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.

电视中的暴力内容是怎样影响孩子们的

在最近这四分之一世纪还多的时间里，出现了越来越多的证据，那就是把电视上的暴力内容暴露在孩子们的面前，对孩子们的行为产生了深远的影响。在1982-1986年间，每周电视花在暴力节目上的播出时间总数有了惊人的增长。每小时在电视上播出的暴力节目上的播出时间总数有了惊人的增长。每小时在电视播出的暴行的次数在过去这些年中由19次增加到27次。从孩子们看电视总共所花的时间这一角度来看，暴行已经成为孩子们想要模仿的最具有偶像性质的行为之一。

最近全国幼儿教育委员会在公布的《关于传播媒介中的暴力内容在獐生活中的影响的声明》中指出，学龄前的儿童特别容易受到传播媒介的影响，因为他们不能把虚构的东西跟现实生活区别开来，因为他们还不能充分理解某一行为的潜在的动机，还不能充分了解道德情操上的冲突的复杂性。例如：在电视上人们受到暴力袭击之后很快就痊愈了，这让孩子们对伤者所受的折磨痛苦有一种不真实的理解。

对玩耍产生的影响

当然，孩子们经常很想要这些节目中出现的那些玩具，很想要在那些节目中间穿插的广告上的玩具。孩子们只是单纯模仿在节目进行中所观察到的动作行为，因而既不能挖掘出或体会出这一电视剧令人深思的地方，也不能理解这一电视剧的感动人的地方。电视广告里介绍的大部分与暴力有关的玩具对儿童起不到好作用。这些玩具不能更好地帮助儿童理解自己的感情，也起不到帮助儿童来解释周围世界的作用。一些调查研究的结果表明了，孩子们把他们在电视节目中所看到的一些动作行为应用到他们的现实生活的环境中来了。

父母或家长应该帮助

由父母来监控学龄前儿童看电视的时间长短和看哪一类电视片子，这倒是个好主意。如果你觉得你的孩子狂热地喜欢看战争题材的电视剧，醉心于玩弄武器，那么控制他看电视倒是个好主意。在学龄彰控制儿童看电视比起上学以后再去控制他要容易一些，所以现在你应开始实行一套严格控制儿童看电视的规矩。

设法让你的孩子来解释她看到的事物（原文如此：由"他"转换成"她"--译者著）--即让她对电视中所描述的种种事件想出一些解释的方法，还要让她想象出来这个节目是怎样拼凑编辑到一起的。对电视演出节目作一些简短的评论，不必暗示要让她通过联想使她因迷恋电视剧和武器而感到内疚。

向你的孩子所在的学前班的教师们就对待战争片和玩具武器的办法征询一下意见。很多学前班的老师们都不喜欢把以商业为目的制造的玩具武器带进教室来，他们很喜欢聆听你对此事的关心所发表的意见。去找一些跟您有共同观点共同看法的其他一些家长。大家共同协作去控制孩子们所看的暴力节目的时间，去控制在家中所发现的暴力玩具的件数。尽量设法给孩子们安排几次到一起玩的聚会，用这种儿童聚会来代替看电视。或者去找一些供儿童看的健康的非暴力节目的录像带，鼓励孩子们用这些很有吸引力的节目去代替那些暴力的电视节目。