How Television Images Affect Children

“Television has changed the American child from an irresistable force to an immovable object.” (Peter). There was a time when all children wanted to do was to run, play, explore, and be adventurous. As time evolved, children have found more interest in television. Statistics show that a child spends 900 hours per year in school,and they spend 1,200 hours per year watching television. When asked to choose between watching T.V. and spending time with their families fifty-four percent of four to six year olds voted they would prefer to watch television. Television has changed the mindset of children over the years it has been proven that the more programs they watch, the more harmful it is to their brain development. T.V.

* Forty-six percent of all television violence identified by the study took place in children's cartoons. Children's programs were least likely to depict the long-term consequences of violence (5%) and they portray violence in a humorous fashion 67% of the time. (14)

The main reason we watch TV is for entertainment where we can view shows and movies. Shows and movies expose individuals to a variety of cultures and values that they do not see often. Another use of television is for information such as news, political views, and advertisements. Televisions inform us of news around our community and world, and also persuade us in buying products or donating money to a cause. An ongoing controversy has risen such tha televisions can be harmful to children because of the vulgar language and violence shown through modern day shows or even celebrities. Viewing too much television can be time consuming and may even discourage children to go play outside and be social. Watching the newscast has changed my life by informing me of the violence that goes on throughout my community. Also, a negative effect of watching too much television has taken up my time when I could have been doing more productive tasks.

In the article “TV’s Negative Influence on Kids Reaffirmed” by Jeffrey M. McCall, he addresses the issue of how TV has a negative influence on children. McCall states that young children and toddler’s cognitive ability do not develop as well when they have a television in the background while they are playing and interacting. McCall also argues that TV has a very influential role in the teenage pregnancy rate and how early teens become sexually active. To further prove his point, McCall proclaims that children and teens that are exposed to large amounts of television and video games become socially awkward and have issues interacting in society. McCall also says that the networks are rating their own programs carelessly, which is leading to shows that should be restricted by a V-chip being watched by children, rendering the restricting system null and void.

Television is the mainstream of our culture. Violence on television has been a topic of conflict since before 1950. There have been repeated debates on how to protect children from the harmful effects of violence on television. Television is one form of modern media that influences the everyday lives of people. Televised violence has a major effect on how children perceive the world and how they behave. "American television has become the most violent in the world. It is for this reason why researchers have focused their attention toward television violence" (Cantor & Hoffner 424-4-25). Children enjoy watching television and now with the increased technology of cable and movie

Television can affect learning and school performance if it exceeds the time kids need for their crucial for healthy physical and mental development. Most of children's free time, especially during the early development years, should be spent in activities such as playing, reading, exploring nature, learning about music or participating in sports. Research has shown that children's exposure to television during the preschool years is predictive of academic outcomes during adolescence. The most notable lesson about this

Common sense seems to dictate that, because the media today primarily focuses on portraying acts of aggression and violence, it has been seen that young children often mirror and imitate such actions. In the book Contemporary & Classic Arguments, Psychologist Melanie Moore and comic author Gerard Jones write an article titled, “Violent Media is Good for Kids” and examine this relationship between violent media and its effects on children. They state, “For the past three years she and I have been studying the ways in which children use violent stories to meet their emotional and developmental needs- and the ways in which adults can help them use those stories healthily.”(Jones pg.78) The essence of Moore and Gerald’s argument is that kids need this type of entertainment to maintain a healthier lifestyle. Not only does it make children vigorous but it also helps them develop: emotionally, intellectually, socially, and

Over the past two decades, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on TV affects children and young people. While a direct "cause and effect" link is difficult to establish, there is a growing consensus that some children may be vulnerable to violent images and messages.

Violent media has been proven time and time again over the past 60 years to cause increased aggression in children and young adults. The long term and short term exposure to violent media has been shown to cause “increased feelings of hostility, expectations that others will behave aggressively, desensitization to the pain of others, and increased likelihood of interacting and responding to others with violence” (Committee on Public Education). One of the most famous experiments done on the subject was done in 1961 by the psychologist Albert Bandura at Stanford University. In this experiment children between the ages of three and six were put in a playroom containing a many activities and toys (Cherry). One of those toys was a bobo doll; a 5 foot tall inflatable doll. An adult would enter and either play with the child from a complete ten minutes, the control group, or at some point during those ten minutes begin beating up the doll, the experimental group. They would also say things such as “pow” and “he keeps coming back for more” while attacking it (Cherry).

In the article “TV’s Negative Influence on Kids Reaffirmed” by Jeffrey M. McCall, he addresses the issue of how TV has a negative influence on children. McCall states that young children and toddler’s cognitive ability does not develop as well when they have television in the background while they are playing. McCall also argues that TV has a very influential role in the teen pregnancy rate and how early teens become sexually active. To further prove his point, McCall proclaims that children and teens that are exposed to too much Television and video games become socially awkward and have trouble interacting in society. McCall also says that the networks are rating their own programs carelessly which is leading to shows that should be blocked

There is no question that television and films these days are filled with violence and antisocial behavior. Virtually every show, movie or news story nowadays has some sort of violent theme. Studies have shown that for every hour of television, there are 6 violent exchanges shown, and this number increases to 14 exchanges an hour

Many children are influenced by what they see on television. Some programs have a positive and negative affect on how children behave.(AACAP.org) Using Cultivation Theory, I will validate that the amount of television being watched and the variety of talk shows does impact a child’s health, behavior and family life. After reviewing the outcomes, it is obvious that my hypothesis and Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory which essentially clarifies that the heavy television viewers develop a common socially conservative outlook through constant exposure to the same images and labels.(p. 353) According to the 2011 Active Healthy Kids Report Card on Physical Activity, television is one of the most prevalent media influences in kids’ lives. Children are spending too much time watching television and this is stopping them from doing activities crucial to healthy mental and physical development. Studies has shown that young children who watch too much television have delayed cognitive and emotional development. In older children excessive screen time has been proven to lead to behavioral difficulties, reduced achievement at school, attention problems, sedentary behaviors and an increased risk of obesity.(MediaSmarts)

In the article, it examines how the behavior of minors are affected by violent movies and television shows. The article begins by explaining what effect television has on us. It explains how people who most likely watch violent television shows and movies, show a more aggressive behavior. To prove this, the source gathered a series of experiments that showed how households that often watch violent television show and movies normally report their children imitating what they saw on the television and usually more aggressive behavior. One of the most famous experiments that tested

In a study by Iman Sharif and James D. Sargent, 4508 students participated to find out whether or not certain television content affected the grades of young children. In many analyses they found that,

Children view violence in different ways when they watch it on television, whether it is cartoons or a type of drama and action programming. After children have watched these television shows, they may have interpreted the meaning into a negative behavior. It could influence them by becoming aggressive, afraid of the world that surrounds them, or it may lead to confusion. When it is said that children may become confused because their parents teach that violence is wrong. When they view someone in a “superhero” position participating in violence, they may see that as it is all right for the simple fact the good person does the action. According to the American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, “the impact of TV violence may be immediately evident in the child's behavior or may surface years later (AACAP, 2011).”