What Happens If a Kid Watches Violent Shows?
If you haven't yet heard that too much television in general is bad for kids, here it is: Too much time spent in front of a screen can hinder brain development, make kids less social and discourage them from being physically active, advises the Kids Health website. That's any television program, not even factoring in the ill effects of violence. When it comes to violence on television, movies, video games or anything else with a screen, try to minimize the amount of exposure your children get, and be on the lookout for some telltale signs that they're seeing too much.
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Exposure
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In a hearing with the the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in 2007, National Television Violence Study researcher Dale Kunkel, Ph.D., gave this frightening figure -- of 10,000 television programs examined in the study, about 60 percent contained violence. Half of those involved deadly violence, and about 23 percent of them involved a gun. According to Kunkel, the harmful effects of television violence can be separated into three categories: Learning aggressive behaviors, desensitization toward victims of violence and increased fear of violence.
Violent Behavior
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The first one is perhaps the most obvious -- when kids see violent behaviors, they're more likely to participate in violence or show aggressive behavior. Those behaviors might include hitting other kids, breaking toys or household items or being mean to animals. Another thing to keep in mind is that kids under the age of 8 can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy, reminds the University of Michigan Health System website.
Desensitization and Fear
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Another alarming behavior you might see is desensitization to violence. This might mean your child is more callous about the feelings or pain of others -- not ideal in itself -- but it also has another effect, says Kunkel. In television and movies, characters are often doing things that would seriously injure a person in real life. When kids are unable to tell the difference between reality and fantasy, they may imagine it's really possible to jump off a roof or out of a moving train without getting hurt. Kunkel calls this the "sanitized and glamorized" version of events. Some violent acts are even portrayed as humorous. If you find that your child is overly fearful, has nightmares or shows signs of paranoia, it could also be a sign of exposure to violence on television.
What to Do
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The most obvious thing parents can do to avoid the effects of television violence is to shut off the television and media devices altogether -- though if you have children who are accustomed to watching television, that might be a tall order. Instead, try to keep tabs on what your kids are watching. Always check out at least one episode of any new television program they're watching to get a feel for the level of violence, and pay attention to the television ratings shown at the beginning of the show. A "V" in the ratings stands for violence, and "FV" stands for fantasy violence. If you see violence while watching with your kids, speak up and let them know that what they're seeing is unrealistic and that a real person would have been badly hurt in a similar situation, suggests the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
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