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PROPOSAL ON EFFECTS OF VIEWING TV VIOLENCE ON SCHOOL CHILDREN.
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Need for study. Hypotheses, theory, definitions, assumptions, limitations. Overview of the issue.... More...
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Paper Abstract:
Need for study. Hypotheses, theory, definitions, assumptions, limitations. Overview of the issue.
Paper Introduction:
The Effects of Viewing Television Violence on School Children
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Need for the Study
Shelton (1998) commented that a results of the National television Violence Study confirmed the worst fears of the American Medical Association (AMA) and other public health and
other children's advocates in that [prime time TV violence has been seen as increasingly on both broadcast and cable networks. The study found that much of the aggression that appears no television is glamorized, sanitized, and trivialized. About 60 percent of all entertainment programming was found to contain some type and level of violence, a figure that has remained constant over the past three years (Federman, 1996, 1997, 19980).
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Bar-on (1999), as well as Uberos, Gomez, Munoz,Molina, Galdo, and Perez (1998), have argued that such a correlation and/orassociative linkage has been identified by numerous studies. Secondly, the study is limited in that it will employ self-reportmeasures obtained from subjects to determine how many hours of televisionare viewed each day and which programs are frequently watched. Third, the study is limited in that the instrumentation to beemployed will be developed by the researcher. National Television Violence Study.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Coleman, J.A. National Television Violence Study.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. About 6 percent of all entertainment programming wasfound to contain some type and level of violence, a figure that hasremained constant over the past three years (Federman, 1996, 1997, 1998 ). Children,adolescents, and the media: Issues and Solutions. Shelton (1998) further states that about 9 percent of programming on cable services such as Cinemax, Showtime and HBO,depicts violence. Assumptions Several key assumptions underpin the present study. Viewing violence as acceptable may foster a propensity forreal-life violence, and children exposed to TV violence have a higher tendency for violent and aggressive behavior in later life than children whose TV viewing is censored. The Nationaltelevision violence Study, a longitudinal study that examined nearly 1 , hours of television programming over a three year period, further foundthat attractive role models are the aggressors in more than 8 percent ofviolent music videos (Federman, 1996, 1997, 1998). Similarly, Dorman(2 ) reported that the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAA) has asked itsmembers to work with patients and their families to understand how imagesand messages in the mass media affect the health and well-being of childrenand adolescents. . The Effects of Viewing Television Violence on School Children CHAPTER I INTRODUCTIONNeed for the Study Shelton (1998) commented that a results of the National televisionViolence Study confirmed the worst fears of the American MedicalAssociation (AMA) and other public health andother children's advocates in that [prime time TV violence has been seen asincreasingly on both broadcast and cable networks. Although not all children exposed tomedia violence become aggressive, most studies reveal a strong correlationbetween television violence and aggressive behavior. Reinforcement of violent behaviorsor abusive attitudes through mass media, says Coleman (199 ), can leadchildren and adolescents to become acculturated to and imitative of suchbehaviors or attitudes. . They found that whilemost children in their sample (consisting of 156 Italian children ofnursery school age) watched television for three to four hours per day - afigure replicated in the United States by Bar-on (1999) as well asStrassburger and Donnerstein (1999) - parents who reported "editing"children's program choices also had fewer concerns or complaints aboutviolent or aggressive behaviors than did parents who did not edit programselection. The study found thatmuch of the aggression that appears no television is glamorized, sanitized,and trivialized. Finally, Chapter Fivewill contain a full discussion of the results of this study, a summary ofthe paper, recommendations for future research, and final conclusions. Previous testing forinstrument reliability and validity will not be possible. It is accordinglyassumed herein that participants in the empirical portion of the researchwill be accurate and truthful in their responses to the instrumentation tobe employed. Cartoon violence, which is endemicin children's programming, has the potential to seem realistic to childrenyounger than 7 because they cannot easily differentiate between reality andfantasy, thus posing a special concern (Shelton, 1998). Media exert a significantdisplacement effect, in which alternative activities (athletics, socialplay, reading and school work, etc.) are sacrificed to television viewingand other forms of electronic entertainment. By the time a child is 18 years old, he or she willhave seen 16, murders on the screen and heard some 14, sexualreferences and innuendos (Bar-on, 1999). (1998). Clinical Reference Systems, Nov. Entertainment violence feeds a perception that the world is a violent and mean place, and that survival and/or success necessitates violence. American Medical News, 41 (17), 9. (1998). Similarcomments have been advanced by Stapleton (2 ), who believes that theeffects of "virtual violence" are long-lasting and measurable. Howyoung children spend their time: Television and other activities.Developmental Psychology, 35 (4), 912. American children watch an average of 3 to 4 hours of televisiondaily, and it has long been recognized that television can be a powerfulinfluence in developing value systems and shaping behavior (Children and TVViolence, 1999). The BrownUniversity Child and Adolescent Behavior Letter, 12(1 ), 6. (1996). Studies that include self-reported data regardingbehavior and/or attitudes must be carefully scrutinized to ensure accuracy,reliability and validity of responses (Coleman, 199 ). This willlimit generalization of results to a larger population, but will permit theresearcher to make selected observations as to how the sample populationdoes or does not represent the larger population. More prime-time violence on broadcast and cablenetworks. Chapter Two will be amore thorough review of the literature discussed in this chapter. Finally, the study will proceed with instrumentation that relies uponchildren's self-reports. Uberos, et al (1998), examined the potential relationship betweenviolent television programming and children's injuries. Coleman (199 ), in a discussion of the impact of repeated exposure toviolence on young children, has argued that from the psychologicalperspective, children absorb messages about adult behavior from suchimages. Males are more generally attracted to intrinsically violentprograms, while females are less likely to demand such programs. Uberos, D.J., Gomez, A., Munoz, A., Molina, A., Galdo, G., and Perez,F.J. Stapleton (2 ) lists among the ill effects of TV violence thefollowing: . Unfortunately, a substantial portion of all"entertainment" programming on network and cable television contains sometype of violence. American Medical News, 43(3 ), 33-36. Huston, A.C., Wright, J.C., Marquis, A., and Green, S.B. Bullies see more of TV violence, less of adults. Huston, et al (1999), in a study of how young children spend theirleisure time, found that when parents control or restrict televisionviewing, children find alternative entertainment options. The research hasmoved therefore from asking whether or not there is an effect to seekingexplanations for the effect. (2 ). Viewing violence can lead to emotional desensitization toward violence in real life, even decreasing the likelihood thatone will take action on behalf of a victim. (1996). Fourth, itis assumed that despite efforts to create a "family hour" or a periodduring prime time television hours, many television programs that areregularly aired during the evening and weekend hours when school-agechildren are nevertheless likely to be watching television contain somelevel or type of violence (Shelton, 1998). Turning off the television. Despite theselimitations, the study has the potential to provide insight into thehypothesized correlation between daily hours of televisionviewing, selection of television programs, and in-school disciplinaryproblems manifested by subjects.Overview This paper will consist of four more chapters. Accuracy ofself-reports can be troublesome (Coleman, 199 ). Television and childhood injuries: Is there a connection?Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, 152(7), 712-715. Mostchildren and adolescents average between 16 and 17 hours of televisionviewing each week, beginning as early as age 2. Shelton, D.L. Bar-on (1999) stated that there are numerous empirical studies whichhave demonstrated a correlation between high rates of television viewingand aggressive and violent behavior, lower academic performance, andstereotyped behaviors in matters of sex, race and age. (1999). They found thatwhile watching TV for 3 to 4 hours a day may be associated with lessenedinvolvement in potentially injurious activities (i.e., sports, rough play),there is no valid way at the present time to determine how children arepsychologically and emotionally impacted by exposure to repeated acts ofviolence on TV. The Brown University Child and Adolescent Letter (1996) reported theresults of a study by the Center for Adolescent Studies at IndianaUniversity which asked a sample of 558 sixth through eighth graders at aMidwestern middle school about their own bullying behaviors. When violence, or otherwise abusive and damaging or destructivebehaviors are depicted as commonplace and as a sort of tacit norm, childrencan become acculturated to such images and incorporate such behaviors andattitudes into their own world view. Finally, Strasburger and Donnerstein (1999) have noted that aftermore than ten years of research, the consensus among most of the researchcommunity is that violence on television does facilitate the emergence ofaggressive behavior among viewers. Abnormal Psychology. (1999). Research suggests that the context in which violence isportrayed is an important factor in assessing its impact on children; whenthe violence is perpetrated by an attractive character, the chances areincreased that viewers will become desensitized to aggression or becomefearful of violence in their own world. References Bar-on, M.E. Evanston, IL:Scott, Foresman. Disciplinary Referrals or Incidents: In-school infractions of rules regarding on-campus and in-class physical and verbal conduct which result in a school-determined punish- ment.Other terms will be defined as needed in the text of the study. Federman, J. Pediatrics, 1 3(1), 129-142. Research shows that the media has a wide range ofinfluences, both positive and negative, in areas such as aggressivebehavior and violence, substance abuse and abuse, nutrition, obesity anddieting, sexuality, body image and self-concept. (199 ). Some 61 percent of all television programming contains violence, withchildren's programming being among the most violent. Valerio, et al (1997), studied the role of parental control orsupervision in shaping children's viewing patterns. (1999). Secondly, it is assumed that the purported association orcorrelation between television viewing and aggressive behavior in childrenis also valid (Huston, 1999). Given that young childrenare particularly vulnerable to images and messages (explicit and implicit)in the mass media in general and on television in particular, the AAA andother groups such as the National Education Association (NEA) and criminaljustice organizations are legitimately concerned with the impact of mediaviolence on the behavior and attitudes of young children, who often modeltheir own affective presentation of self on such images. ChapterThree will describe the research design, methodological approach, and dataanalysis plan for this study. Coleman (199 ) notes that children whowitness physical abuse of a parent, or are themselves victims of suchabuse, often model these behaviors later in life or perceived themselves asvictims of such violence (developing what is known as learned helplessnessin the face of