Children and Violence in Media

Is TV and digital media- good, bad or both?

Recent events have given government leaders along with every American pause to think about how violence in the media is affecting children. This unfortunately is not a new issue but one that has been on many early childhood specialists minds as early at the 1980's.

In 1990 the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) released a position statement, "Media Violence in Children's Lives". This statement came long before the atrocities at Columbine High School. In their position statement- written in 1990, NAEYC said they believed there was a trend toward increased depiction of violence in the media and they felt it jeopardized the healthy development of significant numbers of our nations children.

Fast forward to today, and NAEYC's Position Statement still holds true.

Research consistently identifies three problems associated with heavy t.v. viewing of violence:

1) the children are less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others

2) the children are more fearful of the world around them

3) the children are more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.

Heavy viewing (>4 hours/ day) is related to less effort in school, poorer reading skills, playing less friendly with peers, having fewer hobbies and increases the likelihood of being overweight.

Children under the years of 7-8 and children with learning disabilities or mental disabilities are most vulnerable to the impact of violence in media.Typically developing children under the age or 7-8 have a difficult time distinguishing between fantasy and reality. If they see multiple acts of violence on TV or from video games, they see the world as a more dangerous place that it really is. Consequently, they respond in ways using excessive force because they view situations as greater threats than they actually are. Children who routinely view images see these violent acts as "normal" and also learn that aggression is a successful and acceptable way to get a goal met.

Children who watch excess television are also less imaginative in their play. They are less creative and tend to play imitatively- reenacting rather that creating. Creative, imaginative play is essential to a child's social-emotional development. Playing creatively is a natural way for children to express their feelings, overcome anger and gain self-control.

So what can we do?

Limit and screen media

Limit media to 1-2 hours per day. That being said, it is also important to know the content children are viewing. This is bound to create some initial time pressures on parents who often rely on media in order to keep kids occupied as parents work on daily tasks. 

Parents can begin by viewing all media with children. If it is deemed acceptable, it can go on the "safe" media menu. If media violence is present (very likely the case as many "G" rated movies contain violence) parents can use this as an opportunity to create dialogue. Ask the children how the "victim" might feel, what could they have done to avoid the fighting, etc. - then keep it off the "safe" media list. The same thing can be done with video games, computer games and computer web sites.

Take advantage of technology

Stay positive. Rather than focusing on what shouldn't be viewed, focus on finding positive educational media. While technology can in itself create more access to media thereby increasing screen time, we can see it as an opportunity to be selective about the media we choose to use with our media allotment..

Guide Children

There are many factors that feed into aggressive behaviors- media is only one of these.
Children who have their basic needs met are more likely to develop the resilience needed to prevent them from using violence to meet their needs. Providing positive guidance and modeling appropriate ways to manage anger and solve social problems teach children the skills they will need to live peaceably with others. If you see children imitating violent behavior, bring them back to creative problem solving and open dialogue on how the other person might feel, etc. Also focus on opportunities in life to work with children on non-violent conflict resolution.
Using positive guidance and understanding child development stages are important tools in helping children develop strong social-emotional skills. The following materials, as well as the linked articles throughout this post can give you more details on how to guide children against using violence.
Understanding Child Development as a Violence Prevention Tool by the American Psychological Association.
Violence Prevention for Families of Young Children by the American Psychological Association.

Life for a developing child can be complex. Children need adults in their life to set limits to keep them safe, show them how to manage feelings, solve  personal conflicts and help them develop self-control and resiliency.

These books are available for loan in our resource libraries:

"Teaching Children in Violent Times: Building a Peaceable Classroom" by Diane E. Levin
"The Kindness Curriculum" by Judith Anne Rice
"The Values Book" by Pam Schiller & Tamera Bryant
"Creating Caring Children: The First Three Years" by Diane Carlebach
"Social and Emotional Development" by Riley, San Juan, Klinkner, & Ramminger
"Challenging Behavior in Children" by Barbara Kaiser & July Sklar Ramsinsky
"Children with Challenging Behavior" by Linda & Tom Brault