Kids Who Watch TV Are More Aggressive, Study Shows
Categories: Toddlers, Preschoolers, Fun & Activities, Safety, Development, Media
Young children who watch television may become aggressive later on. Credit: Imbecillsallad, Flickr
Watching TV is not good for young children, according to a new study.
A new report suggests that tuning into television puts 3-year-olds at a greater risk of aggressive behavior, which can cause problems as they mature. The study used data from 3,128 mothers of children born from 1998 to 2000 in 20 large American cities.
"Early childhood aggression can be problematic for parents, teachers and childhood peers and sometimes is predictive of more serious behavior problems to come, such as juvenile delinquency, adulthood violence and criminal behavior," according to background information in the report that was included in an article published by PsychCentral.com.
The latest study builds on previous findings of other studies that draw connections between aggressive behavior and TV, child psychologist Douglas Tynan says in an interview with ParentDish.
"There are no two sides to this issue," says Tynan, who serves as the director of programming for Nemours Health and Prevention Services.
The study also found that most children watch more television than the one- to two-hour daily limit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Sixty-five percent of the mothers reported that their 3-year-olds watched more than two hours of television per day. On average, children were exposed to an additional 5.2 hours of household TV use per day.
Tynan said he's not opposed to children watching TV as long as their parents follow the AAP guidelines.
"TV's like dessert," he said. "A steady diet of it is not good."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Elizabeth 11-23-2009 @ 3:37PM
How is it that children who watch TV nowadays are more aggressive when there is less violence in children's programming now than ever? When I was a kid, they still showed the old Bugs Bunny cartoons where Daffy Duck gets shot like six times and is still okay. I think the most violent thing Spongebob ever did was...use a sling shot? I don't know.
I do find it interesting that twenty years ago parents were lobbying for less violence in children's programming, and now children are more aggressive.
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Human 11-23-2009 @ 4:59PM
The study states that kids "were EXPOSED to an additional 5.2 hours..." TV per day on average, so that means about 7 hours a day. TV on constantly, bombarding sensitive young minds with wrestling, murder/horror, every kind of crime, to say nothing of violent video game addiction, in their own rooms too... no wonder they get so little sleep! It's way more graphic than Daffy Duck. No wonder they don't feel like learning, when they have so much adrenaline pumping up their systems. Then who needs a parent to talk to when you've got the TV?
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Geri Lane 12-12-2009 @ 5:59PM
I agree. I believe it really depends on what the child is watching. My granddaughter loves "Dora the Explorer." We watch it with her sometimes to monitor the content and messages presented. So far, she's learned about "teamwork," "sharing," and can count to ten in Spanish. Dora is interactive and encourages the child to participate in the adventure.
I personally think that children's programming today is far better than what I had as a child, because even though I loved "Gilligan's Island" and "The Brady Bunch," there really wasn't much educational going on there. It was just mindless entertainment.
And yes, watching TV is a spectator sport, but so is watching a sporting event or a play for that matter. Just as you can choose to expose a child to educational toys, you can choose to expose a child to educational children's programming. If parents take the time to interact with their child while they're watching it, television can become a time for bonding and sharing your values.
If some children who watch TV are more violent, I would suspect that in these households television is being used as a babysitter, with very little parental monitoring or interaction.
I have posted a long list of educational toys, DVDs, and video games on my blog. Enjoy!
Peter 11-23-2009 @ 4:49PM
Before this gets out of hand...
From the cited report:
Children who were spanked in the past month (β = 1.24, P < .001), lived in a disorderly neighborhood (β = 2.07, P < .001), and had a mother reporting depression (β = 0.92, P < .001) and parenting stress (β = 0.16, P < .001) were significantly more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior.
The correlation between children and violence evidently has more than just television as a factor.
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Heather 11-24-2009 @ 8:11AM
According to thier stats the neighborhood plays a bigger role then watching tv.
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Laur 12-01-2009 @ 2:04PM
I'm soooo tired hearing about tv and agressive behaviours. I understand that it's a possibility, but I think a majority of the children it affects may already have these types of dispositions that just haven't developed yet...
Here's a case study: I'm 23, a girl, watched violent movies, tv, and played violent video games all as young as preschool age...AND grew up watching my older brother get hit by my father...the result: Not one feeling of agression. Never had any motivation to physically act on my anger, never even pushed a kid on the playground or threw anything at the wall. Yes, I practiced karate with the neighborhood kids, but it was the early '90s and karate was cool (thanks to the MMPR and 3 Ninjas) plus I was always the Pink Ranger, and she combined gymnastics with karate, and to a 6 year old tomboy like myself, I thought that was pretty cool..
I think personality has a lot to do with it and parenting. My mother was a saint. She never raised her voice and she always talked to us when we saw violence by saying "Now this is just a movie, you NEVER hurt anyone. If that happened in real life, that person would go to jail and the person being hit could possibly die..."
Now before people get up in arms saying things like "Well that's great for you but..." and that kind of stuff, I'm saying that people are so quick to blame media and pop culture for behavior that they forget that they are the big cheese for raising their children. People need to take time and talk to their children, spend time with them and if you see certain tendencies in them such as violence or whatever, than maybe keeping them from those types of shows would help...but not as much as talking to them and setting an example yourself...
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Llly 12-05-2009 @ 6:49AM
I think what gets lost here is it shouldn't so much be about the quantity as the quality of what kids are allowed to watch. There are so many educational shows for children these days and they can learn so much from them. NO TV SHOULD NOT BE USED AS A BABYSITTER, but when they exposed to age appropriate TV, it's a great tool in helping them learn.
I am a mother of a 5year old, and as long as what WE watch is educational I don't have a problem with her watching TV.
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Lauren 12-29-2009 @ 7:58PM
While over exposing young children to media and television does have its drawbacks, I disagree with it being the sole contributor to violent behavior. I am seventeen years old. I have watched violent television and movies my entire life. I could remember playing violent themed video games with my older brother when I was very young. My parents also would spank my brother and I when our behavior was unacceptable. The result? I have not been in one fight and have no behavioral problems. I am a straight A student and have a generally laid-back personality. Action-filled movies are my favorite genre, along with equally violent video games. While such content can encourage undesirable behavior in children, it is not the definite cause. Poor parenting in my opinion is more to blame. While my parents weren't thrilled with my taste in movies and games, they were very clear about what behavior was appropriate and did not tolerate violent actions from my brother and I. Some parents just need someone to blame for their lack of discipline and discretion when it comes to their own children.
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