FREE ESSAY ON SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY AND T.V. VIOLENCE

SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY AND T.V. VIOLENCE

DON-RAY TV Violence on Children
Introduction
In the United States children watch an average of three to fours hours of television
daily (Cantor & Wilson, 1984, p. 28). Television can be a powerful influence in
developing value systems and shaping behavior. Unfortunately, much of today's television
programming is violent. Studies of the effects of TV violence on children and teenagers
have found that children may become insensitive to violence. Consequently, they tend to
gradually accept violence as a way to solve problems by imitating the violence they
observe on television; and they identify with certain characters, good or bad. Therefore,
extensive viewing of television violence by children causes greater aggressiveness
(Rosenthal, 1986). 
Time Spent Watching Television
Typically, children begin watching television at a very early age, sometimes as early as
six months, and are fervent viewers by the time that they are two or three years old
(Murray, 1997). The amount of time that American children spend watching TV is
remarkable, an average of four hours a day, 28 hours a week, 2,400 hours a year, nearly
18,000 hours by the time they graduate from high school (Chen, 1994, p.23). In
comparison, they spend a mere 13,000 hours in school, from kindergarten through twelfth
grade (Chen, 1994). It appears children spend more time watching TV than any other
activity. Studies have shown that children, in the hours between school and dinnertime,
spend nearly 80 percent of the time watching television (Chen, 1994). Children living in
poverty watch even more television than average -- some up to seven hours a day. 
TV Violence on Children
By the time a poor child graduates from high school, he or she may have watched as many
as 22,000 hours of TV (Chen, 1994). Bandura, (1973) indicates that sometimes, watching a
single violent program can increase aggressiveness. Children who watch television shows
in which violence is very realistic, frequently repeated or unpunished, are more likely
to imitate what they see, ( p.25). Children with emotional, behavioral, or learning
problems may be more easily influenced by TV violence (Bandura, 1977). The impact of TV
violence may be immediately evident in the child's behavior or may surface later, and
young people can even be affected when the family atmosphere shows no tendency toward
violence (Cantor & Wilson, 1984). Therefore, while TV violence is not the only cause of
aggressive or violent behavior, it is clearly a significant factor.
The Good in Television
Not all television is bad. There are several excellent programs dedicated to young
children. Some programs incorporate entertainment and education to help children learn
and identify characters, shapes and colors. Programs such as Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood and
Sesame Street also help promote good behavior and cooperation. Dr. Ernest Boyer,
President of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and former US
Commissioner of Education, stated: Television sparks curiosity and opens up distant
worlds to children. Through its magic, youngsters can travel to the moon or the bottom of
the sea. They can visit castles, take river trips, or explore imaginary lands. . .With
selective viewing, television can richly contribute to school readiness. (Chen, p. 122) 
Unfortunately, most children's programming does not teach children what most parents and
teachers want them to learn. 
TV Violence in Children
Preschoolers 
Preschoolers in the United States, by watching television, "are predisposed to seek out
and pay attention to violence, particularly cartoon violence" (Cantor & Wilson, 1984). It
is not the violence itself that makes the cartoons attractive to preschoolers, but the
vivid images accompanying them. With cartoons, preschoolers are being exposed to a large
number of violent acts daily. Furthermore, preschoolers are unlikely to be able to put
the violence in context, since they are likely to miss, or not understand, any
information concerning motivation and consequences. One study stated, "Preschoolers
behave more aggressively than usual in their play after watching any high-action exciting
television shows, but especially after watching violent television" (Cantor & Wilson,
1984, p.445). 
Elementary School Children
Elementary school children develop a variety of skills: their attention span and
cognitive ability follow continuous plots, they make inferences about implicit content,
and they recognize motivations and consequences of peoples' actions. By age eight,
children are more likely to be sensitive to important influences on television, they will
not become more aggressive if the violence they see is portrayed as evil, as causing
human suffering, or as resulting in punishment or disapproval. However, they are likely
to show increased aggression from watching violent television if they believe the
violence reflects real life, or if they identify with a violent hero, as boys often do,
or if they engage in aggressive fantasies (Cantor & Wilson, 1984).
TV Violence on Children
Elementary school children ages six to eleven still watch cartoons but also begin
watching more adult or family-oriented programming than they did when they were younger.
