How do films or television programmes influence people’s behaviour?
We all watch films and television programmes in our leisure time. This is all very well if films and programmes on television simply amuse and entertain us. However, over recent years, concern has been expressed about the possible ill effects of certain films and television programmes on the behaviour of viewers, particularly young viewers.
Recently, a report published by researchers at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom suggests that people are right to feel concerned about this. The report indicates that young people who watch violent behaviour in films or television programmes are themselves more likely to display signs of aggressive behaviour.
Sometimes, this aggressive behaviour is short-lived, as an immediate response to the particular film or television programme which has just been viewed. Sometimes, however, it is longer lasting, particularly in the case of young people who regularly watch violent films. The violence shown in films can cause long-term aggressive and antisocial behaviour.
The young people see people in the film committing violent, aggressive actions and are encouraged to emulate such behaviour in their own lives. A British teenager, who killed his best friend, said that his decision to do so had been greatly influenced by the horror film Queen of the Damned, which he had seen over a hundred times.
Oliver Stone’s film Natural Born Killers was also said to have had a very bad effect on many of its young viewers. It was alleged that it was linked to several killings carried out by impressionable teenagers.
The report refers to the viewing of such films as passive viewing because people simply view these films and play no active part. However, the report also points to the harm done by what it calls interactive viewing. This refers to the playing of video games.
The researchers suggest that video games, too, can lead to aggressive and violent behaviour in young people. Indeed, it is highly possible that these provide even greater encouragement to behave in such a way. This is because many of the games are based on violent actions actually being committed by the players themselves in the course of the game. The young people are practicing being aggressive.
A particularly violent video game was Manhunt, which awarded players points for inflicting the grisliest form of death. It was extremely popular among the young and became a kind of cult game. It was withdrawn after it was blamed for the murder of a 14-year-old boy by a teenage friend.
Not all young people who watch horror films or violent films go on to commit violent actions. Some children are more vulnerable to their effects than others. However, this report suggests that the number of young people being affected is much greater than is generally assumed. Indeed, it claims that the relationship between violent imagery in films and violent behaviour in young people is statistically similar to the relationship between passive smoking and lung cancer.
The authors of the report are so alarmed by the number of children whose behaviour is being influenced by violent films that they are stressing the need for action on behalf of both parents and the government. Both, they say, must act to curb the influence of violent images on impressionable young people.
However, this is easier said than done. The availability of so much cable and satellite TV in the home, together with the fact that so many young people have television sets in their rooms, makes it all too easy for young people to access films which are inappropriate for their age and stage of development. Sadly, busy parents do not always know what films their children are watching or what damage the films are causing to them.
