Nuala+Cabral

= = = Preserve, Protect and Fulfill:= =Parents respond to Media Violence=

Interview Questions:
My interview questions were designed to gather information on practice and perspective around children's consumption of media violence. Four mothers of various ages, ethic backgrounds and marital status responded to the following four questions:

1. To what degree do you allow your child to see violence in the media? 2. When it comes to your child watching violent media, do you worry about any of these potential effects? Do some concern you more than others? Why? 3. Did your experience with exposure to violence in the media growing up influence your choices about what your child views? 4. How could research around violence in the media and children inform your practices? What information would be helpful for you? (What would you want researchers to examine?)
 *  Imitation
 *  Arousal
 *  Desensitization to violence
 *  Aggressive behavior
 *  Negative attitude
 *  Other potential effects?

Interview Results:
//**Judy, 61, Married mother of 2 young adult daughters, white**// 2. For my daughters, I was most concerned that exposure to violence would cause anxiety & desensitization to violence. I also wanted to preserve their childhood innocence, joy and sense of wonder for as long as possible without the negativity surrounding violence. As a teacher, I know that imitation & aggressive behavior, especially with boys, is often a product of exposure to violence in the media. Excessive exposure to violent video games has greatly interfered with the ability to focus & increased the anxiety & hyperactivity levels, of especially boys, in the classroom. 3. I was not exposed to much violence in the media growing up in the 50’s, so I was wanting to offer my daughters’ a similar childhood experience. 4. I’m aware of a direct correlation between the greater amount of TV in watching in general& a lesser success rate in reading among children &, also, an increase in hyperactivity with greater video game access (most of which is violent). If there are specific studies with regard to exposure to violent TV programming, the results might convince parents & the media to decrease the use of violent programming. **
 * 1. I was very conscientious about preventing my daughters’ exposure to violence in the media throughout their childhood. I screened their TV programs, news programming, movies & video games as well. Incidentally, I limit my own access to violence in the media.

//**Mary Beth, 52, Married mother of 22 year old, white**//
 * We were pretty picky about what Ben watched growing up. No news, no violent movies; but when you look even at Disney, well, it's hard to avoid. I was most concerned about de-sensitization to violence -- and still am. Hate the video games. Auntie was pretty strict about what I watched too, which I hated, but then I was the same way when I was the mother. Bob, on the other hand watched whatever he wanted; but there was a LOT less violence in the media "back in the day." More problems arise when kids go to school and the "everyone else can" argument starts. I'm glad I'm on the flip side! **

//**Monica, 26, Single Mother of 4 year old boy, Latina**// 2)Desensitization to violence is my biggest concern. If there ever comes a day that he has to witness something tragic in real life, I want him to react to it and handle it as a tragedy or an emergency...not like a video game of work of fiction. I hate when I see kids watching an explosion on TV and think its so cool or laugh, when in the real world there are children their age dying from bombings. The other effects are valid concerns, but I feel can be easier to manage in other ways. I think the other effects also all depend on how much exposure you're talking about. 3)Somewhat. My parents did not let me watch anything violent on TV up until I was a teenager basically. So that lingers in the back of my mind when it comes to my own child, but I do feel strongly that it's a little different for me being a single mom because those ideals are harder to live up to when you're doing it alone. Also, as awful as it may sound (I am just being completely honest here), contrary to most of my opinions/beliefs when it comes to gender roles, I sometimes feel like I have to let Cristian be exposed a little bit to some of the more violent or action type movies to compensate for the absence of a male in his life. It sounds CRAZY I know! But for some reason it makes me feel guilty that day in day out he watches me do my hair, put on make up, be domestic (cook clean etc) and has no male role model around. So my initial reaction is to try to compensate with "boy stuff" which usually consists of sports related activities, but every now and then manifests itself in my allowing him to watch a "Transformers" or "Spiderman " type movie. 4) I would definitely take into consideration research surrounding this topic, however I'm often skeptical when it comes to these sort of things, because there can be so much room for bias and selective poling and so on and so forth, so I always take the results with a grain of salt. On that same note, I'd be curious to see how the researchers would be able to isolate that one factor in a child's life with disregard to all the other factors that go into a child's upbringing and the person they grow up to be. **
 * 1) I try to avoid it, but sometimes since it's just he and I in the house 24/7, if there's something I really want to watch and he happens to be around, I might slip up and give in. Also, movies like Transformers and Spiderman that he BEGS to watch I sometimes let him. But nothing extreme.

