Violence On TV

In furthering the examination of violence on television, further studies need to be directed toward the age of children and how it relates to the perception of violence on television. The respondents will be examined differently with respect to what age they perceive what is real or fantasy. When looking at this hypothesis, findings will also differ in that the sample was drawn from the local area only. .
             Literature Review.
             In this section, studies will be looked at to determine how youth and adults perceive violence, with a concentration on television viewing. As a result of viewing violent programs on television, children may become more aggressive toward other children, use violence and aggressiveness in their play, and use violence to solve their problems (Buckingham, 1997: 33; Abbot, 1997,p.112). Also, it has been suggested that young children will more likely imitate violent acts seen on television and model themselves to the character they like if the perpetrator of the violence is rewarded or at least not punished and when violence is presented as justified (Ledingham et al., 1993, p.4). A study has shown that children will more likely "pretend" or "imitate" the aggressor from a violent television program, when the aggressor is presented as the "good guy," who is often the person in the show that punishes the "bad guy" (Cantor, 1998, p.98). .
             Although there are many behavioral problems with children who watch excessive amounts of violence on TV, programs can also have a positive effect on children of all ages. For example, children who watched the television program called Sesame Street gained in cultural pride, self-confidence, and interpersonal cooperation. It was also stated that Caucasian children developed more positive view toward children of other races (Greenfield, 1984, p.43). This positive attitude in children towards each other, without the barriers of aggression or racism, was due to the fact that Sesame Street often portrays characters from various minority groups in a positive, non-stereotyped way (Greenfield, 1984, p.