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Violence has been a staple of media entertainment for as long as we've had "mass media." And although concerns about media violence go back as far as the 1930's with movies, the denunciations have never been as fierce as they've been since the Columbine school shootings. In spite of the mounting evidence of harm, the entertainment industries continue to deny their role. Even though almost every public health organization now agrees that exposure to media violence has unhealthy effects, a large portion of the public is still confused about the issue.

My own research at the University of Wisconsin over more than 25 years has led me to become intimately involved in the public debates over media violence and the ways in which children might be protected from its harmful influences. This article summarizes the latest information on the impact of media violence and suggests some ways to counteract the problems in homes, in schools, and in communities.

 

Media Violence Contributes to Youth Violence

Although most people agree that many unhealthy influences come together when a child commits criminal violence, research has shown that media violence is one of the significant contributors to violent behavior. Of course, researchers cannot do experiments in which they randomly assign children to watch different doses of violent programming throughout their youth and then observe which of them committed violent crimes as adults. But they have other powerful ways of showing the connection between viewing violence and aggressive behavior. First, they do longitudinal surveys of what children watch and look at the types of behaviors they engage in over time. They control for other factors, such as previous aggressiveness, family background, and the like. And they find a consistent correlation between violence viewing and violent behavior, even controlling for other influences. They also do experiments, which compare the behavior of children who are randomly assigned to view an excerpt of a violent or nonviolent program or movie. These studies show short-term effects, such as increases in hostility, more accepting attitudes toward violence, or an increased willingness to inflict harm -- changes that we know raise the likelihood of violent actions, both in the short term and in the long run. A recent meta-analysis, which statistically combined the findings of all the relevant studies, makes a compelling case that media violence consistently contributes to violent behavior.

Viewing violence promotes violence in a variety of ways. First, research shows that children often copy what they see in the media. Some critics of this research argue that the observed effects are trivial. Indeed, some frequently-quoted "classic" studies show that children who watch people punching Bobo Dolls copy that behavior, which in the end, doesn't hurt anyone. But recent research has demonstrated the serious consequences of imitating television violence. For example, a national survey of Israeli middle-schools showed that when World Wrestling Federation (WWF) was introduced to Israeli TV in 1994, the widespread imitation of the wrestlers' behavior produced an epidemic of serious playground injuries (including concussions and broken bones). And the children who injured their peers were old enough to tell you that they knew that what they were watching was fake. This knowledge didn't stop them from copying the wrestlers' moves anyway. The mayhem produced by WWF continued until the program's air time was substantially reduced and educators offered media literacy education to counteract the show's impact.

In addition to imitating new behaviors, children often show changes in their attitudes toward violence as a function of the way violence is presented. When televised stories show that violence is a safe, easy method to get what you want, when it produces only minor harm and is rarely punished, and when it is performed by attractive heroes or shown in a humorous context, viewers are more likely to imitate it. Systematic analyses of the content of television reveal that a high proportion of violence on television exhibits these features. Unfortunately, programs that target young children, and particularly cartoons, contain an especially high degree of this type of aggression-promoting content.

Other effects of video violence are as important as increases in aggressive behavior. One common effect is desensitization. As a result of repeated exposure to media violence as entertainment, children often become less emotionally disturbed by it. As a consequence, they show a reduced tendency to try to stop others from becoming violent, and they show less and less sympathy for the victims of violence. There is special concern about the desensitizing effect of violent video games, and the latest research shows that these concerns are well-placed. In addition to repeated desensitization experiences, many of these games provide strong reinforcements for aggressive behavior: They award points for killing the enemy and some involve scenarios in which the only way the player can "survive" is by quickly shooting each new enemy as soon as he appears. Media violence also engenders hostility in viewers. Some people argue that the well-substantiated correlation between aggressiveness and viewing violence simply shows that children who are hostile to begin with are more likely to choose violence. The fact is that the relationship goes both ways: Violent, hostile people are more avid consumers of media violence, and viewing violence increases their hostility further. Research also shows that repeated exposure to intense media violence produces a continuing hostile mental framework, causing viewers to be more likely to interpret an entirely neutral interaction as provocation, and to behave aggressively as a result. This effect occurs not just shortly after viewing violence, but even after considerable delays.

