Children said 11 September was
the most violence they had seen on TV
Posted on 09/22/2003 8:44:56 AM PDT by yankeedame
Last Updated: Monday, 22 September, 2003, 12:51 GMT 13:51 UK
Children 'distressed' by TV news
Children said 11 September was
the most violence they had seen on TV
Children find violence on TV news more disturbing than anything else on screen, a study has suggested. Children could easily tell the whether violence was real or not - and showed "little lasting impact" from violence they knew was fictional, it said.
But major news stories - such as 11 September - had the "greatest effect" on them, the report concluded.
Screen watchdogs and the BBC surveyed children between nine and 13 to find out how they viewed violent scenes.
The report said they accepted far-fetched TV dramas and cartoon-like film violence more easily because they knew they were made up.
Few major news stories had an impact because many children thought most were "boring".
Children can tell the difference between violence in news and soaps
But big stories, such as 11 September, war in Iraq and the killing of schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, did get their attention.
Those events made children feel "threatened" and "personally vulnerable", the report said.
"In turn, this can lead to genuine anxieties and changes in behaviour," the report said.
Children are most worried by scenes involving other children or that are closer to home - while other, more remote stories have less impact, it said.
'Challenge'
And unlike adults, children did not need to see acts of violence - but were more concerned by the consequences - the study said.
The report said the findings presented "a real challenge to broadcasters".
The Independent Television Commission (ITC), which was among the groups that compiled the report, said news broadcasters may need to consider giving warnings about potentially disturbing reports.
Professor David Morrison from the Institute of Communication Studies at the University of Leeds said for children, said the events of 11 September were "almost universally described as the most violent images they had seen on television".
'Getting worse'
"Children in the sample saw a high level of violence in the news, whereas adults in the previous study considered there to be little violence," he said.
"The news was more violent for them than for adults because it was real and what was real might become real for them."
The report was compiled by the ITC, the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the British Board of Film Classification and the BBC.
It also said children had the impression that the world was more violent now than in their parents' day.
The report said the findings presented "a real challenge to broadcasters".
I think what is worrying the BBC is if the kids get too much direct or unfiltered information how will the BBC be able to mold them into mind-dead liberals.
Could I ask you a question? How did you feel about the progress of the war at that time? I mean, did you feel like things were going well? That the war was going to be won by the US?
And also, the amount of info you were getting back then (I mean you personally), would you say that it was roughly equivalent to the amount of info the average American was getting? Was the info detailed or was it more general in coverage?
I have my own reasons for asking these questions. It hinges around the idea that we are actually less informed in many situations because we have too much info. Shining light on a subject is a good way to help you understand what the subject is. Too much light blinds. Too much info can blind as well. Too much info about specific details that leaves out other "balancing" details distorts. All the while we feel that we are more informed than we were in the past and I start to wonder if that's true or not.
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