The effect and the collaboration of violence in television and children has become a

global issue that dragged the attention of numerous researchers. Because a rapidly accumulating
body of data suggests that aggression usually emerges early in life (Huesmann and Eron 7).
Its important to test the effect of violence from early age. Does TV promote violence to
children? Does the violence on TV affect children negatively? In other words, does TV violence
change childrens behaviors and make them more aggressive? Dafna Lemish, an Israeli expert in
the relationship between television and children conducted studies for twenty five years in
various countries including the U.S of the world. In her book Children and Television A Global
Perspective Lemish addresses the ways that the violence in TV impact children identities
negatively. She discuss that the importance of such issue arises because of the fact that children
are exposed to violence through TV from a very young age (Lemish 72).

[B]y the age of 12children viewing commercial telivsion will have been exposed to
about 20,000 murders and 10,000 other acts of violence (Lemish 72). Because childrens are
observers; Huesman and Eron the editors of television and the aggressive child: a cross
national comparison provided in their book a worldwide collections of studies concerning the
effect of violence TV on children, they explain that the fact that children watch a large number of
violence acts than they see in real life will make those children behave more aggressively
( Huessman and Eron 7) For instance, the advocates of observational learning explains that when
children watch an actor perform a violence act they will imitate those behaviors after viewing
such materials (Huesmann and Eron 9). Lemish support this argument by providing studies that

found out that the children who were exposed to TVs violence materials would behave much
aggressively during a play session following the viewing (Lemish 74). This is also mentioned
in one of the studies that Huesmann presents in his book where children were given toys to play
with like bob dolls he states The consistent finding is that the children who see the violent film
clip behave more aggressively immediately afterwards Thus, children who watch aggressive
materials on TV will be behave violently after watching such materials. . Although this might be
debated on the fact that some TV programs broadcast violent behaviors in a reward-punishment
way, where the criminal or the violent person is punished and those with positive attitudes would
be praised and rewarded. While this might be true for some TV programs, it is not the case for
most of the Television programs. For instance, Lemnish provides a study on the U.S TV
programs -which a lot of different of societies are exposed to- the study [R]eveled that threequarters of the violent characters go unpunished for their acts (Lemish 72). The fact that
most violent acts go unpunished promotes the idea that violent is not a harmful act and it is an
acceptable act in the society. T.H.A van der Voort the author of Television violence: A childseye view in his book he conducted a study to investigate how children react to different violent
programs. The study was carried in the department of Pedagogics of the University of Leyden.
He presents an experimental research done by a psychologist that shows Through violent
programs, children learn new aggressive techniques. Violent programs then, teach children how
to be aggressive (van der Voort 39).
Huesmann and Eron discuss in their book that such violent behaviors do not only occur
after the viewing of violence acts. They explain that those behaviors last with those children on
the long term until they are adults and that these violent behaviors will remain until those
children are adults. In a recent study, Huesmann conducted a research on 870 individuals

who have been interviewed in 1960 as children then he interviewed most of those individuals
back when they are at the age of 30 (Huesmann and Eron 8). Huesmann findings relate how real
violent acts promoted to children in an early age will last with them when they are adult he states
The data [obtained in his research] suggest that aggressive habits are learned early in life are
resistant to change and predictive of serious adult antisocial behavior (Huesmann and Eron 9).
Lemish back Huesmann when she argues through studies that children who watches violence in
TV for a long time are more likely to be Rated as aggressive in the following years (Lemish
76). Huesmann also based in the same study- indicated that when childrens observe violent
acts, permanent results of violence acts later when they are adults. Based on his earlier findings
about how children observe violent in TV will most likely to adopt those behaviors, then this
study shows that such violent behaviors which is also observed by children will last with them in
their whole life. Thus, children who view and observe violent materials on TV will develop
violent act in the future.
Lemish Argues addresses the relationship between long-term viewing of television
violence and aggressive behaviors (Lemish 74). She discusses the result of a study conducted in
multiple developed countries that [C]hildren who were rated as more violent by their friends
were those also heavy viewers of violent television (Lemish 76). Huesmann discuss this
argument in a similar way. He explains that The more television a child watches, the more
accepting is the childs attitude toward aggressive behavior (Huesmann 11). Huesmann then
describes that when children accepts those acts of violence they are much likely to practice real
violent acts.

Work cited
Huesmann, L. Rowell., and Leonard D. Eron. Television and the Aggressive Child: a Crossnational Comparison. Hillsdale, NJ: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1986. Print.
Lemish, Dafna. Children and Television: a Global Perspective. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.,

2007. Print.
Voort, T. Television Violence: a Child's-eye View. Amsterdam: North-Holland, 1986.
Print.

2 counter in lemish book, killing monsters, last paragraph counter argument in p 11

huesmann