I believe that one reason many parents don't take media violence seriously is that few of us envision our children ever committing criminal violence, and, of course, only a tiny percentage of children do. So much attention is paid to criminal violence that other important effects are ignored. Some of the other effects of viewing violence, such as desensitization and increased hostility, affect a much higher proportion of children. Parents need to be made aware of these important, unhealthy potential outcomes of viewing so that they will understand that heavy exposure to media violence has harmful effects on most children.

Media Violence Is Scary

Another important effect of media violence is fear. This is an effect I've been studying for almost two decades, and other researchers have recently focused on this issue as well. A 1998 survey of elementary and middle school children revealed that as hours of television viewing increased, so did the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress. Similarly, a 1999 survey of the parents of elementary school children revealed that the amount of children's television viewing (especially television viewing at bedtime) and having a television in their own bedroom, were significantly related to the frequency of children's sleep disturbances. Indeed, almost 10% of the parents surveyed reported that their child experienced TV-induced nightmares at least once a week.

A study we conducted of college students' memories of having been frightened by a television show or movie demonstrates that the presence of vivid, detailed memories of enduring media-induced fear is nearly universal. Almost all of the respondents reported enduring fright reactions, and of these, more than half reported disturbances in eating or sleeping, and more than a third reported subsequently avoiding or dreading the situation depicted in the program or movie. Moreover, more than one-fourth of these respondents said that they were still bothered by a program or movie that they had viewed an average of six years earlier!

Studies like these reveal that it is not at all unusual to give up swimming in the ocean after seeing Jaws -- in fact, a surprising number of people report giving up swimming altogether after seeing that movie. Many other people trace their long-term fears of specific animals, such as dogs, cats, or insects to childhood exposure to horror movies or cartoon features like Alice in Wonderland or Beauty and the Beast. I would like to note here that the impact of frightening media depictions are not just "psychological." As disturbing as unnecessary anxieties are by themselves, they can readily lead to physical ailments (especially when they disrupt sleep for long periods of time). Very young children often experience enduring fright effects from brief, visually disturbing excerpts of a program or movie, sometimes even after viewing only a movie promo or a teaser for an upcoming newscast.

For the most part, what frightens children in the media involves violence or the perceived threat of harm. It is important to note, however, that parents often find it hard to predict children's fright reactions to television and films because a child's level of cognitive development influences how he or she perceives and responds to media stimuli. Children of different ages are likely to be frightened by different types of media content. For example, because preschool children are not fully adept at the fantasy-reality distinction, they can be just as frightened by a cartoon fairy tale as by a program that is realistic and depicts something that can actually harm them. What is most frightening to children approximately seven years and younger is anything that looks scary-a grotesque monster, a vicious-looking animal, or an ugly witch, for example. Young children are especially frightened when a normal-looking character transforms into a monster. Stories involving the death of a parent, and visual images of natural disasters are also particularly scary to this age group.

Children between the ages of eight and twelve are more likely to be scared by realistic events and potential threats to their safety. Violence is very scary to this age group, whether it is shown visually or not, and these children react strongly to stories involving the victimization of children. Television news is particularly frightening to children at this age, especially because it focuses so heavily on violent crime. Even teenagers and young adults often experience lingering distress from television programs and movies, most commonly those with themes involving stalking and sexual assault or violence committed by supernatural forces.

There Are Many Things We Can Do to Protect Children

Given the established harms that can come from viewing violence, it's surprising that there's so much of it in our entertainment culture. The disturbing truth is, however, that media violence is an enormously profitable business, and all signs point to the media becoming even more violent in the future. Because media violence is so pervasive, and even the children of highly vigilant and involved parents are likely to be exposed to media violence sometimes, it is important to understand how to protect children from its effects. Parents need guidance in finding ways to limit their children's exposure and to counteract the effects of what their children do see. In addition, parents, teachers, administrators, and community members need to join together and speak out for greater parental empowerment in this area.

