Essay, Research Paper: Aggression And Its Effects On Children

A child is watching his favorite cartoon, Mighty Morphine Power Rangers. After the show is over the child jumps up and runs around in a state of bliss hitting things the way that his favorite character did. This scene is all too well known to parents. The question that arises is, "Does aggressive or violent television cause a person, mainly children, to act in a aggressive way?" Well research has shown that the answer to this question is yes.
During the time that children watch television there is an enormous amount of violence shown. The article, "Is Violent Television Destroying Our Children" gave the amount of violent acts shown on a randomly chosen day. The statistics were, "2,605 violent acts were shown on Thursday, April 7, 1995, on a Washington, D.C home wired for cable"¦. 566 of those acts were shown between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m.- the most prime time that children are watching [Kolbert D20]".(Marqette p.1) This is an alarming thought. If it is true that violence on television leads to aggressive behavior, then children are prime suspects for becoming aggressive.
Bandura did a study on the effects of aggressive behavior being displayed to children. What he did was to have the children watch a grown man kick a beat a BoBo doll. Then the children were agitated by not being able to play with toys that they liked. After they were mildly upset, they were brought into a room with a BoBo doll and allowed to play with it. The other group of children where not exasperated as the others were. The children who were made to be slightly upset, and watched the person beat the BoBo doll, acted more aggressive towards the doll. They even went to the extent to hit it and say the same thing as the grown-up did. This is just one of the studies done to prove that hostile behavior is learned by others (this includes from others on television).
Another study was done by Huesmann and Eron. They studied 758 children that were in the first grade to the third grade. They found not only that television had a vast impact on children, but when children watched violent shows, they displayed more aggressive attitudes. They also founded that, ""¦about 95% of the violent behavior was exhibited by these young children, was from boys." (Booth). Another study conducted by George Gerbner, Ph.D showed, "The children who watched the violent shows were more likely to strike, argue, and disobey authorities than those who did not watch violent television." (Booth). It also mentioned that when the child gets older he is more likely to engage in deviant behavior.
Evidently there is a positive correlation between television and aggression, it is important to say what people say are the negative effects. They are:

1. learning aggressive attitudes and behaviors;
2. Emotional desensitization toward real world violence
3. Increased fear of being victimized by violence, resulting in
self- protective behaviors and mistrust of others. (Mediascope, p1.)
These effects can be very detrimental to a child and can result in the "mean world" syndrome. This is the person believes that the world is as scary and dangerous as it is presented on television. This can result in a person who is paranoid of what might happen to them. They become, "increasingly suspicious and apprehensive." (Menninger,p2). These are mainly just the short term effects, but there have also been studies concerning long-term effects.
Roy W. Menninger, MD, mentions the study that evaluated eight, eight-teen, and thirty year olds. The survey concluded that young children that watched a lot of violent shows were more likely to commit acts that included aggressive behavior by the time they were eight-teen. By the time they turned thirty, the study showed that many times they had been arrested for aggressive behavior.
Who is to blame for teaching these children to act in such intense ways? Well may people blame it on the media. The media is what allows for aggressive news and shows to be talked about or shown. The media applies more to the people with a greater understand of the news or a movie. Every where a person looks there is some type of violence. Almost every channel will have some sort of aggression on it. It is interesting that the crime rate has actually gone down in the past few years, but the media imbues this fear inside people just by using the news. All that is scene on the news is the horrendous acts that were committed during the day. Not only do they show the viewer what happened in their immediate area, state, or country, but they tell us about what are going on across the world. No wonder people see all this violence and feel aggressive after watching the news or any other movie or show that presents violence. People thrive on seeing murder cases or horror flicks, why is this? It is a question that is for another time.
How can aggressive behavior be prevented? If at an early age children are taught to deal with conflict in a way that does not involve violence then there is more of a chance to decrease aggression. Parents should monitor what a child watch and make sure that aggressive behavior is not displayed. Have the child understand why aggressive behavior is used when it is shown to them, and explain why it is wrong for violence to be used. Another recommendation is to watch what video games the child is playing. Video games can show aggression and violence in them and the child will likely imitate it.
In the world today it is very difficult if not impossible to shield a child from the aggression displayed by everyday life. It is possible to become a model for the child. If the parent shows the child that aggression does not need to be used then the child will use this as his way of life. A parent can only do so much to teach the child and keep him from watching shows that have violence in them, but that may be enough to put the child in the right direction. If a parent finds that they cannot control their child's aggression then it is important to seek help from a psychiatrist or a psychologist.