Excessive Screen Time Research Paper

One major factor contributing to the aggressive behavior found in American citizens who watch violence on television is the sheer amount of television they watch. The average American child spends more time watching television than in the classroom--making the television an "electronic teacher," actually teaching kids almost double the hours an actual teacher does by the time the child graduates high school (Posch). With nearly 99% of American households having a television--usually more than one--it’s no wonder the amount of television watched in America has gone up every year. A 1993 Neilsen report showed an average of 23 hours of TV per week for 2 to 11 year olds and almost 22 hours per week by teenagers (Hepburn). But while the number of sets in the home has increased, the amount of family viewing has decreased. Media Dynamics estimates that approximately 52% of all television viewing is by one person (Hepburn). And with so many single parents in America, the television becomes a babysitter of sorts. Many parents consider the

While violence is not new to the human race, it is an increasing problem in modern society. With greater access to firearms and weapons, the scope and efficiency of violent behavior has massive potential for serious consequences. Society needs to only look at the recent school shootings and the escalating rate of youth homicides to comprehend this ominous trend. While every child is different and the causes of youth violence are multifactorial, there appears to be a correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior within the group of vulnerable adolescents.

Many Americans feel that the viewing of violence in the media reinforces negative behavior in society, especially among children and young adults. "Three thousand studies have been done since 1955 on the link between television and violence; 2,980 of them found a correlation between the two.  We hear little about that because we get most of our news from television" (Peterson).  With this much research one must acknowledge that there is a problem in America involving sex and violence in the media.  We cannot blame all societal problems on the media and its portrayal of these issues, but we can become educated, ourselves, in order to better facilitate the healthy lives of our children.

Violence can be seen everywhere even when we are not looking for it. Specifically on television, video games, and on the web. Something as simple as turning on the television and watching the morning news can even portray some violence. Many experts have debated over whether violent media has any effect on a child’s behavior. I think that many people don’t see this as an issue. Possibly because we have integrated violence as a part of society. But I feel that excessive exposure to violent media will have negative effects on a child’s psychological health and well-being.

Over the past thirty years there has been extensive research on the correlation between media violence and violent behaviors among children. Furthermore researchers have concluded that there is not only a positive correlation between media and real-life violence; but children who are repeatedly exposed to media violence begin to lose the ability to differentiate the difference between real-life and entertainment violence and tend to accept violence as an acceptable way of resolving conflicts. However, the entertainment industries claim that there is no link between media and real-life violence. But the fact is, televised violence and the presence of televisions in American homes have drastically increased over

To start, the media in the U.S is much more violent compared to other countries. Due to this fact, many people struggle to understand whether or not there is a connection between media violence and aggression in children. There have been many studies done on whether or not the media has any sort of effect on aggression and violence in children. American television and movies provide many younger people with continuous violent content. A review made by the American Psychological Association showed that the average child or teenage views about 10,000 rapes, murders, and aggravated assault on television per year alone or 200,000 by the time a child reaches their teenage years (Hopf, W). This number would be even higher if the child focuses on watching only certain channels and programs that might contain more violence compared to others. One research study showed that 70% of prime time shows included some form of violence and 90% of children’s programs include some violence and the rate of violence seemed to be consistent (Bushman, B.J).

Essentially since media is more violent than ever, and children and youth are getting more attracted to violent media. Studies on violent media shows a clear evidence that violence on media rises the possibility of aggressive behaviors in both short-term and long-term situations (Rowell Huesmann, Moise, Podolski, & Eron, 2003). Most researchers agree that aggressive behaviors are more disposed to the harmful impact of violence on media. The negative effect is much larger for younger children because they are not able to to differentiate the imaginary from reality. In addition, Bushman (1995) argued that only particular type of children and youth were negatively influenced by violent media these are labelled as high aggressive personalities. Aggressive-minded individuals fascinate by aggression more than non- aggressive personalites. Children who heavily exposure to violent media are more likely to act in an aggressive way toward others. Violent media is a risk factor that put children and youth in a high risk of developing aggressive behaviors that may last into their adulthood (Rowell Huesmann, Moise, Podolski, & Eron, (2003). Therefore, parents have wanted to understand the negative impact of violent media, particularly on children, adolescents, and youth. Thus, this paper underlines some negative effects of violent media on individuals.

Violent video games aren 't the only media source to blame for increases in aggression and violence. Viewing violent television programs are also causing increased violence and aggressive behaviors as well. Clinical psychologist Brenda J. Wilson (2008), openly states that, "children spend most of their social lives in front of a TV screen or other media source." This is affecting many different psychological aspects for those children (Wilson, 2008). According to psychologists Robert Sege & William Dietz (1994), "violence on TV is frequent, inconsequential, effective and often rewarded"(Dietz & Sege, 1994).

