Violence in Television, Cartoons, Video Games, and in the Movies

By Samatha

February 25, 2002

All of us deal with situations in our life; in fact we react to some without even thinking. Most the background to the way we handle these situations are based upon our social norms, what is acceptable in the society we live in. There are “four options” we have in how we handle each situation, the negative red, positive red, negative blue and positive blue. The four options are then broken into what is called “the threefold self”. The threefold self is (when you look at the diagram) the three rows each color has. There are the feeling, thinking and acting out of each situation. An example of the red option would be a feeling of road rage. One is angered or frustrated by another driver, rage or arrogance, the feeling. Then the thinking self is the emotionally impaired thinking, “I’m going to flip the guy off, and tell him what I think of him.” At these two points a good thing to do would be to cross that bridge from the negative red into the positive red. Resulting in a resolve with compassion or emotionally intelligent thinking. This will lead to the acting of supportive and constructive behavior than the aggressive or destructive behavior. It is better that one would be able to cross the bridge in more often not only the red bridge but also the blue bridge. The blue is the negative about one’s self, “I’m so stupid”, the feeling of depression or inadequacy. This can lead to the thinking of pessimistic or cynical thinking. Again within these two steps it is favorable that one will cross the bridge to enthusiasm and self-confidence and optimistic and realistic thinking. This will lead to the acting out of self-enhancing behavior as compared to the negative self-destructive behavior.

Violence on Television

Violence on Television

In 1982 the National Institution of Mental Health confirmed and went into depth a study done by the Surgeon General. As a result the American Psychological Association (1985) told the people of the danger in viewing violence of television for younger children. Studies have showed that those who watch a lot of TV are less likely to be disturbed by violence to the world and think that the world is against them. In other words, a negative view of the world. In a study done by George Gerbner Ph.D at the University of Pennsylvania children watch an average of 20 violent acts per hour.

The numbers of hours spent watching TV seems to be related to the way one views the world. If a child is exposed to too much TV, specifically violent TV, he/she may become desensitized to the world. This could make it harder for one to see a reason to cross either the blue bridge or the red bridge. Why should they cross they may see the world in such a negative way that it just makes it that much harder for them to see the good in actually doing the good.

“Violence is seen just a little too often in shows today. Because of this the surgeon general has researched and found that children and teenagers who watch aggressive shows tend to be more aggressive themselves.”

What do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?

At the university of Illinois there was a longitudinal (over a period of years with the same subject) study done by Leonard Eron Ph.D with children on the amount of TV watched. He recorded the amount of hours watched when they were eight years old. At the age of 30, those who watched more TV then (at 8 years old) were those who were arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts.

If the number hours of TV watched makes such a difference as to tell weather of not you may be prosecuted for a crime is crucial. By saying this it is extremely important that we as parents control the hours spent on the “tube” or at least we need to help form a more positive self. This many hours of watching TV may have a great affect on our development of our three fold self. Because we form our schemas from an early age why would we want to fill it and form it from the “crap” we see on TV?

What Does the Research Show?

Psychological research has shown three major effects of seeing violence on television:

· Children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others

· Children may be more fearful of the world around them

· Children may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.

The V (violence) Chip

In 1995 Senator Conrad introduced the Children’s Media Protection Act to the Senate. From this the introduction of the V-chip was brought about. The V-chip then became a part of the Telecommunications Act. From this law arose that is was required by all manufactures to install the V-chip. What it does is it recognizes the network-established ratings, allowing only shows with a certain rating to be shown.

With the V-chip being required to be installed into every newly made TV this allows the parent to take control of what is being feed into our children’s minds. Especially because at the young age that they’re at is when they are forming their views of the world and their schemas. Their schemas are what is going to help them to decided what is wrong and what is right. This is good because if we can help to form positive schemas and views we just maybe can create a happier world.

“With the V-Chip parents regain the control over the remote”, Mr. Bill Clinton

Impact of Televised Violence

Questions on impact of TV violence on children and teenagers have been around for as far back as the 1950’s. In the mid 1950’s the Senate Committee of the Judiciary had a series of hearings on the impact of TV on juvenile crime. According to a survey taken in 1988 there was actually a dramatic decrease in the time spent watching TV in the adolescent years, as compared to the large number of hours children watch. During the ages of two to eleven the average of hours spent watch TV was 28 hours per week (Andersen, 1990). The increase on juvenile delinquencies, lead to more research in this area.

