Family Television: Love or Violence?

By Royal E. Alsup, Ph.D.

Television penetrates the boundaries of the family, bringing outside values and mores to the children that are sometimes in conflict with the parents' beliefs and traditions. The clashing of these two systems-the institution of the family and the institution of the mass media-affects the child's life. It is not a cause and effect situation, but a relationship between the child and what he is exposed to in the mass media.

The effects of television viewing on children have been studied in the child development research. Studies indicate that eighty percent of American prime-time television shows contain at least one violent act. Children who spend a lot of time with television become used to violence, witnessing portrayed violence doesn't disturb them and they seem to become highly aggressive as young adults. We have all encountered young children practicing the latest martial arts technique they saw on television, trying to kick their peers or siblings with their foot or throwing a karate punch at one of their friends. This example shows how watching violent television transfers to the child's life and how the violence he just experienced can influence the child's behavior after the watching is over.

Television programming often stereotypes Blacks, Asians and Hispanics as violent and antisocial. Television and videos draw portraits of handsome bad guys, such as Columbian or African-American pimps or drug pushers who demonstrate antisocial behavior. They seem to have it all together and they are so attractive that their violent behavior is very appealing to the child. Their parents teach many ethnic children that they are somebody and that the entertainment world with its negative stereotypes of non-white people is trying to make them a nobody. The white children viewing this type of imagery get a distorted picture of their African-American, American Indian, Asian American, Mexican American and other ethnic peers. These distorted representations make children afraid of people of different ethnicity than themselves and makes them feel the world is more dangerous then it really is. Watching many hours of violent television and video viewing instills anxiety and fear in children of all races.

When the parent chooses violent television shows or the parent brings violent videos home for the family to watch, the child may get the message that violence and antisocial behavior are acceptable. If the parent expresses approval of brutality as a means to subdue the bad guy or to defend the victims, then the acceptance of the violence is magnified. Social learning takes place as the children witness their parents' approval and appreciation of "violence in the name of good." Repeated exposure to antisocial behavior on television and videos may lead to increased levels of antisocial behavior on the part of the child. Parents can protect their children from the dangers of television if right after viewing a program or film they have a conversation about what they have seen. Talking about the pain that a perpetrator causes the victim builds empathy in the children. Explaining the severe penalty one pays for inappropriate aggressive and hostile actions indicates the parents' disapproval of violent and antisocial behavior.

There is a lot of gender stereotyping on television. Parents need to tell their children that television images are distorted views of what real people are like. The view of some is that children who watch a lot of commercial television are likely to hold more traditional views of men and women than their peers who watch little television. Gender and sexual stereotyping of male dominance and female submissiveness is detrimental to male and female relationships. It lowers the self-concept and self-esteem of young girls and artificially inflates the self-concept and self-esteem of young boys. The sexual exploitation of women in television commercials tells a young girl that she can be beautiful and have the man of her dreams if she dresses sexy, wears the right perfume, or buys the right brand of jeans. Many of the female models that are presented as sexually alluring in commercials are actually teenagers, or even preteens. This type of stereotyping and sexual advertising makes young girls vulnerable to a multitude of sexual exploitation. Television commercials distort the male mind by making them think they can be mature men and have the woman of their dreams if they drink the best beer. The commercial image of the beer drinking, football star with the beautiful sexy woman makes a young man vulnerable to a distorted self-image. Suggesting that economic success and drinking the right beer will ensure that he can have, or worse, take any woman he wants instills a false superiority.

Middle class families cannot afford to buy the luxuries the commercials pander to their child audiences. Starting at about ten years of age children compare themselves to the television child celebrities and to the abundance of wonderful material possessions that are shown as part of the good life. The realization of the middle class child is that his real self cannot match the world of the ideal child of television fame. The wetting of the appetite for the child to covet material objects to make himself feel good is the beginning of the maintenance of an addictive society. Greed and addiction are seen in the teenager who gets Christmas gifts that don't compare to what is being advertised on television commercials. It is difficult for the child to hide his feelings of disappointment. Not being concerned about others they hurt the ones who are trying to do something special for them. They cannot see the love involved because of being disappointed that the gift doesn't meet the latest television fad.

Television in its positive aspect is represented by shows such as Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood that entertain preschool children and influence their mental and emotional growth. Both programs promote children's self-esteem if preschool teachers and parents bring special attention to the program and teach children to rehearse and role-play what they experienced. Mister Rogers helps children as he promotes positive confirmation by repeatedly stressing "There is only one person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are." He is saying, "Come as you are, you are a wonderful child." This is more than acceptance; it is full confirmation. Children who watch Mister Rogers' Neighborhood seem to feel better about themselves and feel more self-love as well as compassion for their preschool peers. This is television at its best. When a child is in a home of domestic violence he can use Mister Rogers to console himself that he is somebody "because Mister Rogers will take me with my hostile family and my inner brokenness." This is neither escape nor denial, as some would have us believe, but a healthy way for a child in a hostile home to cope with his situation and to save his self-esteem. It is too bad that Public Television is under attack by several people in our society.

Television can be used with older children to help encourage prosocial behavior. The current movie, Higher Learning, triggers a lot of core issues with adolescents, as does To Kill a Mockingbird. These movies can be shown on home video with teenagers and are good discussion topics for families to interact creatively with their children. Television has given us the technology that allows us to show these movies in our homes to promote positive family conversation. The American Movie Channel presents movies like Moby Dick that can be used to stimulate a teenager's desire to read the book. Moby Dick is excellent in showing our separation from nature and the anger it produces. This can generate a whole discussion around the pollution of the environment and our lack of control over getting cancer. Then again, we can look at our TV guide and plan a family activity around a program of special interest. The Learning Channel recently had a program called The Human Animal that would have been excellent for teenagers and their family to watch and to discuss. All could have enjoyed a family discussion on the issues such as creativity and love that the program featured. Such programs provide many different alternatives and flexible viewing for children, teens and their parents to watch together. Children might not want to do the family discussions at first, but in my experience the children's participation depends on the attitude of the parents. If the parents feel positive and genuinely upbeat the children will be inspired and they will look forward to having the family meetings.

Television as a current technology does not have to leave us feeling victimized to values and beliefs that are outside our family systems. With sensitive and creative participation with our children, television can be used to promote family bonding, love, self-esteem and security. It can be used to build altruism, empathy and caring. Ultimately we need to make sure that the institution of the family and the institution of the media can live in harmony.

References

Shaffer, D. R. (1993). Developmental Psychology: Childhood and adolescence. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Steuer, F. (1994). The psychological development of children. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.

Zigler, E. F. and Stevenson, M. F. (1993). Children in a changing world. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole.