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Media Violence And Its Effect On Children?

Kids at a younger age are very easily influenced from their surrounding environments as they learn from observation. In todays time the amount of violence shown on television is higher than ever and so is violence in the real world. These violent encounters by a child through their television screen can either scare them, or ignite the need to replicate or imitate the behaviour causing the child to show violent characteristics. Further, due to symptoms of aggression and anxiety, kids may also have trouble sleeping and have nightmares.

Kids at the age of seven or eight start to learn the concept of reality and fantasy and are better able to differentiate between the two. You may have seen your young one laughing watching someone get hurt in a cartoon as kid at this age understand the concept of special effect etc. But they are still not old enough to handle realistic depiction of violence.

Another source of media violence can be video games or internet sources such a videos on youtube etc. Recent researches have demonstrated that associations between children playing violent video games can cause later aggressive behavioural problems. In retrospect studies have additionally shown a twelve percent increase in aggressive behaviour after viewing violent television as well. Research has likewise shown overwhelming viewers, which is five or more hours a day, put in less effort at school, have poorer reading skills, play less friendly with friends, have fewer hobbies and activities, and are more prone to be overweight.

The Surgeon General's Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior was formed in 1969 to assess the impact of violence on the attitudes, values and behavior of viewers. The resulting report and a follow-up report in 1982 by the National Institute of Mental Health identified these major effects of seeing violence on television:

    •        Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others.

    •        Children may be more fearful of the world around them.

    •        Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.

You can prevent all these undesirable behaviour changes in your child by keeping the following tips in mind:

   •       TV diet: just as you limit their junk food intake you may also restrict their TV time and put them on a so as to say “TV diet”
   •       Make sure there is satisfactory time and a peaceful place to talk after an upsetting broadcast.
  •     You may use the ratings system, which provides information about the violent content of a TV program and prevent child from watching shows you know are violent.
  •     Make sure other parents and caregivers with whom your child spends time are on the same page and if thats not an option or always something you can control then you may try out this next step:-
  •    Talk it out: You're not always going to be able to control what your kid sees at a friend's house. The solution key to kids seeing something they shouldn't is to use it as a teaching moment. Say, 'How did they resolve it? What were the consequences of how they behaved? Was there another way they could have acted?' You need to get kids to understand that conflicts can be resolved without violence.
 •        Enforce balance: Many children have a hard time tearing themselves away from the gaming console, parents can help by providing the child with a different set of activity by enrolling them in dance classes or music classes etc to keep them from spending too much time on Gaming and TV.
 •        Involve the older sibling in the process: Older children sometimes like to be enlisted in helping to protect a younger sibling from scary or violent media, especially once they learn that even something that seems fun to them might cause nightmares in someone younger.
 •      Look for signs the news may have triggered fears or anxieties, including sleeplessness, night terrors, bedwetting, crying, or talking about being afraid.

Parents who are facing difficulties with kids who are showing signs of the talked about behavioural changes need to understand that these changes are not always long lasting and they can seek help of a child specialist/counsellor to help them help their child overcome these unwanted behaviour. All we can do as parents is pay attention to our children and stay involved in their lives before it is too late. Raising a child is hard enough in this day and age but you add all the outside media violence and it makes it ten times harder to steer your child in the right direction.

Please note: The opinions expressed in this post are the personal views of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of mycity4kids. Any omissions or errors are the author's and mycity4kids does not assume any liability or responsibility for them.