Abstract

Contrary to what is commonly available in literature, this study examines children’s view about their understanding of television violence. The participants were selected using a stratified sampling procedure. The data analysed showed that the children are very conscious of violent contents on their televisions and would eschew it where possible. Findings about younger participants in the study show that they believe television violence is real as opposed to older ones. The children’s views about the WWE wrestling came along gender line and age. The older boys and the young participants of both sexes (58%) believe WWE wrestling is real as opposed to 42 percent who are mainly girls of older ages. Regarding their favourite characters, the female participants prefer characters who are funny, nice and with good personality. Boys, on the other hand prefer characters with actions and full of energy. Finally, the data showed that the children would imitate their favourite characters based on their discernment of what is good. This, in other words shows that the children are able to make critical judgement of television characters’ behaviours.

Key Words: Television violence, desensitisation theory, cultivation theory, social learning theory, violent content.

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 4, No. 2, October 2012, 31 –  42.

© Delmas Communications Ltd.

About the authors

[1]Dr Sam Erevbenagie Usadolo is a lecturer at the University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.

^** Tafadzwa Tsitsi Gwauya is a lecturer at the University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa.

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