Does television affect children's behavior?

[Quakis]

I have an exam in January based on this question for media studies, and we need secondary and primary research sources to get into the high grades. This is why the topic was created since it would be nice to gather people's opinions on this subject for primary research.

Take note that the question isn't limited to violent behavior, so if you have anything to discuss from the question, the please post! If you don't have anything useful to say though, don't bother posting please. It would be nice if anyone here has children of their own can drop in their opinions as well!

Does television affect children's behavior?

[Sang]

Yes. I remember hearing the F-word the first time on television.. and it was part of my language for months ;)

I think it's dependent on the age or the maturity of the person watching it, though.

Not only that, but television, games and forums were largely the ways I learned English. I would say it affected my behaviour, not towards the outside but towards the inside. When I think about something that might not have anything to do with the English language, my thoughts - for some reason - are still in English.

Well apart from that I can't say much else about this :)

[Mr.Fibbles]

Television affects children behavior, but only in as much as they don't have the distinction between reality and entertainment. "reality" shows affect people more that cartoons or movies which are distinguished as false.

[Daedolon]

As an older brother, I can definately say yes. Children tend to rush in front of the television when a certain program starts. And yeah, their reaction when you shut the TV down right in the middle of a the program, you can sense certain agression in them :D

They also tend to act like some characters in their favourite shows and yeah, little children (years 1-8 perhaps?) do take ideas from TV shows.

[Jiminator]

yes, television is the cause of all violence. If you look at history before the 1950s you will see that there were never any recorded instances of violence. Also if you look at third world countries with very little TV available at all you will see that the violence levels are much less than any other industrial country.


**Note: The preceding comments were sarcasm. Things like TV, video games and so forth have been used forever to blame all of societies ills, because they are simple and easy targets. The reality is that man is programmed to survive, whatever that means, and that man enjoys violence (when done to others).

[The Baskinator]

Of course, but most of it is fairly innocuous behavior, imo. I watched all kinds of violent stuff, and never had the desire to become violent toward any living creature, or even inanimate object. It's just not who I am, so it didn't have an effect. But I'm very much a jokester, so when I watched Bart Simpson tell his parents to eat his shorts, you better believe I was saying the same thing to mine. I'm just lucky enough to have parents who found it funny.

[Rider]

Yes I'd say television affects children's behavior. I watched a lot of english cartoons back when I was younger (still do by the way) and now I'm often complemented on my usage of the language.

And I used to watch Cartoon Network, which has made me a fairly sillier person than I would've been without it. :)

[clayasaurus]

I would not question whether or not television does effect behavior, because every experience one has effects one's behavior in some way.

I would ask to what degree was the behavior effected. Kids are more likely to have behavior effected because kids are very, very impressionable. If they see violence at a young age they will become desensitized towards it and think its normal.

I'm not saying it will make kids violent, I'm just saying kids view of violence will be changed.

I believe television can also put some viewers into a hypnotic state, open to suggestion of whatever the TV tells them. This is why films are the best way documentary makers have of convincing someone of their opinion.

[Superczar]

Bad parenting affects children's behavior

[Nessus]

Here's a new angle on it. What if television affects behaviour by causing stress due to the fact that the normal energy a child would be burning up is instead used sitting in front of a screen? It's unnatural for a kid to sit around for hours but when there's a compelling screen in front of you you'll watch it. All of that energy that would have been used running around now converts into stress which will cause bad behaviour. If you specualte on that for sure you'll be the only one in your class.

[Superczar]

Here's a new angle on it. What if television affects behaviour by causing stress due to the fact that the normal energy a child would be burning up is instead used sitting in front of a screen? It's unnatural for a kid to sit around for hours but when there's a compelling screen in front of you you'll watch it. All of that energy that would have been used running around now converts into stress which will cause bad behaviour. If you specualte on that for sure you'll be the only one in your class.

I disagree somewhat with that - I always found that watching TV was relaxing, even as a kid. School was stressful, coming home and spacing out in front of the TV for a couple hours was nice. Super Mario Bros. show was on at 3:30 :)

[Kalki]

Children will mimic anything seen on television if they think it's cool and will get them attention. Depending on the maturity of the child, they may resist the urge altogether if they think it's not acceptable. Sort of like these forums actually. :p

[Steve]

Children will mimic anything seen on television if they think it's cool and will get them attention. Depending on the maturity of the child, they may resist the urge altogether if they think it's not acceptable. Sort of like these forums actually. :p

Hey, I liked to playing Ninja Turtles as a kid after watching it on TV ;)

[Waiter]

Of course it does. Does anyone seriously think that people would spend billions on TV-commercials if watching TV wouldn't affect people?

