Abbott, W. (1994, June). "To reduce TV violence." Christian Social Action, pp. 4-7.

OVERVIEW

Findings over the last 20 years by three different Surgeons General, the Attorney General’s Task Force on Family Violence, the American Medical Association, the National Institute of Mental Health, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and other medical authorities indicate that televised violence is harmful to all of us, particularly to the mental health of children.

There is a severe behaviorial impact of televised violence. Millions of children today are looking to television and films for role models and value systems to form their understanding of their world. Many of these same children watch violent programming without adult supervision, making them even more susceptible to the values portrayed on the screen.

In April 1992, TV Guide commissioned a study on the content of contemporary television programming. Channels studied included local affiliates of ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS, WTBS, the USA Network, MTV, and HBO. The TV Guide study concluded that violence remains a pervasive, major component of contemporary television programming, and it’s coming from more sources and in greater volume than ever before.

Abbott points to three methods which have been used extensively to demonstrate a causal relationship between television violence and real life violence. Field studies, laboratory experiments, and longitudinal studies have concluded that children who watch aggressive behavior on television tend to imitate it. In fact, television viewing patterns were a better predictor of later aggression than social class, parents’ behavior, child rearing practices, and many other measured variables.

Abbott proposes several guidelines in regard to dramatized TV violence: do not telecast programming containing an excessive amount of dramatized violence between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m; provide explicit viewer advisories for high frequency violence programs between the above hours; develop a standard scheme for classifying television programming; educate and inform children about the harmful effects of violence; and educate and inform viewers about the harmful effects of exposure to television violence.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION

1. How have you witnessed television violence affect adolescent behavior?
2. How often do you watch television? To what extent are the shows you view violent?
3. What suggestions do you have for reducing television violence?
4. Do you believe that voicing your opinion to state or federal leaders will make a difference? Is it the government’s responsibility to monitor television violence?
5. In your mind, is television violence an important enough issue to fight for?

IMPLICATIONS

1. Television violence demands a response.
2. Young people need to understand the effects and persuasiveness of television violence.
3. Parents and families need to monitor their children’s viewing habits. Youth workers have a potentially strong impact, both on parents and on the students themselves.

Jennifer E. Kemp cCYS