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Original Article

The inuence of violent TV cartoons watched by school

children in Turkey

Sibel Ergn1

AbstrAct

Objective: This study aimed to demonstrate the gender-specic impact of violence-oriented television cartoons on children, and to identifythe behaviors demonstrating this inuence. Methods:The research was conducted on a total of 300 students chosen by a simple, random

method applying a stratied weight in each school. A 20-question instrument was used for data collection, using face-to-face interviews withthe students which occurred during visits to primary schools. Results:A signicant gender difference was noted between students favouritecartoon shows, the type of inuence those shows exerted, and the ways in which students imitated the behaviors of the cartoon characters(p

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135The inuence of violent TV cartoons watched by school children in Turkey

Acta Paul Enferm. 2012;25(Special Issue 2):134-9.

IntroductIon

In todays society, the prevalence of internet and televi-sion (TV) is an indisputable fact. While at the very begin-ning of 1980s, there were TVs only in a limited numberof houses, we can now say that there are computers andinternet connection available in nearly every house. As aresult of these technological developments, the messagescommunicated from TV screens penetrate into housesand inuence children, especially those in whose mindsthe defense mechanisms have not yet formed(1). In theirstudy, authors indicated that United States households withchildren have an average of 2.8 television sets, and 97% ofthese households have at least 1 VCR or DVD player. Onaverage, children with a bedroom television set reportedthat they watch 12.8 hours per week compared with those

without a bedroom television set, who reported 10.7 hoursper week(2).In Turkey, there are one TV in 39.8% of the

childrens houses, 2 TVs in 43.6% of the houses, 3 TVs in13.6%, and 4 and more TVs in 2.7% of the the chidrenshouses(3).In her study, Arnas indicated that there was one

TV in each house of the family in Turkey, and about halfof them have 2 and more TVs(4).

Today children are exposed to the effects of TV fortoo long within their daily lives(5). Children spend muchmore time watching TV than participating in any otheractivity (6). In a study he conducted, Larson determinedthat young people in America, Europe and Eastern Asia

watched TV an average of 1.5 to 2.5 hours daily(7). Authorsindicated that children spent their time watching TV for 3

hours and 10 minutes(8)

. Children in Turkey watch TV for3 or 4 hours a day on average(9). Children spent about 900hours at school in a year. On the other hand, they watchtelevision 1500 hours in a year(10). The research showed that

TV was on for 4 hours and 53 minutes a day, on average,in family houses(11). In a study that explored the role of

TV as a visual and auditory stimulant in the perceptionand acquisition of violence elements, Emanetolu deter-mined that parents and children watched TV together foran average of 4 hours on weekdays and 5 hours on the

weekend, between the hours of 18.00 and 22.00(12).The effects of TV have been much stronger on chil-

dren than on adults. This is especially true because thepurposes for watching TV are different among childrenand adults. While adults generally watch TV for fun, chil-dren watch it for purposes of learning and recognition.

Additionally, more vulnerable children try to understandthe TV programs they watch and they are more inuencedby them(13). The most effective inuence in the lives ofchildren, after their parents, is TV. Cartoons are the rstand most common among the types of broadcasts thatchildren watch on TV(1). Children in elementary school

watch cartoons the most with a rate of 72,1%(3). In hisstudy, Eskandari demonstrated that 60% of students

sometimes watched cartoons, while 40% of them alwayswatched TV(14). Cartoons have been presented to childrenon many channels, without recognition of their usefulor harmful aspects(1). In the study by Doan at al., it wasobserved that watching TV took rst place as part ofchildrens free time activities, with the most popular car-toons and prime time news programs containing the most

violence(15). Children identify with cartoon characters theychoose as role models for themselves, and integrate theminto their relations in their social life and into their games,and they reect the positive or negative manners they gainfrom them in their lives(3,13). In her study that examinedthe effects of visualmedia and the culture of violence onsecondary school students, One author, determined thatstudents were inuenced by the native series they watchand this situation increased the culture of violence, withstudents using violence in solving their problems due toseeing it as part of a normal lifestyle(16). According to the

result of the Eskandaris research, 80% of female studentsand 91% of male students sometimes or always chosemodels from cartoons for themselves(14).

The ability of children to restrain their motives is veryweak, so they can take the aggressive behaviors of car-toon characters as a model(3,17). Since children desire andlook for power, the producer sets out from this need andcreates sympathetic, strong and aggressive media heroesthat can overcome every difculty through magical andinnite powers, and solve their problems by brute force.

What is important is that they become strong and armed,and they solve problems by violence. When the frequency

of this kind of message combines with the loveliness ofcharacters and also their kind-heartedness is emphasized,there is no reason left for children not to imitate thesecharacters(3,17).In 2001, the Surgeon Generals report onyouth violence concluded that media violence increaseschildrens physically and verbally aggressive behaviorin the short term(18). In addition, TV has affected thestudying habits of children and prevented them fromdoing their homework(3).

The time that children spend in watching TV grad-ually increases during their childhood period; it reachesits climax around the age of 10 or 12, and it starts to

decrease at puberty(7)

.Especially for primary school chil-dren, the content of the programs they watch and theinuence the programs leave on them increases morebecause attention, focus and cognitive functions formin the children of this age group. This is impacted bythe content of cartoons, the susceptibility of childrento that content, and the signicance of the reection ofthis susceptibility in their lives as behaviors(1).

