RESEARCH:

The influence of TV on children

 

A fun way to spend time

Most TV viewers and computer game players have one thing in common. Whether they spend a lot or little time in front of the screen, when they do, they enjoy it. And that is clearly a positive influence of the media. Children, like adults, let themselves be maintained by what the screen has to offer: it relaxes, informs and provides entertainment. All kinds of films and series provide a lot of conviviality: watching TV together at home and talking about the exciting important things that you see. 

 

Easily influenced
Parents and teachers know very well that children are much more easily swayed by television and computer games than by a book. But television and computer can also make them restless or show more aggressive behaviour.. Children don't look at the television, the same way adults do. Sometimes the subtitles can go too fast for them, sometimes they can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy and sometimes they know too little about the big humanworld to place all the information correctly. 

 

Negative effects
Watching television is hard to combine with other leisure activities, such as reading or exercising. And if kids watch television, they don't play outside with their friends, they don't sleep or they don't help around the house. Also, sitting behind the screen till late isn't beneficial for the concentration at school. Every parent knows this, but it won't hurt to actually stop for a minute and really be aware of this. Other negative effects don't really have anything to do with how long they watch television, but more with what they see or play. According to scientists, the images that children get so see can really damage them. How big the impact of the violence is, depends mostly on the children and of how the media violence is shown. Media violence can have three types of effects; 1) anxious reactions, 2) to become dull/blunt, and 3) showing violent/aggressive behaviour

 

 

Afraid of the big wolf 

Most parents will agree that anxious reactions to violence images are worrying. A little fear is no problem, but sometimes it gets too serious for kids. Nightmares, not getting enough sleep or bed-wetting are common when kids are confronted with programmes or games that they aren't ready for. They might get nervous or anxious while watching or playing. The next day, they can play very rough or actually very silent. They are effects that are easily noticeable for every parent or teacher. According to a Dutch research, 7% of elementary school children is often so afraid of dreadful tv images, that they can still be bothered about it days after. When kids are afraid of something, it is because they can't really understand the images. They see fantasy as something real or they think that danger can be close to them. A lot of very young children think that the many things they see on TV are real or actually inside the device. For example, a toddler can be very upset by seeing a fight in a cartoon film. Older children can be scared by war images, famine in poor countries or by something simple, as unemployment. But also fake images like in horror films. They know that it is fake, but the music and technique can make it look very realistic. Especially images of situation that can be relatable for children. 

 

 

What's the harm?

When children often get to see violent images, it can cause them to get used to violence. Aggressive behaviour will be seen as just a tool to solve a problem. Besides, this effects doesn't only occur with children. Even adults start to mind aggressive behaviour less when they see it more often. 

Violence is not a game

When children describe media violence as normal, it also becomes normal to act violent when playing games with friends, for example. Scientific studies have shown that children indeed can be affected/influenced. The influence of media violence on aggression like, kicking, hitting, bullying and fighting, is fairly lage. The chance of children to act like this after seeing television violence is 1 in 10. This usually involves short term effects. Right after playing a video game of seeing a tv programme, children imitate the violent acties or are so exited that they 'forget' to be kind. 

 

 

What children are easily influenced?

Media violence doesn't effect all children. Some children are more easily influenced than others. Research shows that the influence of media violence is the biggest with: 

- Younger children (the violence and consequences are harder to understand)

- Guys (they arre less likely to get scared and have a bigger preference for violence and action)

- Children who enjoy violence (they can really put themselves in the hero role and accept the violence)

- Less skilled children (children who aren't doing so good at school and psychologically insecure children often have more issues with distancing themselves to violence).

 

 

By what programmes and games?

Research has shown that:

- Children take over violence easier or find it normal when the featured violence is realistic. That means when the children see it as serious and credible. If this is not the case, the chances of imitating violence is lower. 

- Violence has more effect when it's being used by heroes or characters that are portrayed as 'good'. Children don't easily agree with the bad guys in films. 

- There is a bigger chance of violence effects when the violence is being rewarded or if the painful consequences of the violence actions aren't being shown. TV programmaes that generate sympathy for the victims of violence, have the opposite effect. Children who see this are less aggressive and more prone to disapprove violence. 

- Violent programmes or games have more effect when a lot of action, image changes, loud noises and exciting images are present. This makes children become restless, making them forget their own limits/borders. 

 

Many TV shows, films and video games are as described above. And with most violent video games, the children play the hero that gets to use the violence to get to a higher level. As long as children know the difference between real and fake and understand that it's just a film or game, parents shouldn't be worried. But if children don't know these boundaries, parents must take these violent effects into account seriously. Luckily, parents can affect the effects of violent images. A critical remark every now and then when things are going that way, can prevent media effects. In addition, parents can keep an eye on the kind of toys that are being bought and give the example that also non-aggressive games and programmes exist. 

 

They know more

It has been said that there are no mysteries left for children because of TV, video games and internet. Nowadays, children know a lot more of what is going on in the world. However, that doesn't mean that children easily understand everything which they are faced with. Nor like seeing it. If it is really difficult, children tend to become less attracted to it. If parents watch TV with their children regularly, they will see that there are enough mysteries left for their children and that many programs, video games or sites can actually be a convenient tool to discover a lot of things. 

 

 

 

 

Sources 

 

https://www.nature.com/articles/0803455

https://www.kijkwijzer.nl/invloeden/page86.html

https://studymoose.com/influence-of-tv-on-children-essay