Neither one of these ideas are foolproof, however, and therefore more must be done. Unfortunately, not that many parents and educators are aware of what else can be done to help, and therefore television violence continues to grow. This can also lead to the idea that violence in the real world is increasing and that people are in more danger, regardless of what the actual facts are (Gerbner, 1994).
There are, however, things that parents can do to help their children when it comes to protecting them from excessive violence on television. These include:
Paying attention to what kinds of programs their children are watching and watching some of the programming together
Setting limits on how much time their children spend in front of the television, including not allowing the child to have a television set in their bedroom
Pointing out that the violence that they see on television is not real, and that in real life such actions would result in extreme pain or death
Refusing to let their children watch shows that they know to be violent, or changing the channel or turning off the television set when violent programming comes on, with an explanation as to why that program is not acceptable to watch
Disapproving of violent programming in front of their children, and stressing the belief that violence is not the way that problems should be resolved
Contacting other parents and agreeing to enforce the same or similar rules regarding how much time their children can watch television and what kinds of programs they can watch, to help offset some of the peer pressure that their children may be feeling when their television is limited (Parenthood, 2005).
Naturally, there are other suggestions as well, and this will not stop all children from seeing all violent programming. It is a good start, however, that will help both parents and children keep violence out of their homes. Even though television violence is certainly not the only factor in violent and aggressive behavior by young people and young adults, it is one of the more significant contributing factors (Children, 1999).
Parents should also look at the violence that might be in their child's life in other ways, and work to reduce it, since it all contributes to aggressive behavior. Another way to help children and to deal with the fear angle that was mentioned earlier is to help children learn ways to avoid being victimized. There are various ways to do this, but they can include discussing safe areas of the neighborhood that they can walk and play in, teaching them to walk or play only with at least with one other person, instead of alone, stressing the importance of reporting crimes or emergencies, making sure that they should know what to do if someone approaches them, touches them inappropriately, or otherwise makes them feel uncomfortable, and make sure that they understand never to go with someone that they do not know and trust, and never to open the door for a stranger, regardless of what that person...
In contrast, TV influences children in abandoning the theories they were taught and embrace other concepts, most related to violence. Also, after being exposed to TV violence children feel that it is perfectly natural for them to behave similar to the characters on TV (Langone, 1984, p. 48). It is extremely important for a child to be assisted by an adult when watching TV. Studies have shown that children are
Television Violence and the Effects on Children Although the debate goes on as to whether or not television violence has a negative impact on children, there is ample evidence to verify that indeed, children are impacted in largely negative ways by being witnesses to violence on television. This paper provides six reasons why allowing children to watch violent TV is a bad idea and can create aggressive people later in life. Reason
It seems that violence on television does contribute to aggressive behavior, yet it is important to note that television is only one of many causes of aggression (Gunter and McAleer, 1990). Many other factors unrelated to television influence violence, and the specific impact of televised violence is dependent upon age, sex, family practices, and the way violence is presented. One statement is often repeated: television has major effects on
The study in this report involved a 14-year-old adolescent female who was 5-feet 2-inches and weighed 132 pounds; she was given a challenge to walk for exercise and use an exercise machine at home -- and in turn she agreed to cut back on television and other media usage. The bottom line was, she lost weight, but moreover, one year after the study she was increasing the level of
Attitudes and practices varied by age of the child and the gender of the parent. Colorito, Rita. (2002) "Violence on Television News Programs is a Serious Problem." Is Media Violence a Problem? Ed James Torr San Diego: Greenhaven, 2002. 24- 30. Colorito says that even though rates of crime decreased in the 1990s, television news coverage of violent crime increased. TV news shows like 20/20 and Dateline frequently show stories on
Children (boys especially) are predisposed to watching scenes of violence for long periods of time without feeling the need to change the program. Consequent to this, they are expected to display antisocial behavior. Cartoons are essential in influencing children, given the fact that most seem innocent to most parents, thus preventing them from wanting to change the channel. Studies have shown that cartoons have a more negative influence on children
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