When thinking about emergent media and my concerns I may have about it, one comes extremely easy and that is the topic of children as a special audience to said emergent media. A proud big sister I am to a 6 and 8-year-old, I can’t help but wonder if they notice the violence or messages being taught to them through the television. Television is an ever-changing media vessel that continues to “emerge” into something greater with each technology advancement, or company pairing. I believe TV can successfully have an effect on children due to who owns the media they pay attention to the most. Furthermore, I will discuss the media effects TV violence has on children and why it matters who owns what they are watching.
I am not blind to how awesome and entertaining TV is, I know it is not all bad. However, I also believe I am old enough to understand that not everything on TV is real. I can fully know I should not just base my decisions off what I see or hear people doing on TV screens. I just can’t say the same for children, they simply don’t understand that difference that adults do. According to Michigan Medicine, “TV viewing among kids is at an eight-year high. On average, children aged 2-5 spend 32 hours a week in front of a TV- watching television, movies, and videos and using a game console. Kids ages 6-11 spend about 28 hours a week in front of the TV.” I think it goes without saying, that’s a lot of time in front of a TV. They’re bound to pick up some kind of learned behavior from it.
Most violent acts in film or television go unrecognized, often it is followed by humor or a laugh track to take the attention away from the violence and shifting it onto something funny. Also, it’s been a common theme in movies and television to glamorize violence. Typically, it promotes violence in a fun and exciting way but never shows the people committing the violence suffering any consequences. Or, in a different light- violence is often depicted as way for the “good” characters to solve their problems making the violence seem right. When you think about how many heroes or “good guys” children look up to on TV, it’s alarming to think they’re looking up to the idea of violence being okay. According to Babycentre, children under 8 cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality making them much more vulnerable to learning and carrying out the actions they observe and learn from television. After repeated exposure to this stuff, they’re bound to become desensitized to it, another extremely harmful effect.
The APA (American Psychology Association) released a 15 year-long study that shows childhood exposure to media violence predicts young adult aggressive behavior. The study claimed and proved, “Children’s viewing of violent TV shows, their identification with aggressive same-sex TV characters, and their perceptions that TV violence is realistic are all linked to later aggression as young adults, for both males and females. “The scientists first observed the children when they were ages 6-10. They identified what violent TV shows they watched, if they identified with the aggressive characters, and if they thought the violent scenes they were watching was real. Then, 15 years later scientists resurveyed these same people in their now early 20’s. They also interviewed the participants spouses/friends to ask about the participants frequency of aggressive behavior. These were the shocking results:
- “Men who were high TV-violence viewers as children were significantly more likely to have pushed, grabbed or shoved their spouses, to have responded to an insult by shoving a person, to have been convicted of a crime and to have committed a moving traffic violation. Such men, for example, had been convicted of crimes at over three times the rate of other men.”
- Women who were high TV-violence viewers as children were more likely to have thrown something at their spouses, to have responded to someone who made them mad by shoving, punching, beating or choking the person, to have committed some type of criminal act, and to have committed a moving traffic violation. Such women, for example, reported having punched, beaten or choked another adult at over four times the rate of other women.
I don’t provide those APA research results to cause worry, rather I provided the information to bring awareness because most parent’s think it wont effect their kid. A lot of parents believe they got it under control, or that their child is somehow above the influence that almost all other kids are under. In 2009, a statistic was released from KidsHealth stating “An average American child will see 200,000 violent acts and 16,000 murders on TV by age 18. “That statistic was over 11 years ago, can you imagine how much higher the numbers are now with our endless streaming platforms and entertainment opportunities?
Although who owns the media seems trivial given you’re in charge of your television remote, it is in fact crucial in terms of how your child has access to it. Many parents unknowingly mistaken Disney as a perfect platform for their children, downloading it to televisions, laptops, tablets, almost any piece of technology young kids know how to use these days. Although Disney typically is a better televised option for kids, and I used to agree, it just isn’t anymore. In Potter’s Issue 1: Media Ownership he explains how Disney took ownership of 21st Century Fox in late 2019, and quickly released “Disney+”. Disney+ opened up a portal of thousands of easily accessible contents that is more appropriate for an adult opposed to a child. Disney plus was designed and advertised for kids, but also includes plenty of other streaming options for children to get their hands on. Let alone, the nonchalant violent behavior they already see on the Disney Channel (for kids) shows specifically.
Although the effects of television violence on children may seem of concern to just parents, it should concern anyone who cares about children. I believe I’ve provided sufficient facts and research that support my opinion on violent effects television entails. It matters who owns the television shows your kids are watching because they single-handely allow that type of content to find its way in front of a childs eyes, and they’ll continue to keep buying out the next company to keep doing so. My discussion of Disney is in fact addressing the larger matter of TV when it comes to kids. I know there is not one single television company to blame for violent behavioral effects, but I feel like it’s important given Disney is one of the most widely watched by all children. Television clearly has effects on children, and I believe with the progression Television is seeing with technology this all will continue. Violence on TV is continuously portrayed as fun, casual, and funny…I don’t see that changing any time soon, so maybe we have to change viewing habits or become more aware.
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