Violence on screen: An unpredictable danger to children's future

A new study conducted by the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Montreal (Canada) has discovered a disturbing link between children and adolescents' exposure to violent content in media, such as movies, video games and television shows, and their tendency to exhibit violent behavior in adolescence.

Research shows that frequent exposure to violent content on screen not only impacts children's psychology but also affects how they react to real-life situations.

In particular, the study highlights that adolescents are at increased risk of developing violent behavior, such as aggression or less empathy for victims of violence, if not properly supervised or directed when exposed to such content.

This finding is a clear warning about the role of parents, schools and social organizations in monitoring the content children consume and promoting education on how to distinguish between fact and fiction in the media.

Nearly 2,000 children aged 3.5 to 4.5, from middle-class families, were included in the study. Scientists chose this demographic because they found that children from middle-class families tend to engage in less aggressive behaviour, according to a report from the online science portal EurekaAlert.

The research results, published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, provide insight into the link between children's living environment and behavior in early life.

Parents were asked to report how often their children were exposed to violent content, including superhero, action or horror films, which sometimes encouraged violent behavior by associating it with rewards or praise.

On-screen violence is defined as any behavior that is “physically aggressive, verbally aggressive, or relationally aggressive.” Not surprisingly, the results showed that boys were more likely to watch these types of videos than girls.

Researcher Linda Pagani stressed that other factors that may influence children to develop hostile behavior or become accustomed to conflict were carefully considered in the study. These alternative factors include problems from the home environment, such as conflict in the home or lack of support from parents.

To ensure accuracy and objectivity, the researchers used rigorous measures to control for these variables. This helped eliminate unwanted external influences and focused on accurately assessing the relationship between exposure to violent content and children's behavior.

This study focused on assessing children's likelihood of developing violent or aggressive behavior over 11 years, as they matured and entered adolescence.

For boys, exposure to violent content as early as kindergarten may be a warning sign for future violent behavior, such as hitting, stealing, threatening, insulting, and participating in group fights. Particularly worrying is the fact that weapon use has also been reported as a risk factor.

This is largely because boys tend to be exposed to more violent content than girls, and are often encouraged to engage in rough or aggressive games, which contributes to their increased risk of real-life violent behavior.

Researcher Pagani also stressed the importance of public health initiatives that provide clearer and more useful information to parents about the potential for children to imitate and engage in negative behaviors in the long term.

Raising awareness and understanding of the impact of media on young children will certainly play an important role in preventing these behaviors.

This is further compounded by the lack of evidence of similar effects in girls, reflecting gender differences in perception and response to violent content.