Not only do we watch too much TV but also we tend to do it in the early years of our life. Again this is when we tend to form our ideas on how the world or society expects us to act. If something simple as watching TV has lead to an increase in juvenile delinquencies then it seems that the violence they had watched told them that what they were doing is all right. This definitely means they didn’t cross the red or the blue bridge.

Comstock suggests (Comstock & Paik, 1991, pp. 254-255) situations for which we have experimental evidence of the effects of film or television violence:

1. Rewarding or lack of punishment for those who act aggressively (e.g., Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1963).

2. If the aggressive behavior is seen as justified (e.g., Berkowitz & Rawlings, 1963).

3. There are cues in the portrayed violence, which have similarity to those in real life (e.g., Donnerstein & Berkowitz, 1981).

4. There is similarity between the aggressor and the viewer (e.g., Rosekrans, 1967).

5. Strong identification with the aggressor, such as imagining being in their place (e.g., Turner & Berkowitz, 1972).

6. Behavior that is motivated to inflict harm or injury (e.g., Geen & Stonner, 1972).

7. Violence in which the consequences are lowered, such as no pain, sorrow, or remorse (e.g., Berkowitz & Rawlings, 1963).

8. Violence that is portrayed more realistically or seen as a real event (e.g., Atkin, 1983).

9. Violence which is not subjected to critical commentary (e.g., Lefcourt, et al., 1966).

10. Portrayals which seem to please the viewer (e.g., Ekman, et al., 1972).

11. Portrayals of violence that are unrelieved by other events (Lieberman, 1975).

12. Violence that includes physical abuse in addition to or compared to verbal aggression (e.g., Liebermann, 1975).

13. Violence that leaves the viewer in a state or arousal (e.g., Zillmann, 1971).

14. When viewers are predisposed to act aggressively (e.g., Donnerstein & Berkowitz, 1981).

15. Individuals who are in a state of frustration after they view violence, either from an external source or from the viewing itself (e.g., Worchel, Hardy, & Hurley, 1976).

Children and Television Violence

This article goes in the dangers of the violence seen on TV today and how children may become desensitized to the world. But mainly questions like how this may have affected the female population arose in this article. Link in the 1970’s there were shows like “Wonder Woman”, “Charles Angles” and “The Bionic Woman” giving girls a role model. They showed less of a dependency for males for their success after watching just a few shows.

Women have almost always been portrayed to be week and helpless. With the arrival of these cartoons made specifically for girls, it has helped the female population to be stronger and more independent. This can give them the schema of independence and strength. This will in turn lead to a life where they feel they are able to make decisions internally and externally. This means that when they may be posed in a situation they can choose to cross a bridge or not.

According to recent studies, the following steps can help parents maintain

Some control in shaping their child's viewing habits.

Watch at least one episode of the program your child views so you

can better understand the content and discuss it with them.

Explain questionable incidents (e.g. random violence) that occur and

discuss alternatives to violent actions as ways to solve problems.

Ban programs that are too violent or offensive.

Restrict television viewing to educational programming and shows or

programs which demonstrate helping, caring and cooperation.

Encourage children to participate in more interactive activities such as

sports, hobbies or playing with friends.

Limit the amount of time children spend watching television.

Media Violence and Media Literacy

The article gives bullet points on what happens when exposed to too much TV, what parents can do.

This is helpful to the foundation of a healthy schema

· Media violence can lead to aggressive behavior in children. Over 1,000 studies confirm this link.

· By age 18, the average American child will have viewed about 200,000 acts of violence on television alone.

· The level of violence during Saturday morning cartoons is higher than the level of violence during prime time. There are 3 to 5 violent acts per hour in prime time, versus 20 to 25 acts per hour on Saturday morning.

· Media violence is especially damaging to young children (under age 8) because they cannot easily tell the difference between real life and fantasy. Violent images on television and in movies may seem real to young children. Viewing these images can traumatize them.

· Media violence affects children by:

o Increasing aggressiveness and anti-social behavior.

o Increasing their fear of becoming victims.

o Making them less sensitive to violence and to victims of violence.

o Increasing their appetite for more violence in entertainment and in real life.

· Media violence often fails to show the consequences of violence. This is especially true of cartoons, toy commercials and music videos. As a result, children learn that there are few if any repercussions for committing violent act.

· Parents can reduce the effect media violence has on children by:

o Limiting the amount of television children watch to 1 to 2 hours a day.

o Monitoring the programs children watch and restricting children's viewing of violent programs.

o Monitoring the music videos and films children see, as well as the music children listens to, for violent themes.

o Teaching children alternatives to violence.

