Free «Is Television an Important Source of Violence in Children’s Behavior?» Essay Sample

The effects of media on children have been a controversial issue for a long time. It is pitiful that in the 21st century, children are exposed to all kinds of harmful media being very vulnerable to developing violent behavior. The paper will extensively focus on how the TV contributes to violent behaviors of children.

At first, today, considerably more people have access to TV than before (Grossman & Degaetano 1999, p.46). It offers a lot of programs some of which are beneficial while others – harmful. There are a lot of violent programs that are aired on TV. Unfortunately, the children watch all the contents shown on TV without restrictions. Researchers identified that a teenager who is aged 14 watches more than eleven thousand violent films that contain acts such as murders. Although such statistics may not be a spot of bother to anyone, the significant effects that such films have on children are worrying (Strasburger & Wilson 2002, p.73).

The violent films that are constantly aired on TV are the major contributors to the violent behaviors that children develop later in life. According to Freedman, some people are aggressive, but they try to inhibit their aggressive nature into an inactive form. When children view violent movies on the television sets, their inhibition of the aggressive nature is reduced (Freedman 2002, p.42). These individuals do not tend to suppress their aggressive nature since they are motivated to believe that aggressiveness is not bad (Strasburger & Wilson 2002, p.73). These children are not patient, and they can easily cause violence; in a class setting, they turn out to be bullies. These students delay gratification and seem to demonstrate a strong sense of entitlement. The same provides enough proof that TV triggers violent behaviors in children to a great extent (Gail 2013, p.3).

Behavioral theorists argue that children learn a lot through observation. Since imitation is a natural process for them, they are likely to imitate what they find on the television sets (Wilson 1998, p.70). They will take the violent actors as their role models and thus being more prone to developing violent behaviors. The proof of imitation could be related to the rising cases of teenagers involved into killings for fun.

In addition, watching violent movies for a long time makes children develop a strong perception that violence is a normal occurrence of our daily life. Children are desensitized, and they tend to accept that violence is part of their lives (Wilson 1998, p.70). As a result, sensitivity to violence is also reduced. It is very important that children are inevitably affected psychologically by violent and actions that do not contain empathy at all. As a consequence, children develop some fear and become very active (Grossman & Degaetano 1999, p.67). They easily create a defense mechanism to the extent that they use violence whenever they feel an impending danger. The mix of fear and lack of mercy provokes them to react violently. They develop a strong mentality believing that violence is real and acceptable (Wilson 1998, p.63).

The mindset of children is not spared by the violent media. The enormous effects can be long-lived and continue even in adulthood. It is more of an assault that can easily have an effect on a moral balance of a child. The same increases the risk of developing an aggressive behavior (Strasburger & Wilson 2002, p.79). Furthermore, the television programs distract the attention of children from the normal learning processes replacing it by non-fictional pictures and thus transforming the young viewers into non-thinkers.

Since violence in the media disrupts the thinking of a child, children are more likely to focus on them. This happens because media violence seems to be more vicious than what children normally experience in real life scenarios. Moreover, teenagers who regularly watch such films are likely to perform poorly in school; as a result, they are likely to resort to violence as a way of releasing their frustrations. As a consequence, these children easily develop violent behaviors (Gail 2013, p.3).

Furthermore, TV videos containing violence are more likely to cause aggressiveness in a number of ways. Since these videos have a strong impact on children, the latter are determined to engage in violence as a way of satisfying their hidden desires and curiosity. The above-mentioned acts are sufficient proofs that violent movies on TV can easily contribute to developing violent behaviors.

Violent movies that are aired on TV can also reinforce some values that are related to violence. While they may not directly influence one to develop violent behaviors, some of the values related to violence such as aggressiveness are reinforced. As a result, children will develop violent behaviors since the values that promote violence are strongly encouraged.

Finally, continued watching of violent programs have similar effects to those of posttraumatic stress disorder. Children who constantly watch such movies are very likely to have a perception that they have been abused. As a consequence, they will become more aggressive and resort to violent behaviors as a way of defending themselves.

In conclusion, violent movies have a lot of negative effects on a child. They easily promote violent behaviors in children. Such movies hinder desensitization, lead to low inhibition. Finally, the combination of these factors causes violent behaviors.