Means of Limiting Children's Exposure. Fortunately, ratings and labels to inform parents about the media content their children might see are becoming increasingly available. Motion picture ratings (which now include G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17) have been used since the 1960s to suggest the appropriate age for viewing theatrical films. These ratings have been criticized for being vague and for not giving information about the content of movies, information that parents overwhelmingly prefer to age recommendations. As a result of public pressure, starting in 1995, the Motion Picture Association of America has been providing information about the content that was responsible for a movie's rating on its web site (www.mpaa.org).

Ratings for television programs, a new tool for parents, were instituted beginning in 1997. Producers rate their own programs, and although the ratings are technically voluntary, they are intended to be applied to all programming with the exception of news and sports. The rating system, called the TV Parental Guidelines, was designed by the television industry and modeled after the movie ratings. The original system had six levels based on the appropriateness of a program for different age groups. These levels are TV-Y (All Children), TV-Y7 (Directed to Older Children), TV-G (General Audience), TV-PG (Parental Guidance Suggested), TV-14 (Parents Strongly Cautioned), and TV-MA (Mature Audience Only). After receiving intense criticism in the six months after it was implemented, the rating system was amended to add content information to the age-based ratings. The revision added FV for "fantasy violence" in children's programs, and V, S, L, and D, for violence, sex, coarse language, and sexual dialogue, respectively, in general audience programs. (See "A Guide to the Amended TV Parental Guidelines" for more details.) The ratings are displayed visually in the upper left-hand corner of the television screen for the first few seconds of a program. They are also available in some newspaper television listings. The amended system is now quite complicated, and the television industry has done very little to publicize it. In fact, recent research shows that in the year 2000, fewer parents are aware of the television rating system than knew about it in 1997.

Television ratings were made necessary by the Telecommunications Act of 1996, which mandated that all new televisions with a screen size of thirteen inches or larger be manufactured with another new tool for parental empowerment, the V-chip. By January of 2000 all television manufacturers were complying with this mandate. The V-chip is a device that permits parents to block programs as a function of their ratings. In spite of the complicated nature of the TV rating system, the V-chip can be very helpful to parents. By using the V-chip, parents can keep some programs out of their homes automatically. For example, parents can let their children watch Sesame Street or Blues Clues and not worry that they will inadvertently stumble into Jerry Springer or The X-Files. If a child wants to watch a program that is blocked, he or she simply has to get permission from mom or dad, since the blocking can be overridden by entering a private PIN number. Many sets then return to the previous settings for blocking programs the next time the television is turned off. In addition, some V-chips provide further protection by allowing parents to block unrated programs as well as programs with ratings. Many television sets also allow parents to block entire channels, and some systems allow programs to be blocked by title or time of day. V-chips that can be added to an older TV set are also available. More advanced systems are now being developed that will allow parents to select or block programs according their own concerns on the basis of ratings assigned by independent coders rather than TV producers.

Reducing the Negative Effects. Research is increasingly being used to find ways to prevent or mitigate the harm produced by media violence. Research in cognitive development has helped us discover effective ways to reassure children who have been frightened by media threats. Strategies for coping with media-induced fears need to be tailored to the age of the child. Up to the age of about seven, nonverbal coping strategies work the best. These include removing children from the scary situation, distracting them, and giving them attention and warmth. Eight-year-olds and older can benefit from hearing explanations about why what they have seen cannot happen to them or receiving empowering instructions on how to prevent it.

We have also been exploring ways to reduce the aggression-promoting effect of media violence. An understanding of the emotional consequences of media exposure is helpful in developing effective mediation strategies. For example, as viewers become increasingly desensitized and more hostile, they become less and less likely to empathize with the victims of violence. A genre of media violence that typically trivializes the consequences to the victim is the classic cartoon -- Woody Woodpecker, for example. In a study we just published, we showed not only that watching Woody could increase boys' endorsement of aggressive solutions to problems, but that empathy instructions could prevent this effect from occurring.

