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swnmary findings contained in a report
presented at the American Psychological
Association Convention in Washington
D. C., prepared in conjunction with the
U. S. Surgeon General's Advisory Com–
mittee. According to various reports
for the committee, there is increasing
scientific evidence suggesting that chil–
dren are using television violence as
"a partial guide for their own actions
. . . . Such an effect has now been shown
in a wide variety of situations."
It has already been reported by the
National Commission on the Causes
and Prevention of Violence that tele–
VlSton violence encourages similar
behavior in children of disadvantaged
or disorganized families.
The Liebert-Baron summary, reported
at the American Psychological Con–
vention, shows that normal, average
youngsters appear to exhibit
Jimilar
behavior patterns.
"At least under some circumstances,
repeated exposure to televised aggres–
sion can lead children to accept what
hitherto they have seen as a partial
guide for their own actions," the two
professors stated.
Two other recent reports agree with
the above findings. One of them, by
two University of Wisconsin research–
ers, agreed that "severa! recent field
studies funded by the National Institute
of Mental Health appear to indicate
sorne correlation between television vio–
lence and the tendencies to behave
aggressively."
In another federally sponsored study
by two Pennsylvania State University
professors, the conclusion was that
"there are behavioral effects associated
with viewing violence.... Such viewing
has an impact not only on aggressive
behavior but also on self control."
In view of these and similar findings,
it is shocking to find that
children and
adolescents are the heaviest viewers of
this powerful force.
The Omnipresent Television Set
Many preschoolers are practically
weaned on TV - spending in sorne
cases more than half of their waking
time with eyes glued to the television
screen. As a result, television is becom–
ing the new teacher, implanting in tiny
The
PLAJN TRUTH
children their first and lasting impres–
sion of the outside world.
By the time the average American
child reaches adolescence he will have
spent twice as many hours watching tele–
vision as he has sitting behind his school
desk. He'll have had 22,000 hours
of television "instcuction," as opposed
to 11,000 hours worth of school
instcuction.
Even before he reaches age five he
will already have spent more time in
front of a television than the average
student in a liberal arts program spends
in the classroom throughout his entire
four years of college attendance.
And what will make up his TV diet?
In one of the first major Bcitish sci–
entific studies inquiring into the impact
of television on children, it was found
that children favored adult TV pro–
grams - especially
crime
thrillers. The
girls, quite unexpectedly, seemed as
much interested in crime and detective
programs as the boys. Small children
particulady liked westecn shoot-em-ups.
Just how violent are these television
shows?
Many program surveys have been
taken to fiad out how much violence
occurs on TV during prime-time tele–
vision hours (the time when most
people, induding children, will be
watching television) .
In
a Washington, D.C. survey, three
major television networks were sucveyed
November 1971
to determine how much violence would
be viewed in one week between 3:00
p.m. and 11 :00. During this span of
time there were 113 shootings, 92
stabbings, 168 beatings, 9 stranglings,
and 179 other specific acts of violence
perpetrated before the television au–
dience. There was one specific act of
violence every 17.9 minutes, a killing
every 43.8 minutes.
Another shocking sucvey was con–
ducted by the
Christian Science Monitor
shoctly after the assassination of U. S.
Senator Robert Kennedy. In 85Yí hours
of programming during prime-time tele–
vision viewing hours, 84 killings were
witnessed.
Most of the violent incidents
occurred between 7:30 p.m. and 9:00
p.m. when 26.7 million children
between 2 and 17 were viewing tele–
vision. There was a violent incident
every 16.3 minutes and a murder
oc
killing once every 31 minutes!
By the time the average American
child reaches age 14 he will have
witnessed the violent destcuction of
over 13,000 human beings on tele–
vision! His TV diet will have been
filled with thousands of bodily assaults
of one man against another. He'll have
witnessed thousands of violent crimes
and seen countless numbers of bellig–
erent acts.
Sorne social scientists say it doesn't
matter. They claim there is no proof
that TV violence has any real effect on