Tv: The Behavior Epidemic

TV :The Behavior Epidemic

In society today, TV and children spend a significant amount of time together on a daily basis. Children, ages 2-17, watch television on an average almost 25 hours per week or 3 Ð... hours a day. Almost one in five watch more than 35 hours of TV each week (Gentile & Walsh, 2002). Devoting this amount of time to TV on an on-going basis has resulted in certain repercussions. Behavior problems such as violence/aggression, deficient social skills, and sedentary lifestyles have all been proven consequences of too much TV. These effects are negative and are detrimental to the behavior of children.

Children can watch a variety of programming on TV but violent elements remain consistent in almost all programming. The average American child will see 200,000 acts of violence on TV by age 18 (Senate Judiciary Committee Staff Report. "Children, Violence, and the Media." 1999). Repeated viewing of violence causes children to become de-sensitized to the effects of the victims and less aware of the consequences of violent acts. TV glamorizes violence by depicting the acts as fun therefore children often imitate the violence they see. Imitation is a normal part of socialization for children into the early school years. However, repeated imitations of violence are destructive to a child's behavior because they are more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others. They are more likely to "strike out at playmates, argue, and disobey authority" according to the American Psychological Association Help Center. Studies have also shown that aggression due to violent television exposure not only effect the school age years but continue to effect a person into adulthood. It cannot be denied that TV violence causes behavior problems in children.

Social interaction and development are also suffering in children due to excessive television viewing. TV is an anti-social activity that requires no interaction whatsoever. Not only are most children watching TV mindlessly, they are also watching alone. Twenty percent of 2- to 7-year-olds, 46% of 8- to 12-year-olds, and 56% of 13- to 17-year-olds have TV's in their bedrooms (Gentile & Walsh, 2002). While children are being secluded from their families and friends, developing unsocial tendencies, they are not learning how to interact with others or how to develop socially. These children are not building bonds with family and friends but instead with the TV. This can result in children becoming introverted and shy. Development is also being delayed by the amount of time the imagination/creativity of a child is dormant. The over-stimulation of most television shows sends a message to children that they do not need to interact with others or use their own imagination to be entertained. "Psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim suggests that television retards social skills not just by depriving