In our study, second- through sixth-grade boys were randomly assigned one of three groups: (1) a group who watched the cartoon without instructions; (2) a group who were asked, before viewing, to think about the feelings of the man in the cartoon (this was the tree-medic who was the target of Woody's unrelenting attacks); and (3) a control group, who didn't see a cartoon. As is frequently found in such studies, the boys who had just seen the violent cartoon without instructions scored higher on pro-violence attitudes than those in the control group (showing stronger agreement with statements like, "sometimes fighting is a good way to get what you want"). However, the boys who were asked to think about the victim's feelings showed no increase in pro-violence attitudes. As a side-effect, this empathy-promoting treatment reduced the degree to which the children found the cartoon funny. Promoting empathy may therefore have a dual benefit: First, intervening in the violence-promoting effect of viewing and second, reducing the attractiveness of viewing violence. If we can make children more critical of media violence, they may well choose to moderate their viewing on their own. Changing children's attitudes toward viewing violence should be an important component of anti-violence initiatives in schools.

Joining Together and Speaking Out. One of the greatest challenges to groups concerned with media violence is that it is difficult to communicate the message that media violence involves mental health risks. The greatest obstacle is that the media industries, which control the most effective way to communicate to a large audience, have a tremendous economic stake in media violence and are averse to disseminating our message. The obstruction is worse than just making it difficult for media violence critics to receive air time; in their coverage of the issue, the media repeatedly deny the established conclusions of research. For this reason, it is all the more important for schools and other grass-roots organizations to communicate with each other and with their members and stake-holders. This is also one reason I've put university teaching behind me and have dedicated a good deal of my time to communicating with parents, schools, and mental health and childcare specialists on the issue.

School personnel need to communicate with parents. Many teachers and school social workers tell me that they can see the effects of children's viewing spilling over into the classroom and the playground, but they find it difficult to enlist the parents' cooperation in finding solutions. Even many parents who are aware of the risks have found that "just saying 'no'" can backfire. So in addition to understanding the risks, parents need to learn strategies for enlisting their children's cooperation in making healthy media choices.

Parents need to talk to one another. Guiding their own children's viewing at home is only part of the process. Enlisting the cooperation of the parents of their children's friends is necessary, too. Other parents may find concerns about TV violence odd or "old fashioned" if they are unaware of the well-documented risks.

Children and adolescents need to be involved in the dialogue, too, in classrooms, in after-school activities, and in homes. Discussions can range from components of formal media literacy curricula to spontaneous responses to incidents in the school or to events in the media. Helping children to question the values that the media promote, as well as to become critical of their own choices for entertainment can encourage them to become more discerning adult media consumers.

Beyond speaking to each other, we need to speak out to the media industries in ways they will understand and heed. I often hear television station managers saying that they rarely get complaints about violence. Some say that when they've aired something controversial but have heard no protests, they took it as an endorsement and went on to present more of the same. It's important to pick up the phone and call a local station that airs something inappropriate or unhealthy in a context where many children are watching. An even better option is writing a letter to the station with copies to the local paper. If the paper prints it, the complaint will serve two functions - giving the station the negative feedback it needs and alerting other parents to problems they might not be aware of. And as more and more TV's have blocking capabilities, joining together to block a channel that is unresponsive to legitimate complaints may become a parent-action tactic of the future.

National politicians are responsive to parental input as well. Having testified before both houses of Congress, I know that TV ratings and the V-chip were made possible only because members of congress were hearing the concerns of their constituents. Most politicians and parents don't favor censorship (I certainly don't), but there is greater and greater support for promoting parental empowerment. The Federal Trade Commission is investigating the marketing of violence to children, and a bill was recently introduced in congress that would regulate the labeling of violent content in video games and other new media.

It is important to remember that actions like these do not amount to censorship - they do not prevent content from being produced or distributed; they simply help parents have a say in what their own children are exposed to. This is not censorship - it's a move toward returning parenting power to parents.

Most importantly, the greatest means we have to protect our children is through the promotion of public education. If public attitudes toward children's unfettered access to media violence can move in the direction of attitudes toward smoking or driving without a seatbelt, we will have made huge strides toward raising a healthier generation of young people.
 