They also begin liking horror movies, perhaps deliberately scaring themselves in an
attempt to overcome their own fears. However, they might be doing it to numb themselves
to fear and violence, and they likely will become more tolerant of violence in the real
world (Cantor & Wilson, 1984). 
Adolescent School Children
Adolescent Children ( ages 12 to 17), the middle school to high school years, "children
become capable of abstract thought and reasoning, although they rarely use these
abilities when watching television" (Dietz, & Strasburger, 1991, p.9). At this level they
watch less television than they did when they were younger, and watch less with their
families. "Their interests at this age tend to revolve around independence, sex and
romance, music videos, and horror movies" (Dietz, & Strasburger, 1991). Adolescents in
middle school and high school are much more likely than younger children to doubt the
reality of television and much less likely to identify with television characters. The
small percentage of those who continue to believe in the reality of television and to
identify with its violent heroes are the ones likely to be more aggressive, especially if
they continue to fantasize about aggressive-heroic themes (Bandura, 1973).
TV Violence on Children
Bandura's Views 
In the book, Social Learning Theory, author Albert Bandura presents his major thesis. He
believes in the importance of observing and modeling the behaviors, attitudes, and
emotional reactions of others especially in films and television. Bandura believes that
learning through modeling is very important and says that Learning would be exceedingly
laborious, not to mention hazardous, if people had to rely solely on the effects of their
own actions to inform them what to do. Fortunately, most human behavior is learned
observationally through modeling that is, from observing others one forms an idea of how
new behaviors are performed, and on later occasion s this coded information serves as a
guide for action. (Bandura, 1977, p.22). 
Social learning theory explains human behavior in terms of continuous reciprocal
interaction between cognitive, behavioral, an environmental influences. The component
processes underlying observational learning are: Attention, Retention, Motor
Reproduction, and Reinforcements. In Attention, individuals cannot learn much by
observation unless they retain and then act out significant features of the modeled
behavior. For example, children must attend to what the aggressor is doing and saying in
order to reproduce the model's behavior. The next component is Retention. In order to
reproduce the modeled behavior, the individuals must code the information into long-term
memory. Therefore, the information will be retrieved. For example, a simple verbal
description of what the model performed would be a known as retention. Motor reproduction
is another process in observational learning. The observer must be able to reproduce the
model's behavior. 
TV Violence on Children
The observer must learn and posses the physical capabilities of the modeled behavior. An
example of motor reproduction would to be able to learn how to ski or ride a bike. Once a
behavior is learned through attention and retention, the observer must posses the
physically capabilities to produce the aggressive act. The final process in observational
learning are Reinforcements. In this process, the observer expects to receive positive
reinforcements for the modeled behavior. For example, most children witnessed violence on
television being rewarded by the media. When individuals, especially children witness
this type of media, they attend, code, retrieve, posses the motor capabilities and
perform the modeled behavior because of the positive reinforcements determined by the
media (Bandura, 1977).
According to Bandura, the highest level of observational learning is achieved by first
organizing and rehearsing the modeled behavior symbolically and then enacting it out.
Also, individuals are more likely to adopt a modeled behavior if it results in outcomes
they value, and even more likely, if the model is similar to the observer and has admired
status and the behavior has functional value (Bandura, 1977). 
Bandura strongly believed television was a source of behavior modeling. Bandura has shown
that "both children and adults acquire attitudes, emotional responses, and new styles of
conduct through filmed and televised modeling" (Bandura, 1977, p.39). Today, films and
television shows illustrate violence graphically. Violence is often expressed as an
acceptable behavior, especially for heroes who have never been punished. 
TV Violence on Children
Albert Bandura believed aggression reinforced by family members was the most prominent
source of behavior modeling. Bandura, in his studies, states that children use the same
aggressive tactics that their parents illustrate when dealing with others (Bandura,
1977).
The social learning theory states that individuals, especially children, imitate or copy
modeled behavior by personally observing others, the environment, and the mass media
completely ignores an individuals biological state. Also, the social learning theory
rejects differences formed in individuals that are due to genetic, brain, and learning
differences. For example, if a child witnessed a crime or a murder, he or she might
respond in a variety of ways. Biological psychologists believe that the responses would
be normal and they come from the autonomic nervous system. In addition, the social
learning theory rejects the classical and operant conditioning processes. 
