Study Finds Most Kids Exposed to Violence

 

A Department of Justice survey of adolescents ages 17 and younger reported on adolescents who had been exposed to violence by being personally victimized, witnessing violence, or hearing about violence or threats of violence against a friend or relative at school or at home. One statistic in the report stated that 20% of teens aged 14 to 17 reported having personally seen a real-life shooting.

But given that, on average, American youth witness more than 1,000 murders, rapes, and assaults per year on television alone, the role of media violence in shaping young people’s attitudes and behaviors is far greater, and has more far-reaching consequences, than just those reported on by the DoJ.  

 

Many scientific studies have consistently shown that children exposed to media violence can cause intense fear and anxiety in children and teenagers, often leading to disorders like obsessive thoughts and sleep disturbances.

 

TV violence also desensitizes young viewers to real-life violence, with studies demonstrating that children and teens repeatedly exposed to media exhibit less sympathy for victims and are less willing to intervene in a conflict or even call an adult for help. And because TV violence tends to be shown as humorous rather than realistic, rarely focuses on the victim’s pain or other long-term consequences, and often makes violence look exciting or glamorous, watching such violence frequently leads children and teens imitate aggressive behavior.

 

Though of course not every child will commit violent acts, the evidence of hundreds of individual studies suggests that about 10 percent of real-life violence may be attributed to media violence. In a 2004 survey, over 98% of pediatricians said that media violence affects childhood aggression.

 

► To read the PTC’s study of violence on TV, click here.