 28 hours per week (Huesmann & Eron, 1986). We also must take into consideration how much material on television is violent.
In 1982 the National Institute of Mental Health published a 10-year study of the effects of watching television. Its conclusion was that about 80 percent of all programs in the United States contain violence, with an average of 5.2 violent acts per hour. The rates are variable but are highest during the day and on weekends, when children are often the viewers. We also know that the level of violence on television is higher than it used to be. Does watching crime and violence on television influence children? The evidence suggests that it probably does (Hearold, 1986). Bandura's early research (1963) on young children's imitation of aggressive acts seen in a film suggests that we might learn aggression by watching television. Leonard Berkowitz (1974) has shown that in watching violence on television we learn to associate a variety of cues with aggression. He studied television-watching habits of a group of boys when they were 9 years old and then returned to examine them again 10 years later. He found that those boys who watched the most violence on television were the most aggressive when they were 19. Phillips (1983) reported that the number of homicides in the United States significantly increased after championship boxing matches were aired on television. Opponents argue that perhaps the most aggressive children like to watch violence on television the most. Although it seems logical that we can learn to be aggressive through watching television, some research suggests that television violence reduces the tendency to become anxious when experiencing real aggression (Thomas, 1982). And some experts believe that we can take out our aggressive impulses through watching violence on television (Freedman, 1988). Huesmann and Eron (1986) conducted a study in the United States with 758 subjects--384 girls and 374 boys. Data were collected about the children from four sources--the child himself or herself, the child's peers, the child's parents, and the school. The researchers found positive correlations between overall television violence viewing and aggression in all grades in the United States. In this study they also found a positive correlation for both boys and girls. In their studies Huesmann and Eron also found that children who identify most with the characters on television are also those who watch it the most. |
To find out more about Television and Aggression,
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Violence and Television APA
Media violence and children
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