By Jared Curtis

The world is changing every day. What was popular with one generation is old to the next. With increased violence in the world, it only makes sense that the media we enjoy reflect the trend. But has it gone too far? Video games, television and films are becoming more graphic featuring sex, drugs and violence, and our culture is obsessed with media stimulation.

Before the dawn of cable television, video games and VCRs in the late ’70s and into the ’80s, what did people do? Can you imagine not being able to check your e-mail, play a handheld video game or DVR your favorite show to watch it at a later time? Neither can I, but people lived without them for thousands of years.

The tension between media outlets and families is not a new problem, but it is one that continues to grow. Would our kids grow up differently if they weren’t plopped in front of the TV all the time? Hopefully, we can find some answers.

Research has shown that there are negative effects related to watching too much violence. Kids are spending excess time in front of a screen. It doesn’t matter if it is a computer or TV; they are engulfed with media when they should be exploring the world on their own, meeting new people and learning ways to resolve problems. Too much viewing also has an adverse effect health-wise. Every year in the U.S. about 15,000 kids are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. This rate is affected by how much kids are eating, and how fast food and processed food have become staples of American meals, but it also has ties to too much time spent in front of the TV, playing video games and not exercising.

Effects of TV and films

Since the dawn of television, society has had a love/hate relationship with the tube. To study the problems and effects, the Surgeon General’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior was formed in 1969 to assess the impact of attitudes, values and behaviors. The results by psychologists L. Rowell Huesmann and Leonard Eron led to insights including: children may become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others; they have become fearful about the world around them; and they may be more likely to be aggressive or harmful towards others. They also found that kids who watch too much violence when they were elementary students ultimately had a higher level of aggression when they were teenagers. Also, by observing children into adulthood, psychologists found that the kids who watched a lot more television violence were more likely to be arrested for criminal acts when they became adults.

“Kids are growing up in a much more media engulfed society,” said Douglas Gentile, assistant professor of psychology at Iowa State University and director of research of the National Institute on Media and the Family. Gentile, along with ISU psychology professor Craig Anderson and psychology graduate student Munbia Saleem, collaborated on a paper entitled “Public Policy and the Effects of Media on Children.”

“Research has shown that children’s programming from the ’70s and ’80s promoted imagination. Where as now the shows are less creative and less imaginative. These shows narrow the dimensions of the child. They want to be Spiderman instead of making up characters on their own,” Gentile said.

A family just starting on their journey

Sheila and Dan Roberts are like a lot of married couples. They have a daughter, who is almost 4. They enjoy spending time together, but since they both work full-time jobs, their life after work is consumed with everyday chores. Not only do they have few precious hours with their daughter, Morgan, before she goes to bed, but they also have to find time to get things done. Even though they don’t like the fact that Morgan watches television at night, there just isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done.

“As a full-time working mom, I know that she is probably watching more than she should. But you have to get things done around the house,” she said. “After a full day of activities, they are usually so drained and wore out they just want to sit.”

The Roberts knew from the beginning they didn’t want to infuse the TV as a babysitter. They monitor everything Morgan watches when she is home.

“We let her watch a couple of shows in the evening,” Sheila said. “But they are broken up between her bath and dinner. Her attention span isn’t the greatest, so a lot of times she’ll be watching something, get bored and move on to playing with her toys.”

The Roberts say the most Morgan watches is two hours a day. Unlike some parents, they have not put a TV in their daughter’s room, and have no plans to do so for a while.

“We think TV should be a treat,” she said. “But we won’t let her have a TV in her room until she is much older.”

Before Morgan was born, the Roberts admit they always had the TV on. The TV is still on, just not as much as before, and now the shows are different.

“We watch what she is watching,” Dan said. “But since we have a DVR, we just tape our shows and watch them when she is in bed.”

The DVR is a recordable device that allows you to record one show while watching another. The Roberts wonder if the instant gratification of the DVR will affect Morgan in the future.

“Growing up I watched cartoons in the morning because that was the only time you could watch them,” he said. “But with the DVR, we have shows that she likes recorded. So if she wants to watch ‘Dora the Explorer,’ we can start an episode at any time. We couldn’t do that as kids. We had to figure out something else to do. So I wonder how that will affect her later in life.”

Dan is a fan of horror movies as well as video games. He has a lot of memorabilia, posters and ghouls and goblins around the house. He enjoys his games and films in small intervals when it’s bath time for his daughter or before or after she wakes up. He tries not to play video games or watch his favorite films in front of Morgan, even though he doesn’t believe it will affect her.