Television Violence as a Problem
In the world today, media violence is a big problem. It might often times go unnoticed,
but it's there. When children watch television, they are probably witnessing some form of
violence. Because television violence is produced in such an action packed form they see
through the negativity of it. Also, television teaches children that they can solve their
problems by using violence. In many television shows aimed towards children, such as the
"Power Rangers", they portray the good characters having to resort to violence in able to
defeat the bad characters. Children view the Power Rangers as heroes, saving the world
from aliens and other bad guys. 
TV Violence on Children
Children who watch this show may presume that the Power Rangers use violence to prevent
bad things, why can they not use it to prevent problems in everyday life. Looney Tunes is
another good example. Falling off cliffs and shooting people is typical in one half-hour
program.
A personal example of the influence television violence has on children occurred to me
over the summer when I visited my girlfriend's younger cousin. As I walked into the house
I was attacked and kicked in the leg by this 5-year-old boy. I asked him what his reason
was for kicking me and he told said that he was a Ninja defending the world from the
Hagars, and I was a Hagar. 
Television Violence Perceived by Children
Television violence affects children's' thoughts, actions, and the way they live.
Rarely are the long-term consequences of violence portrayed on television. The results of
real-life violence usually involve someone going to jail, the hospital, or even the
grave. Television violence is usually clean with little blood, pain, or suffering. On TV,
it seems criminals go unpunished most of the time. This gives children the message that
violence is a successful method of resolving conflicts. Also, it appears that half the
time violent interactions on television depict no harm to the victims. Consequently,
television teaches children that it is alright to hurt others as long as it is for the
right reasons. Children perceive everything that happens on television as real.
Therefore, when violence is portrayed as heroic, children tend to imitate the action to
gain heroic recognition. 
TV Violence on Children
Solutions to Television Violence
Several solutions might be taken to prevent such negative modeling to occur. One could be
that television stations release a special broadcast before and after a show stating the
non-reality of the show. Another solution television could use is to remind children
there are alternatives to deal with problems, such as compromising. A final solution
could be a special program implemented in schools that teaches children about media
violence. None of these solutions will eliminate media violence, but it might educate
children, as well as parents, in the false perception of television 
Conclusion
In conclusion, there have been many debates over whether or not violence on television
causes aggressive behavior in children. For instances some studies show that children
view cartoons such as Elmer Fudd shooting the rabbit as funny and humorous and it is the
parents' responsibility to inform their children that the cartoons are not real. It
appears television is a form of education and positive role models. If violence in
television and film cause people to be more violent, then shouldn't the good formed in
television result in an audience that is pleasant? Despite the criticisms, Albert
Bandura's Social Learning Theory should be seen as important in the study and influences
of aggression and criminal behavior formed in this. In order to control aggression,
Bandura believed family members and the mass media should provide positive role models
for their children and the general public (Bandura, 1977). I believe that aggression
modeled by children from watching television could be curbed when more of the influential
adults in children's lives are involved. 
TV Violence on Children
Caring parents and the community would increase its effectiveness because it is at home
that children watch the majority of television. Personally, I feel that the adults are to
be given the majority of the blame for what is happening to our children today as a
result of this media craze. As an adult, it is our duty to protect those who are unable
to protect themselves. This goes for children that our directly related to us, and those
children whom are not. The reason violence is so prevalent in television is because it is
a good tool to attract viewers. No government regulations are powerful enough to
completely eliminate acts of violence from television. What these parents and other
concerned adults should do is channel that energy into areas, such as commercials and
school programming, that will help educate children in understanding that what they see
is not always reality or the right way of doing things. However, in order for this to
effectively work, the parents of today also need to be equally educated.
References
Bandura, A. 1973. Aggression: A Social Learning Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice
Hall. 
Bandura, A.1977. Social Learning Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Cantor, J., and Wilson, B. J. 1984. Modifying fear responses to mass media in preschool
and elementary school children. Journal of Broadcasting,
Chen, M. (1994). The Smart Parent's Guide to Kids' TV. San Francisco: KQED Books.
Dietz, W. H., and Strasburger, V. C. 1991. Children, adolescents, and television. 
Murray, J.P.(1997). Impact of Televised Violence. March 7, 1997.
Rosenthal, R. 1986. Media Violence, Antisocial Behaviour, and The Social Consequences of
Small Effects.