In agreement with the first study, a study by Boxer and colleagues focused on mass media’s effect on those already at risk for violence and anti-social behavior: high school students and juvenile delinquents (Boxer, Huesmann, Bushman, O’Brien, & Moceri, 2009). The research team sought to determine whether an increased number of risk factors would correlate with an increase in violent and anti-social behavior. Participants were asked to report their digital media habits throughout their childhood; which were ranked an a 5 point scale according to amount of visible violence; and they were also asked to provide researchers with information and complete surveys on potential risk factors (Boxer, Huesmann, Bushman, O’Brien, & Moceri, 2009). The researchers identified a risk factor as any characteristic or event that would leave an individual more prone to an act of aggression such as an abusive parent or poor school

The advent of mass media, and its various forms such as television, computer and video games means that people, and especially children and teenagers, are increasingly being exposed to higher doses violent and aggressive content. In many nations across the world, television showcases approximately four acts of violent behavior per hour and this is even much more elevated when it comes to video and computer games. Since majority of children spend most of their time in front of the television or playing video and computer games, these types of media play a dominant and significant role in the lives and may greatly impact on the development of aggressive behavior. Thus, despite other environmental and economic factors

The lives of our youth are being ruined because of the violence in today’s media. This is the view held by many people in our society today. Many psychologists believe that violence on television, movies and other forms of media have a negative effect on children, while others believe media violence has no effect on children. The reality is that children tend to emulate the behavior that they see in the media they are exposed too. The media can have a powerful influence on young impressionable children. Their minds are sponge-like, absorbing all that they are exposed to. Their feelings and emotions become more imminent once they begin to go through adolescents; children often acquire the ability for

Media can be described as the social and mass media that children are exposed to in their daily lives. Examples of the media platforms and materials include radios and television broadcasts, movies and music, newspapers and magazines, social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google Talk, Skype, among others (Samantha 2013). Media plays a critical role in the lives of the children. It provides a socializing tool, educative and informative resources, entertainment, marketing and advertising. Although the contents` and accessing of the media contents by children are regulated, some of the contents of the media accessed by children indicate violence incidences (Samantha 2013, p. 6). Exposing children to Violence contained in the contents of these platforms may or may not influence the behavior of the children. The writer postulates that exposing children to media violence has a negative influence to their behavior that develops a hostile and violent behavior in the children.

With the increasing numbers of school shootings and violent outbreaks in communities, citizens are starting to rethink the media's impact on children and teens. Dr. Eugene V Beresin’s research provides charted facts on the subject: “The typical American child will view more than 200,000 acts of violence, including more than 16,000 murders before age 18. Television programs display 812 violent acts per hour; children's programming, particularly cartoons, displays up to 20 violent acts hourly.”. Even in seemingly innocent media like cartoons, violence is constantly displayed. Granted most of it is unrealistic in the fact that humans can’t bounce back when pianos are dropped on them, the subject of the matter is that brutality is everywhere and the average American completely overlooks it. A study by Craig A. Anderson revealed that “the evidence strongly suggests that exposure to violent video games is a causal risk factor for increased aggressive behavior, aggressive cognition,

The debate regarding the media's relationship to violence in society has been a hot issue for most of the past century. From the beginning of the wide use of mass media, from films to radio to television, researchers have tried to explain any association or correlation between media effects and violence. Of particular interest and concern has been the issue of violence in the media and the impact that this has on children. Although important research efforts have increased our understanding of the topic there is still a great that needs to be done in terms of the application and implementation of the findings to policies and television programming.

As evidence has shown, children view many violent scenes while watching television, movies, or playing video games, but the question still remains: What psychological effect does violence in the media have on children? Research over the past 10 years has consistently shown that there is a cause-and-effect relationship between media violence and real-life aggression (Strasburger 129). Violence in the media can lead to aggressive behavior by children and teenagers who watch the various programs. Of course, not all children who watch television, or movies, or play video games develop aggressive behavior. However, there is a strong correlation between media violence and aggressive behavior. A study, published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, examined how children's television viewing practices are related to aggressive behaviors. The results revealed that children who reported watching greater amounts of television per day had higher levels of violent behavior than children who reported lesser amounts of television viewing (Singer 1041). Witnessing violence is an important determining factor in violent behavior. The media serves as a means for children to witness violence. According to Bandura's Social Learning Theory, children imitate behavior that they see on television, especially if the person performing the behavior is attractive or if the