Bandura: TV Violence Today's Society Term Paper

This behavior was observed in more than eighty eight percent of the children. In order to show that learned behavior is not necessarily short-term, when the children were reintroduced to Bobo a few months later, 40% showed the violent behavior.

In assessing whether watching excessive violence on television causes long terms aggressive behavior, research studies should be more comprehensive. They should take into account factors such as chemical or neurological imbalances, family history of violence, emotional and physical abuse or genetic factors. Whether it is indisputably proven that watching violence on television causes aggressive behavior or whether it isn't, one should realize that over indulgence is never a good thing. They can have physical, emotional and sociologically negative impacts.

Parents have an important role to play. Instead of relying on federal guidelines for television program ratings, parents should make up their own minds about whether a child should watch a program. This should be based on what the parents understand about the personality of their children. In today's modern world, where two income families are the norm, parents do not have the time or energy for effective parenting after a day of hard work. Television becomes a diversion often taking the place of parenting.Nevertheless, parents should recognize that television (violent or not) disengages a child from expressing thought and creativity. Television also provides instant gratification and takes away from a child the realization that achievement can be a tedious and often boring process. The promiscuous and violent programs on television can create misconceptions in a child's mind about certain races or sexes. The parents should limit television watching time by increasing family time and time where children can compulsorily spend time in active and productive pursuits that are fun as well as entertaining. These not only reduce the ill effects of excessive television-watching, they also ensure that the child develops stronger family bonds and good social skills.

Bibliography

Bandura, a. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.

Funk, J.B. (1993). Reevaluating the Impact of Video Games. Clinical Pediatrics, 32(2), 86-90.

Siegel, L.J. (2003). Criminology (8th ed.). Belmont,….....