 
 

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Recommended Reading

[More details and specific references to research are included in Dr. Cantor's recent presentation (Media Violence and Children's Emotions: Beyond the "Smoking Gun") at the American Psychological Association Conference. That paper is available on her web site.]
 

J. Cantor, "Mommy, I'm Scared": How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them. (San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace, 1998).

U. Carlsson, and C. von Feilitzen, Eds., Children and Media Violence. (Göteborg, Sweden: The UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen,1998).

J. H. Goldstein, Ed., Why We Watch: The Attractions of Violent Entertainment. (New York: Oxford University Press,1998).

W. J. Potter, Media Literacy. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998).

D. Walsh, Selling Out America's Children: How America Puts Profits Before Values and What Parents Can Do. (Minneapolis, MN: Fairview Press, 1994).
 
 
 

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Joanne Cantor, an internationally recognized expert on children and the mass media, is Professor Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she continues to do research and writing on the impact of the mass media on children. Her web site, www.joannecantor.com provides further information for parents and teachers. She can be reached at jrcantor@facstaff.wisc.edu.

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Sidebar on Mommy I'm Scared

Joanne Cantor, "Mommy, I'm Scared": How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do To Protect Them, (Harvest Books/Harcourt Brace, 1998; paperback, $13).
 

I wrote "Mommy, I'm Scared" to summarize the results of my research for an audience of parents, teachers, and others who are concerned with children's well-being. It includes information about child development that can be used to predict how children will respond to media depictions and to help them cope with what they see. In addition, it discusses why many children are drawn to media violence and advises how to talk to children about TV so as not to make the harmful stuff more attractive. It also explains TV and movie ratings and the V-chip and chronicles their development. I tried to produce a book that would be fun to read as well as educational. So beyond explaining my research in clear, simple language, I filled the book with vivid, first-person anecdotes (all true!) that have come out of my research or were supplied by my students over the years. I tried for a book that was a "good read," but that would also be a ready reference.
 

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Recommendations for Parents:

(1) Limit the amount of time your children spend watching television and playing video and computer games.

(2) Be especially concerned about children's media exposure before bedtime, and avoid placing media in a child's bedroom.

(3) Become aware of the content of the television, movies, and electronic games your children use, by acquiring whatever information is available from the ratings, by reading reviews and program descriptions, and by watching or using them beforehand or with your children.

(4) Monitor your own media use, and realize that your children may be affected by the programming you watch, even if they do not seem to be paying attention.

(5) Consider using various available blocking technologies, such as the V-chip, which is now required in all new televisions with a diagonal screen size of 13 inches or larger.

(6) Talk to your children about the media they use and help them place what they see in an appropriate context.

(7) Remember that developmental trends in how children perceive and interpret media can help you make wiser choices of programming for your children and help you undo the negative effects.
 

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Recommendations for Teachers and School Personnel:

(1) Help disseminate information about media violence to parents through newsletters, workshops, and meetings. Encourage parents to talk to each other and to their children.

(2) Help promote media literacy by involving discussions of media effects in classes

(3) Encourage everyone involved to make their concerns known and join together to organize for greater parental empowerment. Make a statement that will be heard by other parents, local media and entertainment establishments, news outlets, community groups, national organizations and politicians.

(4) Promote healthy family activities that are unrelated to mass media culture.
 

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A Guide to the Amended TV Parental Guidelines @

Children's Programs
 

TV-Y: All Children

TV-Y7: Directed to Older Children

FV: Fantasy Violence*

*Any intense violence in children's programming is labeled "fantasy violence."
 

General Programming
 

TV-G: General Audience

TV-PG: Parental Guidance Suggested

V: Moderate Violence

S: Sexual Situations

L: Infrequent Coarse Language

D: Some Suggestive Dialog

TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned

V: Intense Violence

S: Intense Sexual Situations

L: Strong Coarse Language

D: Intensely Suggestive Dialog

TV-MA: Mature Audience Only

V: Graphic Violence

S: Explicit Sexual Activity

L: Crude Indecent Language

@ Reprinted with permission from "Mommy, I'm Scared": How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them by Joanne Cantor (Harcourt Brace, 1998).

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