· Parents can help children develop media literacy skills by:

o Helping children distinguish between fantasy and reality.

o Teaching them that real-life violence has consequences.

o Watching television with children and discussing the violent acts and images that are portrayed. Ask children to think about what would happen in real life if the same type of violent act were committed. Would anyone die or go to jail? Would anyone be sad? Would the violence solve problems or create them?

o Asking children how they feel after watching a violent TV show, movie, or music video

Violence in Cartoons

Simpsons Too Violent?

A popular cartoon called the Simpsons where the father is a doufus, the son a troublemaker, just your basic dysfunctional family. This article shows polls taken in Texas 1996, that the majority is worried about levels of violence. A proposed solution is the V-Chip

With the introduction of the V-Chip it’ll give the control back to the parents and not the children. This will help to mode a better schema so they will be able to make a rational decision in every day events. Because of this they may be emotionally intelligent.

About.com Poll

Violence in Animation

This article looks into the reasons we have a large increase in children or adolescents doing crime even murder. It is related to the number of hours that were spent watching TV and mainly to the amount watching violence in cartoons. Japanese animation has been one to have a violence fit for more mature audiences yet adolescents still watch them just as much. Despite warning children still imitate their favorite cartoons hero’s in fights and aggressive acts.

With a large amount of one half hour (or however long it may be) each child may see an average of 18 acts of violence. Because it is a cartoon they most of the times don’t show the effects the violence has on the person after and even before. This can make a child desensitized to the world, thus he or she may not want to cross the red and blue bridges. I mean what would be the reason to cross they may see the world as just something where an event may happen and you’ll bounce right back without any pain.

Today, animation on television is not necessarily aimed at children and any assumptions made should follow this way of thinking; however, the animation specifically made for children to watch, whether it is of American or Japanese origin, contains more violence than it has in recent years. Culturally, this does not cause a problem elsewhere in the world, but in America, where parents shelter their kids from anything remotely hazardous, this has caused a problem. The complaints against violent television for children come about mainly to try and pinpoint a reason for the rise in crimes committed by minors, though this violence has existed for years in television and the many mediums presented on it; perhaps a reconciliation of sorts may come about to decide once and for all what is right for children to watch and what the adults in American society truly believe.

Bang, bang Time!

Cartoons are considered to be the shows that show the most violence to children than any other shows. This is not something new, cartoons as old as “Tom & Jerry”, “Road Runner” have been labeled as violent. Today cartoons like “X-Men” use a far more advanced was of violence. Two types of violence, that’s just supposed to make you laugh like “Tom & Jerry” and the other with malicious acts of violence which could happen to anyone. The second type appalls children to solve problems by force or a weapon. On an average children watch 18 violent acts per hour.

This shows a problem to our formation of who we are and what is expected of us. Because cartoons are so widely seen everywhere this may pose a problem to future generations. In time if an increase in violence is seen the four options may become extinct in to the two options bad and bad.

But the question is, are children really affected by the violent and scary scenes in cartoons? Do the scenes they view with such wide-eyed wonder, have the potential to make them violent themselves? Does such exposure make them insensitive to violence in their surroundings?

Parent Tips

This article presented by PBS gives parents tips on what they should do to lessen the effects of violence seen in TV and how to talk to their children about the shows. There are also activities they can do instead of watching TV.

This article will let the parents gain control over how they will act in the future as compared to the TV paving their road.

· Featured Activity: Locate the editorial pages in the newspaper, and read an editorial out loud to your child. Discuss the point of view of the editorial's author. Ask your child to find three facts and three opinions in the editorial. Read some letters to the editor together and discuss the facts and opinions.

Two New Studies on TV Violence and Their Significance for the Kids TV Debate

UCLA broke down the times of violence shows, and looked and violence in shows that raised serious concerns among viewers. Their results were that Prime Time had a little concern for violence shows as compared to Network movies. Then films to cartoons had mixed feeling, due to cartoons like Mighty Morphin Power Ranger.

This study helped to say what would be good for younger children to watch and what they might be able to handle in a well manner. This means you either would have learned how to handle your emotions or are still learning them in a respectful way.

Because not all violence is created equal, the monitors of the study looked at violence in contect focusing on those shows that raise serious concerns among viewers.

