JEANNE D. BECKMAN, PH.D.
LICENSED CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST
P.O. Box 544
WINNETKA, ILLINOIS 60093
Telephone (847)446-1251

Television Violence: 
What the Research Says About Its Effect on Young Children

© 1996 by Jeanne Beckman, Ph.D.

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This article is based primarily on information obtained from the following source: Huesmann, L. Rowell and Miller, Laurie S. (1994). Long-term effects of repeated exposure to media violence in childhood.  In L. Rowell Huesmann (ed.) Aggressive Behavior, (pp. 153-186), New York: Plenum Press.

    Does watching violence on television truly harm young children?  Some experts say that televised violence has a profound effect on children.  However, it's not difficult to find other "experts" who dismiss its effects, claiming that watching violent TV shows is no different than listening to fairy tales.  These conflicting statements tend to make parents give up the TV battle with their children.
As a developmental psychologist and a parent of three young children, I want to tell you what we already know regarding children's exposure to television violence.  There is a great deal of research which goes back over 20 years.  This research has followed the lives of real children viewing real television.  The message of this research is loud and clear:  Exposure to media violence causes children to behave more aggressively, both immediately and when they are older.  Those "experts" who say that media violence has no effect on children are ignoring the vast volumes of research in the same way as the "experts" who say that cigarette smoking does not cause cancer.

Some of the Specifics and Statistics which you should know includes:

• Children watch an average of over 28 hours of television per week.  By the time the average child reaches the age of twelve, he or she has witnessed over 8,000 murders.
  
• Children's television programs actually contain five times more violence than the average prime time hour of TV.
  
• By the age of 8, aggression becomes so ingrained in a child that it predicts adult aggression.
  
• Children who spend more time watching violent television programming are rated more poorly by their teachers, rated more poorly by their peers, have fewer problem-solving skills, and are more likely to get in trouble with the law as teenagers and young adults.
  
• Those children most at risk are the ones who most prefer television violence:  More aggressive children watch more violent television and actually prefer more violent television than their less aggressive peers.
  

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Dr. Jeanne Beckman
P.O. Box 544
Winnetka, IL 60093
Telephone: 847-446-1251

Email: webmaster@jeannebeckman.com