TV violence can have a negative effect on children. There is no doubt that violence exists in television programming for children. In fact, the National Institute on Media and the Family reports that in 2005 there were between 20 and 25 acts of violence on average during one hour of children's television programming in the U.S. A child will have seen approximately 200,000 acts of violence on TV before turning 18. Of course, not every child who views these acts of violence on television exhibits the negative effects, but the negative effects can be serious and detrimental.
Aggressiveness
According to studies reported by the Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), violence on television can encourage children to learn aggressive behaviors and attitudes. This occurs because television programming often depicts violence that is perpetrated by characters that are attractive and can be rewarded by the acts of violence. There are other patterns in children's programming that encourage the learning of aggressive behaviors and attitudes. These include violence portrayed as realistic, graphic or extensive. Also, violence portrayed in a humorous fashion has the effect of encouraging children to learn aggressive behaviors and attitudes.
Pessimism
Violence on television can create an atmosphere in which children's attitudes become pessimistic and fearful, according to ERIC. Children who watch more violent programming tend to view the world as scarier, more dangerous and meaner than children who watch less violent programming. Children are more impressionable than adults, and the violent acts on television can instill an impression of a bleak and terrible world.
Desensitization
After viewing so many acts of violence on television, children can become desensitized to violence. In this way, violent acts no longer create the emotions that would occur to someone who had not been desensitized. This results in an attitude of increase tolerance of violence. This can result from programming, even animated programming, in which the results of violence are not shown. Children have a more difficult time than adults discerning between reality and fantasy, and the violence children see on television can often seem real.