[Phait]

http://jkohli.blogspot.com/2005/12/entertainment-of-violence.html

I kind of wrote an article about this but it's more tuned to media and violence.

[wayskobfssae]

Of course it does. Does anyone seriously think that people would spend billions on TV-commercials if watching TV wouldn't affect people?

'nuff said.

And adults are swayed just as often, the media tells us everything about what is and isn't popular and what we're supposed to be doing with our lives. This is how all business earns money, by convincing us we need things and the best way to do that is to screw with our concept of who we are. I think the question is pretty elementary.

Little girls like Britney Spears... they want to be like Britney Spears... and suddenly you have an army of 12-year-olds out on the streets looking like they're trying to sell their services.

[peoplessi]

I think, that the question at hand is the wrong topic. Since it can be proved on multiple levels, as in this thread, that TV indeed affects people.

More important thing, and more fruitful thing, would be do consider just how, and how much TV affects to a normal person?

[Jeff]

Depends on where the development of the person is. I'll use two fifteen year olds as my example. Some people believe that it is okay to go out and shoot someone because they saw this thing on TV. Now there is the other guy who knows it's wrong and can rationalize. Some people depending on how far developed they are can tell that violence on TV is not real and should be taken with a grain of salt. However, some people can't, and that's why you've got some people claiming watching TV or playing violent video games causes violent behavior in kids.

I also think it's a choice, you may be at that point where you want to punch that guys lights out, but in the back of your head, you are also aware of the consequences of your actions. Some people also react without thinking about it and they just go ahead and do it, but some people are aware of the consequences and hold back even though they are mad.

[Quakis]

Thanks for the comments guys, more than I expected. These will deffinitely come in handy for the exam!

[NutWrench]

With the exception of PBS, children's television programming from the 1980's onwards has become a vast wasteland of bland, forgettable stories and high pressure product placement. If the goal of current television is simply to get children to buy things, then they've succeeded.

It could help on your exam to take a look at the history of children's television and see how the aims of television producers have changed over the last couple of decades. 1970's childrens shows were bizarre, surreal and probably written under the influence. Look at shows like H.R. Puffinstuff, Lidsville, the Bugaloos or pretty much anything created by Sid and Marty Kroft. There was some really strange stuff, there but at least it was entertaining.

/Everything I know about physics I learned from the Roadrunner cartoons.

[Waiter]

/Everything I know about physics I learned from the Roadrunner cartoons.

You're in for a surprise the next time you walk over the edge of a cliff and start falling before you actually realise what you just did... ;)

[Jiminator]

no, you are safe until you look down and see there is no more ground underneath your feet. then after a moment of contemplation about the predicament you are in the falling starts..

[wayskobfssae]

You're in for a surprise the next time you walk over the edge of a cliff and start falling before you actually realise what you just did... ;)

I'm not going to test my theory, but I do think there's probably some truth to malfunctioning weapons only operating properly when I'm staring down the barrel trying to figure out what's wrong.

[Destructor]

Little girls like Britney Spears... they want to be like Britney Spears... and suddenly you have an army of 12-year-olds out on the streets looking like they're trying to sell their services.

That's surprising. I always think she's targeting young males like I me, as I do have most of her albums. :p

Anyway, all types of media including television can be regarded as food for the mind. There's a lot of junk out there, and like McDonalds a little bit is alright now and then. But when kids, and even grown ups for that matter, are subject to heavy amounts they find it hard to get out of the passive rut they and society put them in. This is probably what leads to stress and a genuine feeling of unfulfillment and loss of individuality. Sometimes we just need to switch off and get back to our own thoughts and focus on what's really around us, and not what the media puts around us. Also, parents need to invest the time and effort required to bring up their kids in a healthy way. Getting away from the habit of just chucking them in front of the idiot box to shut them up and feeding them processed food even if it means not having the money to pay off the Mercedes and meet the three story mansion mortgage repayments, would make things a whole lot easier and happier for themselves and their offspring.

[Thriller]

I´ve actually studied this somewhat so I might come back with a better responce, but for now I´d just like to point out the obvious: Of course.

It affects adults behavior as well. As with with everyone we meet outside television, in real life.

I mean, ever watched a commercial thinking "man, im not going to fall for this". What do you think happens? Thats why commercials work; no mather what we do, or how old we get we are allways affected by what we see. Especialy if it involes other human beeings. Fiction or not.

