Blurring the Image

TV Fantasy vs Reality

Boys aren't the only ones who are influenced by violence on
television. Girls are affected, too. Across the board, more aggressive
kids watch more violent programs, identify more with TV characters, and
see violence as appearing to be more like real life than do less
aggressive kids.

According to Leonard Eron, Ph.D., research professor emeritus at
the University of Chicago, watching violent television leads to violent
behavior not only among rural boys but among suburban Chicago youngsters.
And others have found the same effects in Australia, Finland, Israel, and
Poland.

Media violence alone does not account for the development of
serious antisocial behavior. But its effect seems to be independent of
all other influences.

Watching violence on television, says Eron, leads to heightened
aggressiveness, which in turn leads to more violence-viewing on TV.
"Children who behave aggressively are less popular—and, perhaps because
their relations with their peers tend to be unsatisfying, less popular
children watch more television and therefore view more violence." From
TV, they learn new techniques of aggression, which makes them even less
popular with their peers, which in turn drives them back to TV.

Poor academic performance also drives them deeper into TV violence,
Eron found. Those who fail in school watch more TV, which isolates them
from their peers and gives them less time to work for academic success.
The cycle of aggression, academic failure, social failure, and
violence-viewing is so tightly bound that, sadly, it perpetuates
itself.