The overwhelming amount of violent imagery prevalent in the media consumed by children has been troubling to experts for a long time. In fact, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, more than 3,500 studies have been performed to assess the potential negative consequences of violence in the media, and in an overwhelming majority of the studies, violent media was found to have a direct effect on the increase in violent behaviors in children. It is important for parents to understand how the increasing consumption of violent media desensitizes children to real-life violence.
History
Although people sometimes think of the problem of violence in the media as a recent concern, the medical community has been discussing the dangerous effects of media violence on children since the 1950s, notes the American Academy of Pediatrics. In fact, the U.S. Surgeon General issued a special report on the negative effects of violence in the media on children back in 1972, says the American Academy of Pediatrics. Needless to say, with the addition of computers and video games, the amount of violent media consumed by children has increased significantly since then.
Media Consumption
While in the 1950s only 10 percent of American homes had a television, 99 percent of homes had a television by 2009, says the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Computers and video games are also available in many homes, allowing children to consume more that one form of media at a time, such as using a computer while watching television. Studies found that when the simultaneous use of multiple media outlets is factored in, the average American child consumes eight hours of media per day, says the America Academy of Pediatrics. The typical American child watches 28 hours of television per week, says American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Prevalence of Violence
Media violence is pervasive. In fact, the average American child will have watched 200,000 acts of violence and seen 16,000 murders by the time he is 18, says American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. "The National Television Violence study evaluated almost 10,000 hours of broadcast programming from 1995 through 1997, and found that 61 percent of the programming portrayed interpersonal violence, much of it in an entertaining or glamorized manner," notes the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Desensitizing Children
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry warns that the overwhelming amount of violence seen by the typical child can desensitize him to violence by reducing his natural feelings of shock at real acts of violence, and by deteriorating his ability to empathize with victims. Violent video games also allow children to participate in what the American Academy of Pediatrics calls "virtual violence," where they have an interactive role in creating the violent images they consume. "The fact that the child gets to act out the violence, rather than to be a passive observer, as when viewing television or movies, is especially concerning to experts," says the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
Recommendations
Reducing media consumption and supervising the media your child consumes is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Supervision gives caregivers an opportunity to teach children how to interpret violent images, notes the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that the context of violent imagery may be significant. For example, violent images in television and movies can actually be helpful if they show the appropriate pain and emotional devastation that accompanies real violence.
