Today, people of different races and generations become victims of TV addiction. Some people watch television because they want to be updated about what is happening in the world. They want to be aware and get connected with different people all around the globe. Nowadays, not only adults and teenagers, but also children, get hooked on television. Because of the busy world people are living in today, parents do not have time to take care and look after their children at all times anymore. Therefore, children have more freedom to do whatever they want, and in this case, watch whatever TV show they want – be it classified as GP, PG-13, or even R-18. It can not be avoided that children will see violent scenes shown on TV since according to K.D. Browne, an average of 20-25 violent acts are shown in CHILDREN'S television programs each hour. (Children and Media Violence, n.d.) Since, exposure to violence causes aggressiveness, trauma, and desensitization, watching TV is bad for children.
Researchers have found that children are more aggressive after watching violent TV shows. This is because children's minds are not yet that completely developed, that is why they are not fully capable of distinguishing right from wrong. Most children just tend to believe and imitate everything they see, even on TV. Especially when they see the celebrity they idolize do violent acts, children will most probably imitate him or her. Laboratory experiments back in 1963 by professors A. Badura, D. Ross, and S.A. Ross have consistently shown that exposures to violence leads to increased heartbeat, blood pressure, and respiration rate, which motivates the child to act violently and aggressively. (What the Researchers Are Saying, n.d.).
Watching TV is nearly equal to watching violence. Based from the Television Violence Monitoring Project, 96% of TV shows contain violence which can also mean that out of 20 times of watching TV, there is only 1% chance of watching a show that has no violence in it.
