Can Television Violence Influence Behavior?

In the article "Violence On Television- What Do Children Learn? What Can Parents Do?" the American Psychological Association discusses violence on television. The article provides research that shows three major problems that watching violence on television can cause for children. One problem the article discusses is that children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. It states that children who see a lot of violence on television are less bothered with it. This makes them less inclined to to get help when they witness acts of violence in real life. This proves very true, the reason behind it being that violence becomes part of the "norm" for children. They are so use to seeing violence on television they do not believe there is anything wrong with it. They do not realize the real life effects that come from violence. The second effect of seeing violence on television is that children may become more fearful of the world around them. Seeing violence in cartoons may seem funny to children, but seeing real life violence such as the news could bring fear to many children. If a child hears about situations such as school shooting or an animal attack they could become very frightened about the world around them. The last piece of research shows that children who watch violence on TV may be more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways towards others. This also comes from children not realizing the real consequences of their actions. An example would be if a child sees a cartoon character get run over by a car and then the character walks away, unharmed. The child may not realize the effects and consequences if these situations happened in real life.
The article states that parents need to step in and supervise what children are watching. If a child witnesses a violent act on TV it is important to sit down with the child and explain to them why this action was not appropriate. So children will realize the difference between right and wrong and understand fiction from reality. This will help children as the get older. It will encourage child to make the right decisions when they encounter violence.

American Psychological Association." Violence on television-What Do Children learn? What Can Parents Do?.
Goshgarian, Gary. What Matters in America. New York: Pearson Education Inc., 2007. 248-252.