Gloria DeGaetano - Screen Violence: Impact on Self as Relational Being

Screen Violence: Impact on Self as Relational Being (cont.)

The type of violent scene that is most likely to contribute to aggression is one in which the child identifies with the perpetrator of the violence, the child perceives the scene as telling life like it is, and the perpetrator is rewarded. This study clearly demonstrates the need to protect young children from media violence and to teach media literacy skills to children and teens of all ages.

In other developments in media violence research, on April 10, 2003, the U. S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation heard evidence from five researchers with experience of media violence research. Of these, Dr. John P. Murray, Professor at Kansas State University, has worked with neurological correlates of video violence and children. He and his colleagues used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to map the brains of eight children (5 boys, 3 girls, ages 8-13) while they watched violence and non-violent videotapes. The children viewed six 3-minute video clips of violence (Rocky IV), non-violence (National Geographic and Ghostwriter), and a control for viewing activations (a white X on a blue video screen). Besides scanning the children’s brains while viewing these 18 minutes, scanning occurred for several minutes before and after viewing to establish structural/anatomical features of the brains. (5)

The results of the scans confirmed expectations of emotional arousal to the video violence manifested in significant right hemisphere activations. The scans also confirmed expectations of involvement of an area of the brain that senses “danger” in the environment and prepares the body for “fight or flight.” Also, an area of the prefrontal cortex was activated, suggesting that youngsters were “thinking about moving,” indicating an attempt at imitation of the boxing movements. There was also an activation in the back of the brain, the posterior cingulate, an area that seems to be devoted to long-term memory storage for significant or traumatic events. (6)

The results of this initial, limited study of children’s brain activation while viewing violent imagery suggests that the violence is arousing, engaging, and is treated by the brain as a real event that is threatening and worthy of being stored for long-term memory in an area of the brain that makes “recall” of the events almost instantaneous. Thus, the children stored away violent images in a manner that could be used to “guide” future behavior. (7)

If our children are suffering more mental health problems than ever before, we need only to look at the violent entertainment they engage in and remember that it plays a significant role in their understanding of who they are and who they wish to become. We may have overlooked a critical aspect of human development in a media age—by
identifying with the perpetrators of violence while watching and by rehearsing murder when playing violent video games young people focus on destroying relationships rather than nurturing them. When screen time is spent in such detrimental and debasing ways, how can our kids come to understand themselves as relational beings?

They can’t.

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