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The Influence of Media on Children
Many world scientists nowadays express grave concerns about negative influence of
media violence on children and young people. Different large-scale studies cover this issue. They
analyze the media contents, reveal the types of children’s relationships towards violent scenes,
and develop practical guidelines for parents, teachers, and media officials. Their conclusions
may seem trivial, but if they were considered by those responsible for the production and display
of violent media, the problem would not be so acute. The point is actually that screen violence is
shaping adolescent aggression and fear. Moreover, presented in an attractive form, it may lead to
habituation and indifference. This paper makes an appeal to parents in the first place to take a
closer look at the media as the part of many influences on the children’s behavior.
Given the view that American children between 2 and 18 spend an average of 8 hours a
day using multiple media (qtd. in Committee on Public Education 1222), it becomes clear why
the general public is so anxious about the negative consequences of this state of affairs.
Nowadays, media stands out against parents and teachers as the chief authority in getting
information and education, having greater access and time to shape young people’s attitudes and
actions (qtd. in Committee on Public Education 1222). In terms of influence on immature minds,
mass media are a powerful psychological and social change force. The dimensions of media
influence are numerous. For instance, there are direct aspects, associated with its primary
function, namely communication of information. According to this function, the media can be
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entertaining, informative, educational, and others. But besides these immediate functions, there
are hidden influences, not so evident at a glimpse.
Media is reported to have a direct effect on serious forms of children’s violent behavior,
with the prolonged action, reaching far beyond adolescent age. “Even individuals who typically
are not highly aggressive are negatively affected by exposure to violent media both in short-term
situations and over long periods of time” (Anderson et al. 104). Among various physical and
mental health problems, resulting from exposure to media violence, scientists mark out the
following: aggressive behaviour, desensitization to violence, fear, depression, nightmares, and
sleep disturbances (qtd. in Committee on Public Education 1223). Cecilia von Feilitzen, a media
researcher from Stockholm University, distinguishes five common influences of media violence:
imitation, aggression, fear, a skewed perception of the reality of violence, and habituation
(McLellan 502). A human is susceptive to suggestion, imitation, and contagiousness by nature.
From early childhood we learn through observing, imitating and making our own behaviors (qtd.
in Committee on Public Education 1223). The effects of watching World Wrestling Federation
shows, seen by 35 million people in the USA weekly, have been examined by Robert DuRant,
who reported that fighting, sexually explicit gestures, violent behaviors, and vulgar language in
the shows resulted in increased use of cigarettes, alcohol, and drugs; date-fight perpetration and
victimization; and weapons carrying among the young people, who watched the shows
(McLellan 502). What particularly problematic about this show, as Dafna Lemish notes, is that it
looks like a sports competition, and children fail to comprehend the concept of a staged show
appropriately, because of the lack of cognitive and literacy skills (McLellan 502).
Adopting aggressive behaviors is also closely associated with children’s role
expectations. If the aggression and violence are attributed to certain persons in mass media, there
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is great likelihood that children will include the same characteristics in their role expectations of
these persons (Siegel 36). This kind of stereotyping in children inevitably leads to abnormal
perception of reality. It is particularly dangerous to introduce violence in sexual or comic
contexts, because in this case, violent behavior is associated with positive feelings, and is,
therefore, more easily adopted. In addition to this, mass media cultivates in viewers the
perception of the world as a dangerous place by means of inflating the prevalence of violence in
the world (qtd. in Committee on Public Education 1223). Thus, mass media habituate a person to
think in stereotyped images.
One should also account for the mental state, in which a person seats oneself in front of a
TV or a computer. In comparison to different stresses, quarrels, and the feeling of dissatisfaction,
that we may experience during the day, television offers us an opportunity to take a rest and
relax. In this state of mind we are highly susceptible to suggestibility. That is why certain
behaviors are associated with exposure to media. Besides, we seem to acquire certain behaviors
more willingly, when exposed to the striking media contents, as evidenced from the experiment,
conducted by Elaine Surbeck and Richard C. Endsley, in which the children’s heart rate was
measured while watching the episodes with violent scenes. During violent episodes, the heart
rate was reported to drop significantly, which is indicative of increased attentiveness.
Furthermore, the realistic portrayal of violent scenes results in high level of fear, depending on
the degree of identification with on-screen characters (Surbeck & Endsley 279).
As stated in the Media Violence by the Committee on Public Education, “the more
realistically violence is portrayed, the greater the likelihood that it will be tolerated and learned”
(1223), which I disagree with, considering the fear factor. In my opinion, realism may influence
role expectations and provide stereotypes rather than cause immediate adoption. Fear, in its turn,
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may result in depression and nightmares. Yet, when viewers are exposed to media violence
repeatedly, it may lead to desensitization to both on-screen and real violence (McLellan 502).
