Cartoons, Violence in

Parents and watchdog groups have cried out against the amount of violence in children's programs for years. However, others feel that violence in cartoons has little effect on subsequent behavior because cartoons show fantasy violence and are far removed from real life. In general, research has supported the belief that viewing violence in cartoons does have an effect on children's subsequent aggressive thoughts and behavior. The effect is strongest among very young children (under age 7) who may have difficulty differentiating between fantasy and reality. Most adults and older children realize that Superman [Page 149]cannot actually fly and that the monsters in Pokémon are not real. However, very young children may believe that, if they put on a cape and jump off the couch, they will soar through the air, or that the monsters they view on television are real and are hiding under their bed ready to bite their ankles should they carelessly let a foot fall over the side. Because the television characters young children view each morning are very real to them, they are more likely to imitate the behavior they see.

Several research groups over the last few decades have analyzed the content of children's television programming to discover the amount of violence and the contextual features of children's cartoons. The prevalence of violence in cartoons has changed over time; however, methods and sampling techniques have varied considerably from study to study. In the late 1960s, Leonard Zusne found that nearly 6% of the total time in a sample of 64 cartoons was spent engaging in violence. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, George Gerbner and his colleagues made extensive analyses of the violence in children's programming and found that children's programs were consistently more violent than any other genre. On average, 90% of children's television programs contained violence, compared with 70% found in mainstream programs. This finding remained stable in the early 1990s, with cartoons being the most violent programs, compared with 16 other genres.

The most recent and extensive study on violence in children's television programming was conducted by Barbara Wilson and colleagues as part of the National Violence Study. Overall, 69% of children's television programs contained violence, compared to 57% found in other programming. Violence aimed at children was more likely to be portrayed in a humorous context, and it was less realistic than in other programming. Aggressors were less likely to be punished for their actions, and short- and long-term consequences were often absent. All these contextual variables have been shown to increase the likelihood of imitation of violence witnessed on television. On a positive note, children's programs were less graphic and were less likely to show gun violence than were other programs.

As in earlier research, Wilson et al. split up children's programming into several subtypes and found marked differences in how violence was portrayed in each category. According to Wilson et al., slapstick programs (e.g., Tom and Jerry, Looney Toons) are the most troubling in terms of increased risk of imitation. These are programs that involve anthropomorphized characters who engage in off-the-wall antics. The plots are usually simple and repetitive, and they often involve large chases or games that defy the law of physics. For example, imagine Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner from Looney Toons, in which each cartoon is a farcical chase that involves exploding dynamite, falling grand pianos, and giant slingshots. One hundred percent of slapstick cartoons contained some form of violence, and a child watching this type of program can expect to see a violent act every 2 minutes. Violence in these programs shows a very unrealistic level of harm, is often portrayed as justified, and is cased in humor. These programs may be particularly harmful for very young children, who may have difficulty separating fantasy from reality.

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