How TV violence Affects Kids

For more than a quarter of a century, evidence has been increasing that children's exposure to violence on television has long-lasting effects on their behavior. Between 1982 and 1986, the amount of television time allocated each week to violent programs increased significantly. And the number of violent acts on television in the past years has increased from about 19 to 27 per hour. Given the amount of time that children watch television, it has become one of the most powerful models they want to follow.

The Position Statement on Media Violence in Children's Lives, recently adopted by the National Association for the Education of Yong Children, points out that preschool children are particularly easily affected by the media because they are not yet fully able to distinguish fantasy from reality and their understanding of the underlying motives for behavior and the subtleties of moral conflicts is not yet well developed. For example, the rapid recoveries of people on TV from violent attacks give children an unrealistic picture of the injuries that have been suffered.

Effects on Play

Children naturally often want the toys shown on and advertised during these programs. And with these toys, their play tends to be more imitative than imaginative. Children simply imitate the behavior observed during the program, thus undermining both the imaginative and the expressive functions of play. The narrow range of most violence-related toys advertised on television jeopardizes the role of play in helping children make better sense of their own feelings and interpret their world. Some research even suggests that children apply the behaviors observed on TV programs to their real-life situations.

Parents Can Help

It is a good idea for parents to monitor the amount as well as the kind of television their preschool child watches. If your child appears to be crazy about war play and weapons, it would be a good idea to control his viewing. Controlling viewing is easier to do during the preschool years than during the school years, so you should initiate a pattern of restricted television watching now.

Help your child to interpret what she sees - to think of explanations for the events depicted and to imagine how the show is put together. Make simple critiques of a show without implying that her fascination with the drama and the weapons makes her guilty by association.

Ask the teachers of your child's preschool about their policy on war play and toy weapons. Many preschool teachers do not like to have commercially made toy weapons brought into the classroom and welcome hearing your concerns about this matter. Look for other parents who share your views. Work together to control the amount of violent programs watched and the number of violent toys found in the home. Try to arrange play dates for the children as an alternative to TV viewing. Or look for videos of healthy, nonviolent programs for children, and encourage their use as an attractive alternative to violent television programs.

電視中的暴力內容是怎樣影響孩子們的

在最近這四分之一世紀還多的時間里，出現了越來越多的證據，那就是把電視上的暴力內容暴露在孩子們的面前，對孩子們的行為產生了深遠的影響。在1982-1986年間，每周電視花在暴力節目上的播出時間總數有了驚人的增長。每小時在電視上播出的暴力節目上的播出時間總數有了驚人的增長。每小時在電視播出的暴行的次數在過去這些年中由19次增加到27次。從孩子們看電視總共所花的時間這一角度來看，暴行已經成為孩子們想要模仿的最具有偶像性質的行為之一。

最近全國幼兒教育委員會在公布的《關于傳播媒介中的暴力內容在獐生活中的影響的聲明》中指出，學齡前的兒童特別容易受到傳播媒介的影響，因為他們不能把虛構的東西跟現實生活區別開來，因為他們還不能充分理解某一行為的潛在的動機，還不能充分了解道德情操上的沖突的復雜性。例如：在電視上人們受到暴力襲擊之后很快就痊愈了，這讓孩子們對傷者所受的折磨痛苦有一種不真實的理解。

對玩耍產生的影響

當然，孩子們經常很想要這些節目中出現的那些玩具，很想要在那些節目中間穿插的廣告上的玩具。孩子們只是單純模仿在節目進行中所觀察到的動作行為，因而既不能挖掘出或體會出這一電視劇令人深思的地方，也不能理解這一電視劇的感動人的地方。電視廣告里介紹的大部分與暴力有關的玩具對兒童起不到好作用。這些玩具不能更好地幫助兒童理解自己的感情，也起不到幫助兒童來解釋周圍世界的作用。一些調查研究的結果表明了，孩子們把他們在電視節目中所看到的一些動作行為應用到他們的現實生活的環境中來了。

父母或家長應該幫助

由父母來監控學齡前兒童看電視的時間長短和看哪一類電視片子，這倒是個好主意。如果你覺得你的孩子狂熱地喜歡看戰爭題材的電視劇，醉心于玩弄武器，那么控制他看電視倒是個好主意。在學齡彰控制兒童看電視比起上學以后再去控制他要容易一些，所以現在你應開始實行一套嚴格控制兒童看電視的規矩。

設法讓你的孩子來解釋她看到的事物（原文如此：由"他"轉換成"她"--譯者著）--即讓她對電視中所描述的種種事件想出一些解釋的方法，還要讓她想象出來這個節目是怎樣拼湊編輯到一起的。對電視演出節目作一些簡短的評論，不必暗示要讓她通過聯想使她因迷戀電視劇和武器而感到內疚。

向你的孩子所在的學前班的教師們就對待戰爭片和玩具武器的辦法征詢一下意見。很多學前班的老師們都不喜歡把以商業為目的制造的玩具武器帶進教室來，他們很喜歡聆聽你對此事的關心所發表的意見。去找一些跟您有共同觀點共同看法的其他一些家長。大家共同協作去控制孩子們所看的暴力節目的時間，去控制在家中所發現的暴力玩具的件數。盡量設法給孩子們安排幾次到一起玩的聚會，用這種兒童聚會來代替看電視。或者去找一些供兒童看的健康的非暴力節目的錄像帶，鼓勵孩子們用這些很有吸引力的節目去代替那些暴力的電視節目。