In spite of much research and findings, violence on television and how it affects its viewers, especially children, is still under heavy debate. I constructed a very crude experiment of my own, trying to see any difference between children's cartoon and primetime television. Three hours of cartoons was viewed on Cartoon Network and three hours of primetime television was viewed on networks ABC, CBS, NBC, and FOX between the hours of 7:00 and 10:00. While viewing these shows, I noted each time a saw an incidence of hitting, slapping, choking, shooting, stabbing, murder, rape/attempted rape, or any other physical assault. After the viewings, the numbers were calculated and my data shows that in total there were 57 incidences of violence on the Cartoon network compared to only 25 on primetime television. In conclusion, I have found that more violence is shown per day in cartoons that children are watching than on primetime that adults are watching. .
From this information gathered, one can conclude that children can become less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others. Children see these violent acts everyday, yet these cartoon characters bounce back, not hurt. Children then relate this to reality and don't realize the seriousness of some situations. Therefore, children no longer would want to aid others when seeing these actions performed or try to console the victim.
Another conclusion that can be drawn is that children could become more fearful of the world around them. Children, at certain ages, cannot differentiate between reality and the cartoon world. Upon seeing these violent acts, children then turn and relate them to the outside world, thinking that this type of violence is around them and is likely to happen. Children then can become very frightened about their environment and not feel safe, even in their own home.
Finally, children can become more likely to behave in aggressive or harmful ways toward others.
