A major topic of conversation nowadays is whether or not violence on television causes children to behave more violently. Shortly after I began to research this topic, I realized that it is not a clear cut issue. Evidence can be easily found to support each position. In the following essay I will examine the different positions that can be taken on this topic and try to form my own view on the affect violent TV has on children.
The first position I will examine is the one in which it is believed that, without a doubt, violent TV increases the likelihood that a child will behave in a violent manner. This stands is examined in the Maclean's article entitled "Power to the people. Television's teen Rangers Kick up a storm”. The author of this article, Particia Chrisholm, explains a heated debate over the affects that the kids show "The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" has on children. According to this article, the "hemeted lycra covered Rangers" acts as a bad influence on children. Many parents have come to believe that the childen try to act like the kids hreo's. A cocerned mother, Kathryn Flannery went so far as to petition the CRTC. The CRTC responded by saying that "the show is avassively to violent."(Chrisholm 1994 p.52) As a result of the petiton, many stations voluntarily refused to air the controversial kids show. This case shows the power that people can have over the CRTC. Unfortunately, the parents were not able to entirely shield their children from the Power Rangers TV show. Many US broadcasters, available on cable, continued to air the show.
Another study that supports this belief that TV violence causes children to act more violently is an experiment conducted by Leonard Eron and his collegues. In these studies, Leonard Eron and his collegues studied childern for a number of years and measuread peer ratings obtained from each child's classmates. By doing this, they could see if violent TV changed the attitudes of the children. In the end, it was...