They broke the shows into four different categories.
Shows that raise serious concerns such as slasher movies or films such as Faces of Death which is a collection of real people being killed on camera.
Shows that contain scenes of violence but raise few concerns such as accidents on Home Improvement.
Shows that do not have high levels of violence but due to the context they raise serious concerns, such as American Comedy Awards and other shows that take blood splattering and general violence as a joke.
Shows that do contain high level of violence but, due to the context, do not raise serious levels of concern, such as Schindler's List.

Violence in Video Games

Check the Rating

The ESRB is an independent non-profit organization that developed a rating system for computer and video games. The rating system gives the age of what the game is appropriate for.

If one were to follow the ratings given this would mean they have a stronger chance of forming their emotional intelligence and they just may favor the positive options more.

What to Look For

Ratings: Consumers should look on the front of the package for the ESRB rating symbol, which gives information on ages for which the product is appropriate.

Video Game Violence

Video games are the second most popular form of entertainment next to TV. This raises the questions of how violent are they? And how much do they influence our children? In 1998, $ 6.3 billion was spent on video games, and there is an average of 20 minutes a day spent playing these games. In 1998 a survey found that 80% of games proffered by adolescents contained violent acts, and 21 % were violent acts upon women.

This is a negative effect; we don’t want our children to form the idea that they need to hurt people to survive. We want them to learn to care and be positive in a rightful sense.

If a player completes all levels of this game, he or she will have killed a maximum of 33,000 people

Video Games & Children

Video games have been increasing in popularity since the 1970’s when they first emerged. However studies have shown that they are becoming more and more violent. It is found that the more violent they become the more the kids like it! This article gives more of the number and results of surveys and research done on the subject.

With the popularity of violent video games emerging what will happen to our threefold self, and our emotional intelligence. It’s going to have a negative effect on them that’s for sure.

The study found that approximately 36% of male students played video games at home for 1 to 2 hours per week; 29% played 3 to 6 hours; and 12 percent did not play at all. Among female students who played video games at home, approximately 42% played 1 to 2 hours and 15% played 3 to 6 hours per week. Nearly 37% of females did not play any video games. The balance of subjects played more than 6 hours per week. Results also indicated that 38% of males and 16% of females played 1 to 2 hours of video games per week in arcades; and that 53% of males and 81% of females did not play video games in arcades

Eric Publications

Studies have shown to have a negative effect on children and teach them violent acts. Yet on some studies they don’t have any violent outcomes. In some cases it is known to even have a positive effect. So what does happen? Does the age matter? And is there a gender bias? These are some of the questions they answer in this article.

With this article you can provide answers to the questions the little one’s have as to why this happens. This will help to explain the outcomes of some situations letting them know things don’t just go away. They need to be handled correctly like in the four options.

An early study on the effects of video games on children found that playing video games had more positive effects on children than watching television. A conference sponsored by Atari at Harvard University in 1983 presented preliminary data which failed to identify ill effects.

Video Games and Children

In 1967 the average sixth grader spent 2.8 hours watching TV. Then in 1983 the jumped up to 4.7 hours watching TV per day. Could this be because of the increase in the “electronic babysitter” theme? The preference in types of video games was 32 % preferred games involving fantasy and violence. This poses the question on how to control the amount absorbed by the kids. The National Coalition on Television Violence (NCTV) rated Nintendo and Sega’s games to make sure the consumer knew what they were buying and what age it was appropriate for. Ratings such as Xunfit and XV (violent) were given for those with a high content of violence. And PG and G given to those with some but not much violence.

With a detailed and trustworthy rating system people will know what they are buying before the buy it. This will allow the parent to control the level of violence seen by their children and hopefully prevent them from becoming desensitized to the world. This means they will become more emotionally intelligent.

The two most preferred categories were games that involved fantasy violence, preferred by almost 32% of subjects

Violence in the Movies

Dr. Hoffman on Violence: The Center for the Prevention of Community Violence

Some causes of violence are dysfunctional families and media violence influencing our children. With the media violence children are being taught it’s all right to fight or commit violence. According to the article children see 20 violent acts per hour in cartoons played in the morning. To me these were the times mom and dad were still sleeping. The article is written by the Health Service University it is their goal to help with the understanding and prevention of violence. When violence is in our schools that is when we fear it the most. School is supposed to be a safe haven for kids to learn. Because of violence moving into our school the HSU provides services to teach others about violence in the world.

With a center like the HSU the circle of violence may be broken over a period of time. In time those who were desensitized through forms of media violence (i.e. games, TV, cartoons, and movies) may be able to finally see what happens when they commit these crimes. This is a way to cross the red bridge, violence against others.