//**Susan, 34, Single Mother of 6 year old girl, Cape Verdean/black**// 2. When it comes to your child watching violent media, do you worry about any of these potential effects? Do some concern you more than others? Why? None - I always discuss things with her so she is able to somehow breakdown an event in her mind and talk about it in depth. 3. Did your experience with exposure to violence in the media growing up influence your choices about what your child views? No 4. How could research around violence in the media and children inform your practices? What information would be helpful for you? (What would you want researchers to examine?) Examine children constantly exposed to violence and follow their behavior over a certain period of time where they have not been taught what is right vs. wrong. **
 * 1. My daughter is six years old. I don’t expose her to any violence. Once in a while a news bulletin, etc will sneak through the cracks and she will ask a lot of questions regarding the incident at hand.

**Discussion: Parents in Control**
In reading their feedback, a few common themes emerged: a desire to control their children’s exposure to violence in the media, a main concern over desensitization, and a consideration for gendered norms when making decisions about permissible content. In addition, two out of the four parents believed that their own childhood experience with violence in the media has influenced their parenting decisions in this area.

The desensitization of violence was a major concern for three out of the four mothers I interviewed. One reason for this, argued Monica, 26, is that desensitization is harder to control than other potential affects, (aggressive behavior, imitation, etc.). If her son witnesses violence she wants him to interpret it as a tragedy, not view it as entertainment or humorous, as he would in a video game or work of fiction.
 * Desensitization of violence**

One mother is rather confident that her daughter will not experience any negative outcomes from violence in the media. Susan, 34, is a single mother who tries not to expose any violence in the media to her 6 year-old daughter, although she acknowledges that it occasionally it happens. When her daughter does witness violence in the media or hear about violence in general, they will generally talk about it. Susan is not worried about any potential effects of violence because according to her, open communication will prevent any negative outcomes. On a related note, two mothers reflected on how assumptions about gender differences shaped their concerns. As a teacher, Judy, 61, saw that boys would imitate violence they saw in the media more than girls. As a mother she was less concerned with her daughters imitating violence, and more concerned with wanting to preserve the “childhood innocence, joy and sense of wonder” in her girls. Perhaps if she had boys, imitation would be a concern, but this thought did not enter her mind with daughters. Monica, who like Susan is a single mom, confessed that sometimes she allows her 4 year old son to watch media that is action-oriented and violent to compensate for the lack of a male figure in his life. She says, “it makes me feel guilty that day in day out he watches me do my hair, put on make up, be domestic (cook clean etc) and has no male role model around. So my initial reaction is to try to compensate with ‘boy stuff’ which usually consists of sports related activities, but every now and then manifests itself in my allowing him to watch a //Transformers// or //Spiderman// type movie.” Is exposure to this type of media necessary for the self-identity development of boys? Does this media take on new meaning for boys without male figures in their homes? The guilt factor may also be an interesting concept to explore in relation to parenting decisions around media consumption fulfilling a void. It also struck me that Monica ended her interview by saying: “please do not judge me for this”. This made me wonder how effective studies can be when participants are worried about being judged?
 * To Limit and Discuss**
 * Considering Gender**


 * Remembering and Reliving

A couple parents did acknowledge that their childhood experiences with media has shaped the way they monitor their child's media consumption. Growing up the in 50s, Judy encountered limited exposure to violence in the media and she wanted to “offer [her] daughters’ a similar childhood experience”. Judy also avoids violence in the media personally

Monica on the other hand, is personally less discriminating in the television she consumes. As far as monitoring her son's intake however, she does think back to her own experience as a child. Monica’s exposure to violence in the media was limited and this “lingers” in her mind as a parent. However she admits that she "feel[s] strongly that it's a little different for me being a single mom because those ideals are harder to live up to when you're doing it alone.” ** Monica also raised another point that was honest and revealing. She expressed how challenging it can be as a single mother, to watch television that she wants to watch, when her son is always around. Occasionally, this means that her son is exposed to media she would prefer him not to watch.

Arguably having a spouse in the home to assist with parenting, made Judy's goal to limit violent media a bit more feasible. However, Judy's personal viewing habits clearly facilitated this as well.

Most of the mothers interviewed did express awareness that research has found correlations between violence in the media and negative traits and behaviors in children. Judy expressed the most optimism, suggesting that this research will lead to less violent content on television. Susan, who illustrated the least amount of concern over the impact of violent material on her daughter, indicated that she would be interested in a longitudinal study of children who are heavily exposed to violence in the media along with little ethical guidance. Given so many studies that already prove a correlation between high levels of media violence contact and negative outcomes (i.e. Anderson and Dill’s video game study), perhaps it would be more enlightening to learn how ethical guidance may or may not influence those outcomes.
 * Research and Practice**

**Work Cited**
Anderson, C. and Dill, K (2000). Videogames and aggressive thoughts, feelings, and behavior in the laboratory and in life. //Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78//, 353-359. Hamilton, J. T. (1998). Chapter 8, Dealing with Television Violence: Politics and Policies. In //Channeling Violence: The Economic Marketing for Violent Television Programming.// Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.