Effects of Media Violence on Children
The Effect of Media Violence on Children and Levels of Aggression.
It has been said that children are like sponges when it comes to attaining knowledge. This seems to be true whether they are learning to speak or how to show emotion. Feelings and emotions become more imminent once children begin to go through adolescents. Children acquire the ability to aggression, sadness, and happiness more readily. Males typically exhibit higher levels of aggression then females according to some research. Within the realm of learning children imitate what they see constantly, whether it be through TV, magazines ,movies, or radio. Media plays a strong role on how children act to different situations that they may have seen. Sometimes the behaviors shown are very aggressive and children believe that is the way to solve the problem with the situation they are in. Behaviors of aggression could strongly affect the way children grow up.
In a study done by L. Rowell Huesmann et al. (1992) , a longitudinal experiment was perform to see if violence in the media had a lasting affect in children through their teenage years. The experiment involved two separate session ,one began in 1977 and the other in 1992 15 years later when the children became adults. In the first test session children were asked to choose their favorite programs from 8 different lists with ten programs on each list. Each list included very violent programs and non- violent programs. Then the children were asked of the shows chosen how often they had watched them using the different amounts including; every time it's on," "a lot, but not always," or "once in a while.". To make sure that programs on the list would definitely appeal to the children, Huesmann used the Nielsen ratings to pick the top rated shows for 6 to 11 year olds. The experimenters then coded the shows according to a scale of 1-5(non-violent to violent). The overall aggression score was computed by how often the children watch the show
It has been said that children are like sponges when it comes to attaining knowledge. This seems to be true whether they are learning to speak or how to show emotion. Feelings and emotions become more imminent once children begin to go through adolescents. Children acquire the ability to aggression, sadness, and happiness more readily. Males typically exhibit higher levels of aggression then females according to some research. Within the realm of learning children imitate what they see constantly, whether it be through TV, magazines ,movies, or radio. Media plays a strong role on how children act to different situations that they may have seen. Sometimes the behaviors shown are very aggressive and children believe that is the way to solve the problem with the situation they are in. Behaviors of aggression could strongly affect the way children grow up.
In a study done by L. Rowell Huesmann et al. (1992) , a longitudinal experiment was perform to see if violence in the media had a lasting affect in children through their teenage years. The experiment involved two separate session ,one began in 1977 and the other in 1992 15 years later when the children became adults. In the first test session children were asked to choose their favorite programs from 8 different lists with ten programs on each list. Each list included very violent programs and non- violent programs. Then the children were asked of the shows chosen how often they had watched them using the different amounts including; every time it's on," "a lot, but not always," or "once in a while.". To make sure that programs on the list would definitely appeal to the children, Huesmann used the Nielsen ratings to pick the top rated shows for 6 to 11 year olds. The experimenters then coded the shows according to a scale of 1-5(non-violent to violent). The overall aggression score was computed by how often the children watch the show