These are some of the classes they provide:

· Clearinghouse for information related to violence prevention programs in such settings as the home, schools, community and workplace.

· Community based research that helps identify the scope of the problem

· Conflict resolutions programs

· Speakers Bureau

The Center focuses on violence in all settings, i.e., children, youth, families, domestic and interpersonal violence and worksite violence.

Family Movie Guide with Reviews for Parents

This site provides a rating for those who are interested in how a movie rated in violence, sexual content, language, drugs and alcohol and there own overall scoring. It rated the top movies in the box office and even goes through and gives rating for videos.

With a rating system a parent can rely on they may be able to have somewhat of a control over what their child watches in the movies. Because when the kids are at the movies most times their parents aren’t with them. And sometimes the movies just let anyone in, hey when I was young I got into R rated movies. But with a rating system that a parent can trust he/she can at least know what the movie is about. With the control over what they would absorb from the movies, as far as violence, the parent can help to form a positive schema.

Movie Vault - Crossroads (2002)

"Crossroads (2002)"
(pictures ©2002 Paramount Pictures)
U.S. Rating PG-13
Click here for Canadian Ratings
Overall: C
Violence: B-
Sexual Content: C-
Language: B-
Drugs/Alcohol: C

Follow the link to Making The Grades for additional information on this film's content.

HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION HAS JUST FINISHED, and still-virgin Lucy (Britney Spears), image conscious Kit (Zoe Saldana), and pregnant Mimi (Taryn Manning), along with ruddy and mysterious guitar playing Ben (Anson Mount) set off for LA in Ben's 30-year-old convertible. Ben and Mimi want to be music stars, Kit's got a guy in SoCal, and Lucy is planning to hop off in Arizona to meet her estranged mother--but it's not until the first day's drive is over that the foursome take a moment to realize that dreams, an old car, and a few bucks in their pockets won't get them very far.

What about Violence in Movies

This article takes the stand of “Yes,” allow violence in the movies. What he’s saying is that without it no one would see the movies. But it makes a difference in the type of killing. There’s the realistic killing and there are the ones most likely not to happen. The author also goes into saying tat a child will learn it anyways.

With a view like this is it possible the author just may be telling the truth? What if children will learn it anyways? But the question is do we need to add it to the one’s we already see in life? I think that by adding the stimuli you increase the outcomes. Thus you add more violence the child feels it’s more acceptable and forms a personal schema of the world as negative.

Many parents tend to blame media violence, but parents should teach their children that there are tons of good things and bad things, and they should help them to know what is wrong. I think government regulation is the last solution. Before that, parents can help their offspring to behave in a beautiful way.

Movies and Violence

Gary Ross states that movies can contribute to (the) desensitization of the nations culture.” This is a movie director of big name movies like “Big” and “Dave”. Mr. Ross says that he tries to think what will be the results of one after seeing his movies. Other statements are collected in this article people as big as the president Mr. Bill Clinton. One person said, “ If one had a strong enough personality they wouldn’t be susceptible to the violence in movies.”

From the collection of quotes one can assume the form of family he or she was raised in. Those who felt violence was acceptable but not to children new the value of forming a positive schema and those who felt that violence was already there so who cares may have had a negative background. This could be that they are already desensitized to the world, so what if the kids see it there going to see it anyways attitude.

Guns kill people and movies kill people and video games kill people and it soon becomes obvious that the list doesn't stop there. .

Effects of Violent Movies and Trait Irritability on Hostile Feelings and Aggressive Thoughts

Test on how aggression would influence affect and cognition were done with violent movie clip in one experiment. And in a second experiment the researchers added trait hostility. The results were that those who did see the violent movies clips showed higher levels of state hostility than those who saw the nonviolent clips. There were the same results for the second experiment.

With this experiment it proves that from watching violent movie clips one becomes more violent. So why do we allow movies with so much violence to be made and shown to the public. We already know that watching it leads to acting it and most likely when one is young and forming their idea of how the world works, were feeding them information that our world is this violent movie. With this idea we feed negative ideas and feelings into their sponge like brain. Again their schemas will form a negative view of the world making them feel the world is “against” them.

The General Affective Aggression Model (Anderson, Deuser, & DeNeve, 1995; Anderson, Anderson, & Deuser, 1996) suggests

that violent movies may increase aggression by increasing hostile feelings and the accessibility of aggressive thoughts. It also

suggests that trait hostility may similarly influence affect and cognition.