How does violence on TV and video games affect children?

Most of us know that children shouldn’t be witness to violent acts but some of us still believe that ‘virtual violence’, being the kind that actors or cartoon characters portray in movies, is not as harmful. After all, it isn’t real, we argue. But virtual violence can affect children deeply.

David Hill writes that virtual violence is any act of aggression your child might absorb through TV, movies, video games, social media and other digital channels. It includes the simulated violence in blockbuster films and amateur videos and the animated violence in cartoons and interactive games. It needn’t involve physical harm because aggressive, threatening, racist or hateful statements can be damaging too. News reports of real-life tragedies also deliver an endless loop of virtual violence.

What children see (or play) influences how they behave

Many years of research prove that virtual violence gives rise to aggressive thoughts, feelings and actions in children. Experts agree that children are deeply influenced by brutality wherever they experience it and whether it is real or simulated. Through it, children come to believe that aggression is normal and acceptable and this prompts them to act out what they see or hear. Exposure to violence also affects their mental health and can lead to depression and anxiety.

Practical steps to protect children and teens from the effects of virtual violence

It isn’t possible to shield all children from all forms of virtual violence but there are some steps that you can take to help minimize the harm it can do to their health and well-being.

Limit what very young childrenwatch and play. If you have children under age 6, try to exclude violent content. Young children cannot distinguish fantasy from reality. To them, even violence that seems cartoonish to us seems real.

Use parental controls and media ratings. Many devices offer you control over what your children may view or play and they can certainly be helpful if you learn how to use them. But no programme can replace your involvement in your children’s choices. Young children should always ask permission before they watch or play video games on any device. Learn more about TV content ratings and movie ratings that can help you choose wisely for your family.
Watch or play with your children. Being involved has tremendous power. Explain that you’re interested in the things they like to watch and play. Sit down with them and gauge the level of virtual violence in their favourite shows, movies, games or apps. You’ll almost certainly be surprised at what you learn!
When enjoying entertainment with your child, take time to talk with them about it. Ask how violent scenes made them feel. Show interest in their opinions without arguing with them. You can share your own views without suggesting that any single opinion is totally right or wrong. For example, you might say, “I can understand why that character was angry. But I hate to see people get violent instead of finding other ways to settle their differences.” These conversations can compare what your child is seeing with your family values such as respect, tolerance, kindness and mutual understanding.

A single violent movie or video game will not make a child violent. What matters is the amount and intensity of virtual violence children absorb over time. We can protect our children’s health by monitoring what they watch and play and putting common-sense rules in place, based on their age, temperament, and unique needs.

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Martin Doherty, writing for The Conversation, says that at the age of about four, children reach important milestones in brain development.

One of these is a huge improvement in understanding others’ thoughts and feelings. This is the start of empathy. Another is in spatial thinking—understanding how objects are positioned and related. This is the beginning of the ability to read maps.

Martin and his colleague, Catherine Sayer, conducted a study with 175 two to five-year-olds to explore how children are able to use scale models to figure out where something is in the real world. At about four, children are able to use a scale model of a room to work out where something is. We thought that this might result from children’s understanding of how one thing can represent something else. But we actually found that four-year-olds’ ability to use scale models came from their spatial abilities.

At the same age, children start to understand that someone’s behaviour is due to what that person believes, not necessarily what is really the case. This has interesting consequences.

If you’ve played hide-and-seek with young children, you may have noticed that they aren’t always very good at it. They love the ritual of looking in all the wrong places first, but beforehand they may tell you where they are going to hide, hide in the same place every time, or not be especially hidden.

After their fourth birthday, they get much better at hide and seek. They understand that the seeker looks in the wrong places because they don’t know where the hider is.

At about three to four children also start to tell lies. They realize they can make someone believe something that isn’t true.

Understanding symbols

Martin’s earlier research with fellow psychologist Josef Perner suggests that four-year-olds don’t just start to understand how others’ minds work. Figuring this out is part of the development of an understanding of “representation”—that symbols, like thoughts, words, or pictures, can be used to stand for something else.

Children start to think about how words relate to objects. This means, for instance, knowing that “animal” can refer to something you already have a name for, such as “rabbit”. This might help children learn the new word.

Their ability to use a understand the components of pictures also improves around this age. Very young children use a lot of trial and error to complete a jigsaw, picking up random pieces to see if they fit. By the time they are about four years old, they start to use the picture as a guide, trying to connect lines and match bits of colour, while checking the guide picture on the box lid.

Developmental experiments

Another ability children develop at around four is using scale models. A classic set of developmental experiments involved a model of a regular household room. The real room had typical furniture—sofa, table, cupboard and so on—and the model had miniature versions laid out in the same way.

Children were shown where something was hidden in the model and told to find an object hidden in “the same place” in the room. Children of around four can find the object using the identical layouts. If shown a sticker under a particular chair in the model room, for example, they can go straight to the “same” chair in the other room. This is the fundamental understanding required to read maps.

Adults see scale models and maps as representations. Maps represent a town or a country. A scale model of, say, the Eiffel Tower represents the real thing. At first, Martin suspected children’s ability to use scale models is more evidence of understanding representation at this age.

He was wrong. Instead, the researchers found that this ability is based on a development in children’s spatial abilities that also occurs at about four. This is the ability to think about spaces and where objects are within them. Spatial abilities help with maths skills, and good spatial ability is linked to an interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Their experiment was simple. They compared the model room task with a test of understanding how representation works. The two abilities develop around the same age, but they found they were not related. Children who could do one task couldn’t necessarily do the other.

They also had a test of purely spatial ability. Children who passed the model room task also passed the spatial task. So it looks like the model room task relied on children‘s spatial thinking.

They don’t yet know why two important but apparently unrelated abilities arise at the same time. Perhaps it’s related to changes in the growing brain at this interesting age.

Provided by The Conversation.

Image supplied by Freepik.