Media violence and its effects on children’s health and aggressive behaviour in Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Over the years, media violence and its effects on children’s health and aggressive behaviour remain a puzzle to be solved in many urban centres of developing world. At different ages, children due to their exposure, watch, sight-see, read, play and understand videos, television, magazines, videogames and films in different ways and as such, mimic behaviour from media especially when such behaviour is presented in a simple and instructional manner. This paper examines the kind of media device parents acquired for their children. It also assesses factors responsible for children aggression, and identifies the causal connection between media violence and how children unconsciously translate it to behaviour, as well as its health implication. The study adopts a survey research design where primary data were obtained through mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative techniques). The sample consists of 150 parents selected for questionnaire administration and two groups for Focus Group Discussion comprising of parents of both sexes. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics while qualitative data were analyzed through thick description. The findings reveal that media violence has a great effect on children aggressive behaviour in particular and countless impacts on their health and our society at large. The most often cited reasons were parental role, Government influence, societal influence and peer influence in the exposure of children to violence. It concludes that children’s aggression in the contemporary times have taken a worrisome and complex dimension that could not be curtailed as this disrupts the process of socializing the children into the norms and values of society. Hence, the ways of curbing children’s aggressive behaviour range from the government regulation, media censor, parental control and counseling in schools to religious control.