Over the past years, violence has become one of the major issues in terms of adolescents’ behavior. Television and social media have become significant indicators of childhood violence. Researchers claim that the children who observe violent behavior on the TV are more exposed to violent behavior than those kids who do not have such access to the content (Huesmann et al., 2003). Moreover, according to the data, males are more exposed to violent behavior than females. The purpose of this paper is to define whether such data is exhaustive in terms of childhood violence, the rates of which is steadily rising over the past years.
According to the research held in five countries, children who watch violent TV programs can later show aggressive behavioral patterns in real life. The issue especially concerns boys who tend to be more influenced by the aggression showcasing. Although the conducted study seems to be a reliable source of information, there are still some factors requiring clarification. First of all, the study conduction in five countries intended to show the results considering various cultural and ethnic backgrounds. The primary purpose of this was to demonstrate how these factors encourage or discourage violent behavior among kids and adolescents.
For example, people who are ethnically predisposed to expressive behavior can show aggression due to their temper rather than to them being influenced by violence on TV. Such an approach is quite beneficial for estimating accurate data, but future researches should contain representatives of more cultures to develop more precise arguments on the topic.
For centuries, people have been living with the stigma that males are more exposed to aggression due to their biological predispositions. One of the goals of this study was to define whether early exposure to violence on TV was affecting more men than women. However, in the course of this study, it was estimated that males were more likely to express physical aggression towards others. Thus, people who believe physical acts are the only aggression exposures become confused and think that men are major conflict initiators.
However, another important aspect of aggression is its verbal or passive expression. Sometimes, passive aggression may be even more dangerous than a physical one, as it accumulates to such an extent that people become replete with hatred. In the course of this study, it was shown that females are more likely to show implicit acts of violence such as pressure or manipulation. Hence, the study failed to show that men are more predisposed to violent behavior, as it only concerns physical acts of violence. Being expressed differently, both males and females are exposed to aggression caused by external factors.
To conduct the study, the researchers had to accumulate much data concerning the children’s surroundings. Along with the data on TV programming and personal traits of the major antagonists in the show, they also collected information on the socio-cultural and socioeconomic status of the family and the intellectual capabilities of a child. In such a way, researchers could define how early exposure to TV violence influences children in symbiosis with other aspects. The data required for the second study within several years was also concerned the socioeconomic and intellectual characteristics of an individual. Hence, the research has shown quite an accurate result, but further studies should include more details to provide people and especially parents with accurate data.
Reference
Huesmann, L. R., Moise-Titus, J., Podolski, C., & Eron, L. D. (2003). Longitudinal relations between children’s exposure to TV violence and their aggressive and violent behavior in young adulthood: 1977-1992. Developmental Psychology, 39, 201-221.