What really results in easy adoption, to my mind, is decreasing fear by means of introducing the
aspects of attractiveness, without portraying the consequences of the violence, and reducing
realistic characteristics, as was shown in the above-mentioned Surbeck and Endsley’s
experiment. It confirmed the prediction that children would be less frightened by violent puppet
characters than by violent human characters. In addition, in comparison to the older children, the
younger children were more strongly influenced by the order of the episodes’ exposure,
underrating the scariness of the episode with human characters, which followed the puppet
episode, and overrating the scariness of puppet episode, which followed the one with humans
(Surbeck & Endsley 278). Another perfect environment for learning violence is video games, in
which the player is placed in the role of the aggressor and is rewarded for successful violent
behavior (qtd. in Committee on Public Education 1224). It makes the young people addicted to
the games because of the desire of being awarded, participate actively, and choose between script
levels.
Thus, the mechanisms of influence of depicted contents upon human emotional centers
become quite obvious. Stereotypes of role expectations lead to the distorted vision of the world,
resulting in personal disjunction, which, in its turn, causes emotional incongruity. Attractiveness
and positive associations bring about immediate imitation and adoption. Much of interpersonal
violence is portrayed in an entertaining or glamorized manner as a justified way to resolve
conflicts (qtd. in Committee on Public Education 1222). The removal of realistic attributes,
which can be identified with, reduces the fear factor in children, and causes habituation and
indifference.
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As for resistance to influence of media on children’s behavior, the specialists, who deal
with this issue, are unison in the opinion that exposure to media violence should be reduced.
American Academy of Pediatrics recommends sports, creative pursuits, interactive plays, and
reading as healthy alternatives. The sooner the better, I would add, for the right priorities should
be learned from early childhood. The Academy also encourages parents to make thoughtful
media choices, co-view them with children, and keep children’s bedrooms media free.
Pediatricians should teach media literacy to parents, schools, and communities by means of
explaining them the mechanisms of media work and its consequences (Committee on Public
Education 1224). I am fully convinced that schools should educate both parents and children to
differentiate between the contents with a moral sense load and the destructive visceral media
contents. I also totally agree that “it is not violence itself but the context in which it is portrayed
that can make the difference between learning about violence and learning to be violent” (qtd. in
Committee on Public Education 1223). For example, the film Saving Private Ryan presents
violence as the evil, leading to suffering and pain, and lets the viewers vicariously experience its
outcomes and learn the danger of violence in this way. But unfortunately, the most part of media
violence does not portray the human cost and is aimed to cause immediate visceral thrills
(Committee on Public Education 1223).
In this context, Cecilia von Feilitzen’s position stands out a bit against general views. She
believes that there is the tendency to oversimplify a complex problem, and that too much
attention is paid to the causal relations between exposure to media and violence in society, while
there are other important influences to be carefully considered. She argues that despite the
proved contribution of media violence to aggression, statistical studies can explain only 5-10
percent of children’s aggression, and that the most important influences, that contribute to 90-95
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percent of aggression, are family, schools, personality, and society (McLellan 502). Anderson et
al. also believes that parental interventions are the most effective in reducing the negative
influence of media (105). However, the results of the research, conducted by Hassan, Osman,
and Azarian, indicated that parental involvement with their children’s movie viewing is
relatively limited (142). Ridvan Senturk emphasizes the importance to encourage parents to
contribute to the shaping of the meanings of the concepts of fear, anxiety and violence by means
of discussing the social effects of the media contents. He also calls for schools to ensure the
development of analysis skills and include both parents and children in the educational programs
(1131). Faith McLellan suggests the creation of media-education curricula for schools to
encourage children to not only criticize programs, but also to participate in making them, thereby
acting as critical media consumers (502).
What can be done on the state level is illustrated with the countermeasures, taken by the
Israeli parliament. The heightened public concern there resulted in the broadcasting shutdown of
the above-mention WWF show by one of the channels. Another one moved the show to a later
hour (McLellan 502). In addition, there are age rating systems of the contents classification,
introduced by TV channels worldwide. For instance, the US Federal Communications
Commission provides the following rating system of films classification: TV-Y (appropriate for
all children); TV-Y7 (for children age 7 and above); TV-G (general audience); TV-PG (parental
guidance suggested; may be unsuitable for younger children); TV-14 (parents strongly
cautioned; unsuitable for children under 14 years of age); TV-MA (mature audience only;
unsuitable for children under 17) (The TV Parental Guidelines). Still, these ratings are
considered by many parents to be unreliably low, and evaluated as such that do not correspond to
real moral demands. For instance, parents regard 50 percent of TV shows, rated TV-14, to be
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inappropriate for their teenagers. Besides, each medium (television, movies, music, and video
games) has its own rating system and does not coincide with one another, which is quite
confusing. This situation is claimed to result from the fact that the ratings are determined by
industry-sponsored rating boards (qtd. in Committee on Public Education 1223). It also seems
naïve to me to expect that the media can regulate themselves and restrict what they show
(McLellan 502), because it is not in media corporations’ interest.
