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Television Violence

Methods of Biblical Counseling

Is Television Violence Threatening to Americas Youth?

Does the violence scattered across the screens in the homes of Americans cause the unsuspecting watcher to commit sordid acts of wanton violence? While many people seem to hold to this line of thinking there are strong arguments that buffet the conclusion and insist that there is no promotion of violence in what is paraded in living rooms across the land. A wide range of research has been conducted in an attempt to establish scientific data, among this research three main types of studies are evident: Laboratory studies, natural setting studies and correlational studies. Laboratory studies tend to suggest that the negative effects are more clearly visible among people who are already predisposed to violence and that other factors influence them to behave violently and their actions are not stimulated solely by what has been viewed on television. Natural setting studies use violent and non-violent programs to test the outcome on their subjects while corelational studies gather data from television viewing behavior and compare it to data on aggressiveness. The goal is to find a relationship between viewing and aggressive behaviors. Many of the advocates of these particular studies tend to believe that there is little relation to what is seen on television and what people actually do. In other words "there is little convincing evidence that in natural settings, viewing television violence causes people to be more aggressive" (Lynn 167-168). Although many people may consider television violence a threat, others believe that the explicit acts of violence pollute the minds of America's children and teen-agers, causing parents to take action.
Television violence is a threat to children. Psychiatrist Thomas E. Radecki, director of the National Coalition, has worked hard to reduce the amount of violence broadcast on television.
According to Radecki, children who see violent...