Violence and your Child’s Education

There is no doubt that our society has become increasingly violent as the decades press onward. From television shows to video games to books and even newspapers, our children today are inundated with thousands of violent images a year. Some may say that these images and ideas are not damaging our children, so how is this constant blatant display of violence affecting them?

From all of the studies that have been performed, the overwhelming answer to whether or not children are affected by violent images is YES, they are affected – and not in a good way. The American Academy of Pediatrics (APP) states:

“Extensive research evidence indicates that media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed.” ¹

Violence On TV

Amazingly enough, two-thirds of all programming contains some form of violence ², with most programming designed for our youngsters containing more violence than programs created for adults! ³ This is frightening when you consider that children under 8 will often imitate the violence they see as they cannot differentiate between what is real and what is imaginary ⁴ and how even having the television on at home reportedly induces more aggressive behavior in little 3 year old children ⁵.

Violence in Video Games

Video games, of course, are another form of media that has parents panicking. Humans running around with guns, cars smashing into one another, and several games containing aggressive and lewd sexual behaviors… do these games have an affect on our children too? Though it has been harder to pinpoint how video games impact our children’s behavior, recent studies have shown that for a short period of time, playing violent video games will increase aggressive behaviors in a young child. ⁶

How is Affects Education

So how does violence affect our children’s education? Aggressive and violent children tend to not be properly socially acclimated, which affects many aspects of their life. They have trouble making friends, which may lead to teasing, which may lead to them acting out against these children (physically and/or verbally) and possibly being expelled from their school. Not only does that cause your child feel dejected and lost, but changing schools is incredibly hard on your child mentally, emotionally and physically. They may begin to withdraw from those around them unless there is quick and appropriate intervening by a parent and/or councilor. Otherwise, this child may very well drop out from school all together later on in life, feeling that it is “useless” to even attempt at an education.

And that frustration oftentimes only leads to further feelings of being ostracized by society, which then leads to anger and violence and more aggression.

There are things that you can do as a parent to help your child both understand violence and learn that it is not acceptable behavior:

KNOW what your child is watching. Ask them what they like to watch and sit down with them while they are watching. See if the program is appropriate for their age and personality (i.e. if your child is sensitive and fearful, a scary TV program is not appropriate).

TALK to your kids. If something violent comes on the TV, discuss with them why it happened and come up with alternative solutions the characters could have come up with on the show. Make your own TV storyline for that particular episode (young kids love this form of problem solving).

TEACH your kids about the media. Start teaching them at a young age why media tries to portray things the way that they do. You can begin by analyzing commercials for toys: What about that commercial makes them want that particular toy? What were their favorite colors in the commercial? Phrase things in a way that your child can understand.

PREVENT your child from watching TV. North American children spend far too much time in front of a screen. Get outside and play with your kids or read a book. This type of “together” time will help forge and strengthen your bond with your kids for years and years to come (I have yet to find a study that proves television can do that!).

References

• 1. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Public Education. Media violence. Pediatrics. 2001 Nov;108(5):1222-6. Available at:http://aappolicy.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;108/5/1222.
• 2. Federman J, ed. National Television Violence Study. Vol 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1998
• 3. Federman J, ed. National Television Violence Study. Vol 3. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 1998
• 4. American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Public Education. Media violence. Pediatrics. 2001 Nov;108(5):1222-6.
• 5. Manganello JA, Taylor CA. Television exposure as a risk factor for aggressive behavior among 3-year-old children. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009 Nov;163(11):1037-45.
• 6. Funk, J.B. (1993). Reevaluating the Impact of Video Games. Clinical Pediatrics 32 (2, Feb): 86-90. PS 521 243.

photo by Wynand Delport