“I want her to watch stuff that she is interested in. I don’t want to force anything on her,” he said. “Maybe when she is a teenager we can share a love of horror movies. But she is too young.”

Some of Morgan’s favorite things to watch are “Dora the Explorer,” “Sesame Street,” “Miss Spider’s Sunny Patch” and “Franklin the Turtle.” The Roberts try to make sure the shows have informative lessons.

“She likes ‘SpongeBob SquarePants’ but sometimes the show gets a little crazy,” Dan said. “It has no real lessons and a lot of adult undertones. I like her to watch stuff that will teach her lessons, not just entertain her.”

The Roberts do like the Noggin channel, which is a 24-hour network focusing on preschool programming. Before each show, the channel displays a ratings system that tells parents what lessons it will offer, like help in social skills, creative thinking and discovering different colors.
“We have to be really careful about what she is watching. I mean look at the ‘Bratz’ cartoon. It’s just a bunch of little girls dressed like whores,” Dan said. “I want her to make good decisions and focus on learning and bettering herself rather than what is popular.”

Rather than TV, the Roberts like to keep Morgan busy playing with her toys, reading to her and listening to music.

“I grew up with not many limits, and I turned out fine,” Dan said. “But I’m trying to be a better parent, so you have to set limits.”

According to kidshealth.org, 70 percent of child-care centers use TV during a typical day. In a year, the average child spends 900 hours in school and 1,023 hours in front of a TV. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, kids watch about four hours of television a day, even though guidelines say kids who are older than 2 should watch no more than one to two hours a day. Kids who watch more than four hours a day are more likely to become obese, they said. Also, children younger than 2 shouldn’t have any screen time because it is a critical time for brain development.

With the research clearly showing a problem, a ratings system was created to help parents and children understand what they are watching and if it is age appropriate. In 1990, Congress passed the Children’s Television Act, which offered new regulations for commercial television stations. It required stations to air at least three hours of educational programming for children 16 and under. The programs usually contain direct and indirect messages about sharing, showing compassion and cooperation instead of violence and aggression. It also led to a rating system, which informs parents about what their children are watching.

“Studies have shown that children should have no more than one to two hours a day of screen time, which includes video games, handheld video games and TV,” said Gentile. “A thing like ‘Baby Einstein’ is not a beneficial tool. There isn’t research showing ‘Baby Einstein’ is any good for kids, but there is some evidence that it may hurt children. Shows like ‘Sesame Street’ and ‘Mr. Rogers Neighborhood’ both have helpful resources that are helpful in long-term effects. They will get better grades when entering school if they already know their letters and numbers.”

Many parents, however, still wonder if it is acceptable to plop children down in front of the TV so they can get work done.

“There are many better choices for activities than sitting your children in front of the television set. Regardless of content, television should not be used as a babysitter and should be moderated because it decreases time that could be spent on more productive and beneficial activities,” said Kimberly Richman, owner of The Learning Zone Child Development Home. “The children could be reading, playing outdoors, playing with friends or family or developing hobbies. There are an endless number of activities that you can do with your children without the aid of electricity.”

Social effects of video games

Children of the ’80s were a part of the first generation to grow up on video games. Parents purchased game consoles by Atari, Nintendo and Sega Genesis. But the games played then are different than what is out there today. Kids then played plumbers trying to save a princess or underdogs boxing Mike Tyson. They entered up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, to unlock 30 guys for the next “Contra” adventure. In the “Grand Theft Auto” series, however, players can kill people on the streets by car or gun. In “Manhunt” players hide in the shadows waiting for the opportunity to stab people in the throat with shards of glass. In the “Resident Evil” series, players fight hordes of zombies and mutated creatures ready to hunt them down and eat their flesh.

“Game makers today cater to the masses. Everyone has different tastes, so anything you want, chances are there is a game out there for you,” said Jason Shreve, owner of Jay’s CD & Hobby, a specialty store that carries used DVDs, videogames, vinyl, CDs, action figures and other memorabilia. “Do they need to be as violent as they are? Probably not, but there is a large audience of gamers they are targeting.”

With themes of violence prevalent in most popular games, how do parents keep an eye on what their kids are playing?

“I think parents should definitely set limits concerning what video games their children play,” said Richman. “Parents can help children by pointing out that although the character has not actually been hurt or killed, such violence in real life results in pain or death.”

According to the NPD Group, a global market research company, retail sales reached more than $17 billion in 2007. Total video game sales grew 43 percent, up more than $12 billion from 2006. In December alone, Americans spent $4.82 billion on games.

