Is TV Morphing Your Child Into a Bully? (or a dumb ass)

[Guest guest]

http://campaignfortruth.com/Eclub/250505/CTM%20-%20bullying.htm

 

Is TV Morphing Your Child Into a Bully?

 

Just because a TV show or movie is made for kids, doesn't mean it's

good for them, explained the lead researcher of a study that linked

television to aggressive behavior in children. The study revealed that

younger children who watch television are more likely to become

bullies, mainly due to the increasingly violent nature of animated

videos and cartoons.

 

Researchers compared existing data from a national study of more than

1,250 4-year-olds to follow-up reports with their mothers later on

(between ages 6-11), specifically to learn if their kids had become

crueler to others or had indeed become bullies. The numbers tallied

are shocking:

 

Four-year-olds were 25 percent more likely to become bullies if they

watched merely the average daily amount of television--3.5 hours.

 

Kids who watched eight hours of TV a day were 200 percent more likely

to become bullies.

 

Thirteen percent of the kids surveyed eventually became bullies.

Violent animated shows are causing kids to become " desensitized " to

violence. Therefore, researchers suggested parents follow the American

Academy of Pediatric guidelines, which recommend no TV for children

under 2 and no more than two hours of viewing time a day for older kids.

 

Aside from bullying, other potential negative influences of watching

too much TV include obesity, inattention and other types of aggression.

 

A Ray of Hope

Yet unlike other studies that focus on TV viewing, researchers of this

study found that in addition to eliminating or severely limiting

viewing time, kids were almost one-third less likely to become bullies

if they received:

 

Cognitive stimulation--exposing children to new ideas by reading aloud

to them or taking trips to museums.

 

Emotional support from their parents--talking regularly as well as

eating meals together.

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine April 2005; 159(4): 384-388

New Scientist April 5, 2005

 

DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: These findings add fuel to the fire of a Kaiser

Family Foundation study that exposed some startling numbers about the

amount of time kids spend in front of the television. It's not only to

watch mind-numbing fare filled with fast-food commercials but also to

play video games and eat their meals. And just like the study above

points out, the Kaiser study highlighted the fact that children's

exposure to violent video games and TV has been found to encourage

aggression.

 

In fact, a number of studies have proved time and time again how

detrimental TV's influence is on your child: One study that involved

more than 700 families found that 14-year-old boys who watched

relatively more television were more likely to have assaulted someone

or committed any serious act of aggression by the time they were 22

years old. A similar pattern was found among females, but the

relationship was much weaker.

 

Another study found that violence in the media can have a profound

effect on the behavior of children and teens and that TV violence was

associated with aggression among children as young as 4 years.

 

Researchers involved in another study suggested physicians and parents

understand that popular (E-rated) video games may be a source of

exposure to violence and other unexpected content for children and

that games may reward the players for violent actions.

 

Preschoolers who watch television violence and play violent video

games are more likely to show high levels of aggression and antisocial

behavior than those not exposed, according to another study.

 

The studies go on and on, which is why it is important to...

 

Take a Proactive Step Now!

Many of us fail to appreciate the enormous influence we have on our

children's lives. Kids are easy and impressionable targets; therefore,

it's up to us to step in and place some serious limitations on the

amount of time they are allowed to watch TV.

 

All it takes is one simple step: Turn off the television (or video

games) and encourage your kids to take part in a productive activity

like physically active play or reading. There are far too many things

to do in life--places to visit, books to read, sports to play--to

waste so much of your life sitting in front of a box.

Healthy News You Can Use 24th April, 2005. Issue #163

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