[Yenz]

I mean, ever watched a commercial thinking "man, im not going to fall for this". What do you think happens? Thats why commercials work; no mather what we do, or how old we get we are allways affected by what we see. Especialy if it involes other human beeings. Fiction or not.
I agree and I work with commercials/advertising. The thing is today that you get so much expose from everywhere that people starts to ignore it more. Thou children doesn't have that kind of "selective" mind.

So yes children affects from what's on TV, whenever it's commercial or violence.

[Twin]

Bad parenting affects children's behavior

television with bad parenting affects children's behavior... I did copy alot of the actions that i was seeing in cartoons and tv shows when i was a kid and also copied some bad words but my parents really were the ones that put a halt on most of it because they told me what was right and wrong... i think if my parents weren't bothered about how the television shows were affecting me then i probably would've swore alot more and just done more stupid things while i was growing up.

[Altered Reality]

Of course TV influences children's behavior. For example:
1) if The Real Ghostbusters never existed, I would've never made any Ghostbusters-related drawing in elementary school.
2) if Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters never existed, my mother would've never heard me say "What the fukc is this shit?" the first time it aired, and that would've been one less punishment for me to endure.

[John]

I don't know, the closest I got to blurring the line between reality and movies/tv was when I saw Karate Kid and started going around kicking and punching my classmates. (I think I was in pre-school. \o/)

[hank freid inn]

Most children plug into the world of television long before they enter school: 70% of child-care centers use TV during a typical day. In a year, the average child spends 900 hours in school and nearly 1,023 hours in front of a TV. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), kids in the United States watch about 4 hours of TV a day - even though the AAP guidelines say children older than 2 should watch no more than 1 to 2 hours a day of quality programming. And, according to the guidelines, children under age 2 should have no "screen time" (TV, DVDs or videotapes, computers, or video games) at all. During the first 2 years, a critical time for brain development, TV can get in the way of exploring, learning, and spending time interacting and playing with parents and others, which helps young children develop the skills they need to grow cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally.

[Zztx]

There's no better way to fry a kid's attention span and social skills than to let them watch TV and play video games all day. It worked for me.

Meh, I can't laugh about it.

[Damien_Azreal]

No.

I've watched R rated films, played violent games... all that since I was a little kid. I don't believe media affects children, lazy parents not monitoring their children... that is the problem.

[Nessus]

But Damien it may have affected you without making you a violent person. Do you think you would be the same person you are today, think the same about things, if you had never had a TV or computer?

[alexgk]

No.

I've watched R rated films, played violent games... all that since I was a little kid. I don't believe media affects children, lazy parents not monitoring their children... that is the problem.

My thoughts too...

[Yenji]

One time me and a buddy were baby sitting his nephew and as usual the kid was a little ball of energy. We were watching TV while he played with his toys until a McDonald's commercial came on. At that instant he was transfixed on the TV until the commercial ended and then went about his ways.

So while I do believe TV affects human behaviour what surprises me more is how engrossed we can all be around TV.

[Superczar]

Maybe he was trying to tell you he was hungry. :D

[Yenji]

Possibly :p Still in a way it was kind of scary the way he reacted. It was like nothing else was in his world while that commercial was on.

[Daveman]

Maybe it's shocking to hear this on the internet but I think young people probably shouldn't be exposed to graphic sex and violence from TV, movies, or video games. It won't make serial killers out of everyone but is it really good for our kids? Kids should be running around outside more often than not.

[Lethe]

No.

I've watched R rated films, played violent games... all that since I was a little kid. I don't believe media affects children, lazy parents not monitoring their children... that is the problem.

Of course that media affect children. Not just children but everyone. Lots of people nowdays learn everything exclusively through media channels, by watching cable TV and online surfing. It can be positive, but it is more negative IMO. People spend 90% of daytime in front of some screen. Physical activity = zero. Lazy generation.

Brain is constantly bombed with lots of useless information. It actually affects concentration negatively. Thats probably why today, we have lot of average people unable to focus on something.

It's pretty sad, but it's the future.

[Sang]

Well, define 'young people'. If I were a dad I don't think I'd mind if my 14-year-old kids would be watching that stuff. 6 years old however.. yeah, that might be a bit too young. I don't think there's really an 'objective' way of parenting when it comes to letting your children view sex or violence, I guess we all just have to trust our best judgement.

In any case I'd like to expand my original response to include the idea that TV not only affects the behavior of children, but of pretty much everyone [heh- seems like Lethe beat me to it]. When you stay up later than usual to watch a certain show or when you don't spend the evening gaming because some movie is on TV, then TV has affected your behavior.

[Lethe]

Kids should be running around outside more often than not.

I agree completely.