Forty-five percent of “heavy” gamers and a third of “avid” gamers are in the 6-to-17-year old age range. The Federal Trade Commission reports that 69 percent of kids 13 to 16 years old were able to purchase mature (17+) rated games from retailers.

“If a younger kid comes in to buy a mature video game, we won’t sell it to them,” said Shreve. “We tell them they need a parent with them. Most of the time the kid will go outside and come back in with a parent who doesn’t even look at the box. That is why they put the parental label on it, to pay more attention to what your child is playing.”
According to a study of more than 2,000 people ages 8 to 18, about 83 percent have a gaming system in their house and 49 percent have a system in their bedroom.

“Time flies when you’re playing games, if you’re real serious about it, it becomes a full time job,” said Shreve. “I got wrapped up in the fantasy and was playing ‘EverQuest’ 30 hours a week. I would lose track of time and end up playing for hours.”

Although the violence in games is troublesome, society also needs to think about the addictions these games can lead to. As of September, 9 million people worldwide had signed up to play “World Of Warcraft.” In June of 2005, it was reported that a child had died due to neglect by her parents because of their “World of Warcraft” addiction.

“If you don’t regulate the time spent on these games, nothing will get done,” said Shreve. “When you’re playing, you don’t care about homework, chores or your job. When you’re not playing, you’re just thinking about the next time you can play.”

Some research suggests that playing video games may affect a child’s physicality with effects ranging from triggering epileptic seizures to causing heart rate and blood pressure changes. On the other side, research suggests that games may be a friendly way of introducing children to computers and may increase a child’s hand-eye coordination and attention to detail.

“A few years ago, I took a great course called ‘Program for Infant and Toddler Caregivers (PITC),’” said Richman. “I remember learning that exposure to media violence as a child causes children to not only behave more aggressive immediately, but it also causes them to behave more aggressively in the future.”

So what can you do? With more and more games coming out every week, even the so-called safe games are going downhill, experts say. One example is the popular football series “Madden,” which has added “hit stick” features allowing for more violent hits. Another football series, “Blitz: The League,” allows athletes to shoot up drugs when they are hurt, and owners are able to send strippers to the opposing team’s quarterback before the game for a distraction. With all the violent titles, sports games were previously viewed as the safe genre, but not any more. What are the reasons for ignoring this growing epidemic?

“What we find is that when you watch media violence, you see the world as a more hostile state, and you care more about safety,” Gentile said. “For example, incidents involving guns in school increases how much you accept violence and, over time, it leads to becoming used to violence and more willing to be aggressive [when] faced in a conflict situation.” CV

Rating Systems

Video Games
EC - Early Childhood — Titles rated EC have content that may be suitable for persons ages 3 and older.
E – Everyone — Titles rated E have content that may be suitable for persons ages 6 and older. Titles in this category may contain minimal cartoon, fantasy or mild violence and or infrequent use of mild language.
E10+ - Everyone 10 and older — Titles rated E10+ have content that may be suitable for persons ages 10 and older. Titles in this category may contain more cartoon, fantasy or mild violence, mild language and or minimal suggestive themes.
T – Teens — Titles rated T have content that may be suitable for ages 13 and older. Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humor, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language.
M – Mature — Titles rated M have content that may be suitable for persons 17 years and older. Titles in this category may contain intense violence, blood and gore, sexual content and or strong language.
AO - Adult Only — Titles rated AO have content that should only be played by persons 18 years and older. Titles in this category may include prolonged scenes of intense violence and or graphic sexual content and nudity.

Television
TV-Y (Suitable for all ages) — The themes and content in programs issued this rating are specifically aimed at a young audience, mainly those ages 2 to 6.
TV-Y7 (Unsuitable for children under 7) — These shows may be suitable for all, but may not be appropriate for children under the age of 7. This rating may include mild language, mild violence and little or none sexual content.
TV-Y7-FV (may not be suitable for children under 7; contains fantasy violence) — Programs issued this rating contain fantasy violence that may be more intense than other programs in the same category.
TV-G (general audience) — Programs issued this rating are deemed appropriate for general audiences, however content in these programs are not always specifically intended towards children.
TV-PG (Unsuitable for young children under 8) — This rating signifies that the program is usually unsuitable for children under 8 without the guidance of a parent.
TV-14 (Unsuitable for children under 14) — Programs issued the TV-14 rating are usually unsuitable for children under the age of 14 without the guidance of a parent or guardian.
TV-MA (intended for mature audiences ages 17 and older) — This program is not intended for and may not be suitable for children under the age of 17. The program may contain extreme graphic violence, strong profanity, overt explicit sexual dialogue, nudity and or strong sexual content

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