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<title> Children and TV violence </title>
I am a mother of a five year-old girl, and she loves to watch television and especially the cartoons. I suppose I have reflected over the level of violence that occur in these shows before, but I must say that I have become increasingly aware of the contents in these programmes, and in particular the high level of violence they display. 

My daughter was born in Australia and we moved away when she was three years old. When I compare the programmes she used to watch over there to the ones that are shown in Sweden, there really is no difference. In fact, the same shows run on televison both here and in Australia. All children's programmes are of course not violent in nature, there are good ones for preschoolers (3 to 5 years old) like for example, "Sesame Street" which is both educational and inspiring and also worthwhile. Many more such shows are featured on television, but for some reason a lot of children seem to enjoy the more violent cartoons like "Tom and Jerry" and the "Roadrunner", to name a few. There is a high level of violence in these two cartoons, the characters get chased around, things drop on them and they get blown up, and still they come back for more. I have seen the way my daughter and other children mimic these violent acts, and the games they play tend to more aggressive. 

While cartoons might make children more aggressive, realistic violent acts with human actors are more likely to frighten the child. It is then up to the adult to step in and minimize the anxiety the child might be experiencing. By making rules about what the child can watch or when, and also by restricting the amount of television exposure, could then lessen the impact the shows have upon the children. I believe most children feel good about having to follow certain rules and they also need to be supervised by adults, it shows children that they are being cared for. 

There is another show that I particularly remember from when I was living in Australia, and it was called the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". The programme caused a lot of concern amongst schoolteachers because, the children took to playing violent games which included karate chopping and kicking. Parents were urged to stop their children from watching the show, subsequently a lot of the parents did so. 

It is estimated that preschoolers watch an average of four hours of television daily. With these young impressionable children, the lines between reality and fantasy are not clear. Some programmes that mix animation with live action can be very frightening, but I think that eventually the child becomes desensitized by the sheer number of violent acts shown on television, and it implies that to solve personal problems one has to use violence. When it comes to my daughter, I have felt the need to reduce the amount of time she spends watching television, and I try to get her to watch the more educational and nonviolent programmes. In my opinion she seems much less agressive in her playing now than when watching the shows with a lot of violence in them, but sometimes she still watches the more violent shows as well. 

There is a lot of violence in society today and I do believe that children of all ages are greatly influenced by what they see on TV. Many current children's programmes feature villains that are grotesque and they engage in violence which is graphic, murderous and very realistic. Is this maybe one of the causes that violence amongst children is on the increase, is this a case of "what monkey sees, monkey does"? I really think that us parents have to place more responsibility upon ourselves, and try to encourage our children to get away from the negative influence of TV violence. 

In Australia, all of the programmes on television state what the recommended age is for viewing the show. It is supposed to be a guide to the viewer and it indicates whether the programme is suitable or not to him or her. How will a child know though, unless he or she is under adult supervision. As a parent one does not always think of the effect TV violence can have on our children. I know that if I am feeling tired or just want to be alone far a while I will encourage my daughter to go and watch television and sometimes I have not got a clue as to what she is watching and consequently I do not know how much she is affected by the shows. It keeps her occupied for a while but at what cost one may wonder, it really is important for our children to be guided properly and encouraged to participate in other activities. Maybe it is time for us adults to take action and steer our children away from the negative influence from television violence.
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