A major topic of conversation nowadays is whether or not voilence on television causes
children to bahave more violently. Shortly after I began to research this topic, I realized that it is
not a clear cut issue. Evidence can be easily found to support each position. In the following
essay I will examine the different positions that can ba taken on this topic and try ro form my
own view on the affect violent TV has on chidren.
The first position I will examine is the one in which it is believed that, without a doubt, violent
TV increases the likelyhood that a child will behave in a violent manner. This stands is examined
in the Maclean's article intitled,"Power to the people. Television's teen Rangers Kick up a
storm. The author of this article, Particia Chrisholm, explains a heated debate over the affects
that the kids show "The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" has on children. According to this
article, the "hemeted lycra covered Rangers" acts as a bad influence on children. Many parents
have come to believe that the childen try to act like the kids hreo's. A cocerned mother,
Kathryn Flannery went so far as to petition the CRTC. The CRTC responded by saying that
"the show is avassively to violent."(Chrisholm 1994 p.52) As a result of the petiton, many
stations voluntarily refused to air the controversial kids show. This case shows the power that
people can have over the CRTC. Unfortunately, the parents were not able to entirely shield
their children from the Power Rangers TV show. Many US broadcasters, available on cable,
Another study that supports this belief that TV violence causes children to act more violently
is an experiment conducted by Leonard Eron and his collegues. In these studies, Leonard Eron
and his collegues studied childern for a number of years and measuread peer ratings obtained
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