The Impact of Television on Children.
The Impact of Television on Children- Can television have an influence on children’s aggression and prosocial behaviour?
The effects of television on children is a subject which touches almost everyone in the western world. Everytime something new and different appears on our television screens it is questioned by the powers which protect our children from unsuitable material on the small screen. For the past 50 years television and its effects on children have been scrutinised by research from all over the world. In this essay I will attempt to breakdown this research and find out whether or not television has an influence on children’s aggression and prosocial behaviour. I will look at how different programs affect children in different ways (i.e programs with violence as a main theme and programs with little or no violence in them) and the theory that it is what the child brings to the television that’s important rather than what he/she sees on the screen. However, I am not suggesting that violent television programs automatically make their viewers violent, as this is an extremely incorrect view. There are several different theories with regards violence in children and its relationship to television and in this essay I will attempt to bring them all together and draw one conclusive theory which reflects all the evidence I have gathered.
Television has come a long way in a relatively short space of time. From the days of black and white box sets to the now high definition plasma tvs, it is an ever evolving industry. But not only has the shape and quality of the tv set itself changed but the content being screened has also evolved. We’ve seen blockbuster films from years back like Godzilla and King Kong, which were made with puppet monsters, remade using new computer generated technology so that the monsters look realistic and believable. Advances in technology have made television much more attractive to everyone, especially children. Children have always
The effects of television on children is a subject which touches almost everyone in the western world. Everytime something new and different appears on our television screens it is questioned by the powers which protect our children from unsuitable material on the small screen. For the past 50 years television and its effects on children have been scrutinised by research from all over the world. In this essay I will attempt to breakdown this research and find out whether or not television has an influence on children’s aggression and prosocial behaviour. I will look at how different programs affect children in different ways (i.e programs with violence as a main theme and programs with little or no violence in them) and the theory that it is what the child brings to the television that’s important rather than what he/she sees on the screen. However, I am not suggesting that violent television programs automatically make their viewers violent, as this is an extremely incorrect view. There are several different theories with regards violence in children and its relationship to television and in this essay I will attempt to bring them all together and draw one conclusive theory which reflects all the evidence I have gathered.
Television has come a long way in a relatively short space of time. From the days of black and white box sets to the now high definition plasma tvs, it is an ever evolving industry. But not only has the shape and quality of the tv set itself changed but the content being screened has also evolved. We’ve seen blockbuster films from years back like Godzilla and King Kong, which were made with puppet monsters, remade using new computer generated technology so that the monsters look realistic and believable. Advances in technology have made television much more attractive to everyone, especially children. Children have always
References: * Buckingham, D (2002). Small Screens, Television for Children. London, Leicester University Press. * Byrne, E & Mc Quillan, M (1999). Deconstructing Disney. London, Pluto Press * Halloran, J.D (1971). The Effects of Mass Communication, With Reference to Television. Leicester, Leicester University Press. * Hetherington, E.M & Parke, R.D (1986). Child Psychology, A Contemporary Viewpoint Third Edition. United States of America, Mc Graw-Hill inc. * Messenger Davies, Dr M. (1989). Television is Good for Your Kids. London, Hilary Shipman Limited.