While researchers often disagree about the relationship between watching violent television programs and aggressive behavior in children, there are enough indicators of a correlation for parents to consider limiting their children's TV viewing of violent programming, according to the Media Awareness Network. As a rule, studies show that children exposed to repeated television and video game violence are desensitized to violence and develop a number of other conditions ranging from aggressive behavior to sleep disturbances and increased anxiety.
Significance
Through media-portrayed violence, children are exposed to the use of violence as a means of settling disputes without consequences on a regular basis. According to the Parents Television Council, children watch TV more than they participate in any other activity except sleeping. The average American child watches an average of four hours of TV every day; 54 percent of kids have TV sets in their bedrooms, making their viewing habits even more unprotected.
Potential
Children mimic what they see. Kids who watch violent television shows are more apt to respond to a perceived attack with the flight-or fight stimulus ingrained in human nature, according to the Media Awareness Network. Additionally, during the viewing, physical changes occur. Blood pressure, respiration and heart rate levels rise. Repeated exposure to television violence creates a need for increased stimulation over time as children become accustomed to seeing certain acts. With time, they don't get the same adrenaline rush and may turn to more intense programming or real life violence for the same physical response. Studies have shown, reports the Media Awareness Network, that those children who watch a steady diet of violent programming have a higher risk of becoming violent in real life as adults.
Effects
The effects of watching violent television shows become apparent in a variety of ways, according to the Parents Television Council. In addition to the physical changes children undergo following a viewing of a violent program, children are more likely to disobey their parents and are more at risk of hitting a playmate than their peers who aren't allowed to view the aggressive shows. As they become more desensitized to violence over time, children lose empathy toward others. The violence they see on television desensitizes them to real human pain and suffering. They have difficulty differentiating between entertainment and reality, and develop a tendency to romanticize the villain.
Identification
Violent images are prevalent in more than the adult-themed shows shown primarily in late evening hours. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, nearly two out of every three programs on TV feature violent episodes and aggressive tendencies were shown to be 69 percent more prevalent in children's programming than in other programming styles. Cartoons and children's shows feature twice as many violent acts as most regular television programs.
Warning
In addition to the negative personality and social effects violent television programming has on children, the act of watching television has other negative consequences. Children do not develop healthy empathetic characteristics because they become immune to blood and pain. This desensitization process can lead them to become apathetic to the suffering of others. According to the University of Michigan Health Services, television viewing is a major contributor to childhood obesity and other juvenile health issues.
