Visual Violence Influence on Children

Visual Violence Influence on Children

Visual Violence Influence on Children

Exposure to violent television images impacts children’s behavior because the brain is in the process of physical and emotional development. Television is a very important part of society and most households have at least one television. Entire families rely on television for entertainment and children are exposed to television images since their very first days of life. It is important for society to re-evaluate the different aspects of the child development and the influence that violent television images have on the child behavior.

Even if children are aware of the difference between reality and television images; their brain works differently. The eyes are the instrument that captures images and sends the information to the brain for processing. The brain receives the image and generates the same activity whether it is a television image and a real event. In the article “Exposure of US Adolescent to Extremely Violent Movies” explain how the brain does not differentiate between an image and a real event. “Brain-imaging studies have suggested that a child’s brain does not distinguish between real acts of violence and viewing media violence” (p. 1) “Even if children on a conscious level, report knowing the difference between entertainment violence and real violence, their brains respond as if they were being exposed to a real threat” (p.2).

The brain shows same level of activity when the child is looking at a violent television image or a genuine violent act. Images help human beings in different ways; it is part of our survival mechanism, helps us differentiate the mood of other people through body language, etc. When viewing violent television images the brain detects it as an image and generates stress in the viewer. A child’s brain is in development and violent images can affect his or her behavior. A child’s behavior can be affected negatively by violent television images because of the way that the brain receives and processes images. According to Slotsve, Del Carmen and Sarver, and Watkins “The limbic system of the brain (the emotional part) is designated as the image-making center. They believe that the limbic system develops more slowly when a young person spends half of their life in front of the television set.” (Television Violence & Aggression, 2008, p.26)

Social behavior is a skill learned from childhood. Children imitate behaviors they see on grownups, especially if it is someone they look up to. Children tend to copy actions watched on television. Everyone has witnessed and felt the influence of television and movies. What we see can either motivate us to reach goals or make us cry about someone else’s bad fortune can makes us feel fear, anger, tension, etc. Movies and television tells stories that can influence