It is rather curious that with all these strategies and recommendations the only way to
easily solve the problem seems to be the most difficult of all. This way is just to press the “off”
button. Watching TV is a bad habit, like any other addiction. Just like we get out of any bad habit
by not doing it, we can get out of TV addiction by not watching it. But this choice requires the
high level of awareness and strong will. As soon as a person looses the ability to choose
independently, imposed pleasures gain the upper hand, preventing him or her to evaluate reality
objectively. Such people get hooked by harmful habits quickly. And it is useless to find comfort
in the illusion that TV is turned on for the background effect. Information is learned
unconsciously anyway.
To counteract the negative effects of media exposure on children, it is necessary to join
parental, public, and governmental efforts. But whatever the state does to prohibit specific media
contents, if parents do not pay considerable attention to their children and do not create friendly
atmosphere in their families, restrictions will not work. Many parents do not take an interest in
what their children are busy with, though it can result not from the lack of interest, but from the
lack of knowledge. That is why it is so important that parents inspire children with their own
example, for if a parent is a moral authority, the child will not be attracted by forbidden things.
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So, in an attempt to urge the community to take a closer look at the problem, this paper
appeals to schools to ensure the development of necessary skills so that children learn to
differentiate between various media contents in terms of the message they communicate. This
can be done through the development of critical thinking towards getting information from the
outside, joint discussions of the negative influence of mass media in order to acquire necessary
analyzing skills. In these discussions not only teachers and children should participate, but also
parents, community members, city councilors, and of course the experts on the subject. The
psychologists and other specialists should be engaged to develop the knowledge of basic
psychological principles, so that everyone has the idea how the mechanisms of influence work.
The paper also appeals to governments to do their best to suspend the flow of
inappropriate media information on the state level by introducing the necessary legislative
measures to regulate the activity of TV channels, and to monitor schools for effective
educational programs on the issue. The owners of TV channels should carefully reconsider the
rating systems they provide. Besides, media officials should participate actively in these
educational programs too, for they also need to see the clear picture of what they do. Direct close
collaboration with the consumers will teach them to take more responsibility for the quality of
the contents they offer. After all, they are parents too and should be guided not only by
mercenary motives.
Finally, the most urgent call is made for parents. The paper appeals to them in the first
place to regard media as one of the various influences that the person is exposed to from early
childhood. So, to effectively prevent their children from the nasty consequences of parental
neglect, it is strongly recommended to reduce the time of children’s exposure to media. Some
better alternatives should be offered instead. These alternatives should require children’s active
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participation, develop cognitive skills, and have educational value. Parents should develop the
child’s personality by teaching the right priorities and making thoughtful media choices. Be an
example for your children, forget about TV yourself, replace the screen with your reach
personality, and stop relying on the outside authority in your child rearing, for if TV is an
authority for you, what do you expect from your children then?
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Works Cited
Anderson, Craig, et al. “The Influence of Media Violence on Youth”. Psychological Science in
the Public Interest 4.3 (2003): 81-110. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 January
2012.
Committee on Public Education. “Media Violence” Pediatrics 108.5 (2001): 1222-1226.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 January 2012.
Federal Communications Commission . “The TV Parental Guidelines.” FCC V-chip. Federal
Communications Commission, 8 July 2003. Web. 1 March 2012.
Hassan, Md, Mohd Osman, and Zoheir Azarian. “Effects of Watching Violence Movies on the
Attitudes Concerning Aggression among Middle Schoolboys (13-17 years old) at
International Schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.” European Journal of Scientific
Research 38.1 (2009): 141-156. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 January 2012.
McLennan, Faith. “Do violent Movies Make Violent Children?” Lancet 359.9305 (2002): 502.
Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 January 2012.
Senturk, Ridvan. “Anxiety and Fear in Children’s Films.” Educational Sciences: Theory &
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Siegel, Alberta. “The Influence of Violence in The Mass Media upon Children’s Role
Expectations.” Child Development 29.1 (1958): 35-65. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 31 January 2012.
Surbeck, Elaine, and Richard C. Endsley. “Children’s Emotional Reactions to TV Violence:
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