Research

• According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, extensive research has been conducted for the past 30 years to determine how media violence affects kids. This research reveals that 99 percent of American households have a TV in the home. Of that number, 50 percent of school-age children have a TV in their bedroom. This makes it much easier for them to access programs without parental supervision or consent.
  
  The research also revealed that American children see over 200,000 acts of violence, which includes 16,000 violent murders, before age 18.
  
  

Distinguishing Fact from Fiction

• Research has shown that small children tend to imitate the behavior seen on TV; that includes violent behavior. Children under the age of 4 cannot tell the difference between fact and fantasy. If they witness frequent violence, they may come to think of it as a normal occurrence. Watching violence repeatedly desensitizes children to it. They consider violence a fact of life and lose the ability to empathize with the antagonist and victim.
  
  

Risk for Increased Violent Behavior

• Increasing numbers of school shootings and youth homicides among urban teens have become disturbingly common. Several factors contribute to this trend, such as poverty, family dysfunction, child abuse and exposure to domestic violence. Still, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry says there is a strong association between media violence and aggressive behavior of "at risk" youth. Adolescents are routinely exposed to many different types of media, including music, Internet and video games. Experts are especially concerned about the effect of violent video games, which allow players to act out simulated violent acts instead of passively observing a violent scene on TV.
  
  

Trauma and Victimization

• Many children bombarded with media violence spend much of their waking hours feeling afraid and victimized. Research conducted by Joshi PT and Kaschak DG showed that 10 percent of high school students had sought help for nightmares, anxiety and fear due to media violence exposure. A similar study conducted with third to eighth graders showed a correlation between media violence and increased nightmares.
  
  

Intervention

• Child and adolescent psychiatrists and pediatricians can play an important role in reducing the effects of violent media on children. They can speak to parents about research findings and discuss the media children are exposed to in the home.
  
  They can arm parents with knowledge and encourage them to share this knowledge with the schools so that they will become involved by teaching conflict resolution skills, and installing software that blocks access to certain websites.