effective action to reduce violent incidence on campus (Center for the Prevention of School Violence, 1998). And since there are a number of studies that suggest that television violence produces or enhances aggression in very young children (Papalia & Olds, 1995), the investigation of a strategy to reduce the contribution of media violence to children is an important part of the effort to reduce campus violence.
Does watching television violence cause and/or contribute to aggression and violence in children and youth? According to Huesmann and Eron (1986), the results of studies on the effects of televised violence are consistent. The authors state that substantial research has shown that by watching aggression, children learn how to be aggressive in new ways and they also draw conclusions about whether being aggressive to others will bring them rewards; this because they see TV characters getting what they want by hitting. Even if the TV character has a so called good reason for acting violently (as when a police officer is shown shooting down a criminal to protect others), research
indicates that this does not make young children less likely to imitate the aggressive act (Liss, Reinhart & Fredrikson, 1983).
In his discussion of the research on school violence, Jones (1994) reported that studies have shown that children become significantly more aggressive two years after television is introduced into their homes. And Jones reported that children who prefer violent television shows when they are young have been found to be more aggressive later on, and more frequently in trouble with the law. Also, Jones (1994) reports that strong identification with a violent TV character and believing that the TV situation is realistic are both associated with greater aggressiveness. However, in general, boys are more affected by violent shows that girls are.
According to Thoman (1995), most investigations for the effects of media viol...