ind of violence. The researchers noticed real differences between the kids who watched the violent shows and those who watched nonviolent ones. According to Aletha Huston, Ph.D., children who watch the violent shows, even 'just funny' cartoons, were more likely to hit out at their playmates, argue, disobey class rules, leave tasks unfinished, and were less willing to wait for things than those who watched the nonviolent programs. Findings from the laboratory are further supported by field studies, which have shown the long-range effects of televised violence. Leonard Eron, Ph.D., and his associates at the University of Illinois, found that children who watched many hours of TV violence when they were in elementary school tended to also show a higher level of aggressive behavior when they became teenagers. By observing these youngsters until they were 30 years old, Dr. Eron found that the ones who had watched a lot of TV when they were eight years old were more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for criminal acts as adults. Television does influence children, however parents have tremendous power to moderate that influence. Because there is a great deal of violence in both adult and children's programming, just limiting the number of hours children watch television will probably reduce the amount of aggression they see. Parents should watch at least one episode of the programs their children watch. That way they will know what their children are watching and be able to talk about it with them. When they see a violent incident, parents can discuss with their child what caused the character to act in a violent way. They should also point out that this kind of behavior is not characteristic. They can ask their children to talk about other ways the character could have reacted, or other nonviolent solutions to the character's problem. Parents can outright ban any programs that they find too offensive. They can also restrict th...