maltreatment by others). Those whoreported the highest bullying behavior were almost likely to reportsignificantly greater levels of forceful parental discipline, viewing oftelevision violence, misconduct at home, school, and the community, andfighting. Violent programming has increased 14 percent on broadcast networksand 1 percent on cable. The use of television in 2- to 8-year old children and the attitudeof parents about such use. Children and TV violence. and Donnerstein, E. As much as 26 percentof all television violence involves the use of guns. Further, while watchingtelevision, young people view an estimated 1 , or more acts of violenceeach year. First, it islimited because a relatively small and potentially homogenous sample ofelementary school-age children will be asked to participate. (1997). Over 4, studies have beenpublished to date that measure the effects of TV violence on children (Bar-on, 1999), but debate over this topic continues to rage. Chapter Four will contain the results of theresearch carried out in accord with Chapter Three. Given thesubstantial body of scholarly research that has identified a linkagebetween excessive viewing of TV violence and emergent aggressive behaviors,the present study was developed to shed additional light on a topic ofgreat social concern.Purpose of the Study The purpose of the study is to examine the effects of viewingtelevision violence on a sample of elementary school children and todetermine if any correlation exists between such variables as amount oftime spent watching TV, type and content of programs that are watched, andschool-based disciplinary referrals for aggressive, assertive, orantisocial behaviors. . In essence, many psychologists,educators, and criminologists argue that extensive viewing of TV violenceby children is linked to greater aggressiveness; specifically, children whoregularly view TV programs in which violence is realistic, frequentlyrepeated, or unpunished are more likely to imitate what they see (Childrenand TV violence, 1999). British MedicalJournal, 318 (7191), 1152. Valerio, M., Amodio, P., Dal Zio, M., Vianello, A., and Zacchello, G.(1997). Though the findings do not necessarily represent a cause andeffect relationship, the study suggested that television images of violentbehavior tend to reinforce a child's own episodes or incidents of bullying. Limitations The present study is limited in several key areas. Children in the United States spend more time watching TV thanlearning in the classroom or interacting with positive, personal adult rolemodels (Bar-on, 1999). Media violence is harmful to kids - and topublic health. National Television Violence Study.Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. First, it isassumed that the national data on childrens' television viewing isgenerally accurate in depicting a 3 to 4 hour per day viewing pattern (Bar-on, 1999). Stapleton, S. Third, it is assumed that parents tend toexert some degree of control over what their children do and do not watchon television; it has been hypothesized elsewhere that parents in generaltend to edit children's program choices (Valerio, et al, 1997). 1,266. It is within this theoretical orientation that thepresent study proceeds.Definitions, Assumptions, Limitations Definitions Key definitions employed in the present study include: Excessive Television Viewing: TV viewing that encompasses 3 or 4 or more hours per day. Correspondingly,these researchers also commented that there are very real sex differencesin program selection when young boys' and girls' viewing choices arecompared. Parents also appear to be well aware that violent televisionimages can foster excessive and inappropriate aggressiveness in youngerchildren, and that children model their own behaviors and attitudes basedon television programming and images. Hundreds of studies of the effects of TV violence onchildren and teenagers have found that children may: 1) become immune tothe horror of violence through repeated viewing; 2) gradually acceptviolence as a way to resolve problems; 3) imitate the violence they see onTV; and 4) identify with certain characters, victims or victimizers(Huston, Wright, Marquis, & Green, 1999). Federman, J. Children who see a lot of violence are likely to regardviolence as an effective way of settling conflicts and as an acceptable behavior. It is,accordingly, the purpose of this study to assess the nature of such arelationship, if any.Hypothesis The research hypothesis to be tested in this study is stated asfollows: Children who watch more than 3 to 4 hours of television daily, and who regularly are exposed to inherently violent television programming in which physical and/or verbal confrontations and actions are commonplace, will be more likely than other peers to have received disciplinary referrals for aggressive, assertive, or antisocial behavior in their schools.The critical variables in this study are: 1) hours watching TV daily,measured as less than 3 or more than 3 hours daily; 2) violent televisionprogramming, which consists of entertainment programs that usually andgraphically depict physical, emotional, sexual, or psychological and verbalviolence directed against others; and 3) in-school disciplinary referralsor incidents in which a child employs aggressive, assertive, or antisocialbehaviors directed against others, including both peers and adults (Bar-on,1999; Uberos, et al, 1998; Valerio, Amodio, Dal Zio, Vianello, & Zacchello,1997).Theory Strasburger and Donnerstein (1999) have commented that television andother media represent one of the most important and under recognizedinfluences on children and adolescents' health behavior today. Federman, J. Strasburger, V.C. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine,151 (1), 22 - 27.----------------------- 12 Television Violence: Acts of physical, verbal or psychologicalaggression directed against another; includes murder, physical attacks, sexual attacks or victimization, verbal abuse, etc. They argued that research is needed into how childrentranslate on-screen violence into their own affective presentation. Theresearchers also found an association between television viewing patternsand choices and expressions of tacit approval for or acceptance of violenceand abusive behavior directed against others. (1999). (1998).
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