The main purpose of this research, in the light ofthese thoughts, is to demonstrate how children are inu-enced by violence-oriented cartoons on TV, according totheir gender, and through what kind of behaviors these

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136 S Ergn


inuences appear. In accordance with these aims, answerswere sought for the following questions:

1. Is there a signicant difference in the durationof watching cartoons among children, based ongender?

2. Is there a signicant difference among childrensfavourite cartoon group (A or B, as deter-mined by the researcher)?

3. Is there a signicant difference in the level of in-uence on children by cartoons, based on gender?

4. Is there a signicant difference in the way childrenimitate cartoon characters, based on gender?

5. Is there a signicant difference, based on gender,in terms of childrens buying items associated

with their favourite cartoon characters, such asjournals, books, wrappers, bags and erasers?

Methods

This research was a descriptive study, and it wasconducted in 18 Primary School in Turkey between 6December 2010 to 28 January 2011. This study wasapproved by Ege University demi School of HealthResearch Committee with number 1357. A 20-questioninstrument was used for data collection, using face-to-face interviews with the students which occurred during

visits to primary schools.The scope of the research included the fth grade pri-

mary school students (N=1121) who were studying in 18primary schools afliated with the district of demi, in

zmir (Turkey), in the process of formal education duringthe 2010-2011 school year. Related to the sampling, 300subjects were determined to be required through a math-ematical sampling formula, the scope of which is known,and the fth grade students of 18 primary schools wereclassied according to their gender, with students chosenfrom every school according to the stratied weight bymeans of a simple, random method.

The questionnaire instrument was comprised of 20questions developed by researchers, following a litera-ture review. The rst eight questions on the instrument

were prepared to determine students sociodemographic

variables, while the remaining questions were prepared todetermine the degree to which students were inuencedby cartoon violence. The questionnaire was pilot testedon 25 students before gathering data from the researchsample with nal editing to the questions based on thoseresults. The questionnaire was then implemented thoughthe method of face-to-face interviews with the students,

which lasted approximately 15 minutes.The data gathered as a result of the study was analysed

after data entry into the computer, by the application ofnumerical and percentile distribution and chi-square tests,using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 16.0).

ethIcal consIderatIons

Before completing the survey, students were informedabout the study, and received written permission. A writ-ten consent form explaining the purpose of research wasthen sent to parents of students. After written consentform were signed by parents, students brought the formback to the researcher. Also, necessary permission wereobtained in order to conduct the research from the Boardof Education. Ege University demi School of HealthResearch Committee approved the study with number1357. Prior to beginning to study, participants and theirguardians signed terms of Free and Informed Constent.

results

Demographic results showed that 51.3% of the stu-dents participating in the study were male, and 48.7%

were female. The majority (58%) of these students were11 years old: 36.3% were ten years old, and 5.7% were 12years old. Most of them (58%) had mothers who wereprimary school graduates; the majority (42.3%) had fathers

who were primary school graduates. The vast majority(87%) of the mothers were housewives and 53.7% of thefathers were working. It was determined that the successof 45.7% of the children at school was good. Most of theparticipants (88.7%) had a nuclear-type family.

It was identied that 71.2% of female and 66.2% ofmale children watched cartoons at most for one hour ina day, when comparing the daily duration of TV viewing,

according to gender. Therefore it appeared that thesefemale children watched cartoons for longer periodsthan male children. In the study, no statistically signicantdifference was found between gender and childrens dailydurations of watching cartoons (p>0.05) (Table 1).

tb 1. Childrens daily time spent watching TV, by gender:

children of 18 primary schools in Turkey, data collection period

December 2010-January 2011

diy if wigc ()

Fm M t*

(%) (%) (%)

< 1 104(50.5) 102(49.5) 206(68.7)

2-3 37(47.4) 41(52.6) 78(26.0)

4-6 4(28.6) 10(71.4) 14(4,.7)

>6 1(50.0) 1(50.0) 2(0.7)

TOTAL** 146(48.7) 154(51.3) 300(100.0)

X2=2.584 p>0.05

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When the favorite cartoon group (noted as groupA or B, by the researcher) were examined withregard to gender, 30.1% of female and 83.1% of malechildren liked Group A (cartoons containing violenceand demonstrating power), while 69.9% of female and16.9% of male children liked the Group B (education-al, didactic and emotion-based cartoons). A statistically

signicant difference was identied between childrensfavorite cartoon types and gender (p

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138 S Ergn


dIscussIon

When childrens daily durations of watching TV wascompared by gender, it was determined that 71.2% offemale children and 66.2% of male children watchedcartoons at most for one hour in a day. The reason whyfemale children watch cartoons longer than male childrenmay be that the cartoon sector knows how to attract theattention of children very well, and they accordingly makeefforts for change and development. Therefore, in allcartoons presented and intended for girls, the characters

who are the focus of attention are very beautiful, slim,well-dressed, equipped with super powers, struggling withevils, and are very popular among friends. This situationdraws the attention of the girls who are about to stepthrough puberty; it has been shown that girls enter puber-ty, especially biologically, earlier than boys and watchingthese kind of cartoons satises their desires for being

loved and admired

(1)

. Therefore it is thought that femalechildren watch cartoon for longer than male children.In the study, no statistically signicant difference was

found between gender and childrens daily durationsof watching cartoons (p>0.05) (Table 1). This result isthought to stem from the fact that the durations for maleand female children watching cartoons in the researchsample were nearly identical.

A statistically signicant difference was found be-tween childrens favourite cartoon groups and gender(p0.05) (Table 5).

Today it is a known fact that competition is very great,both in the toy sector and stationery products, and that therehave been rapid changes. Male and female children can easilyobtain every kind of item associated with their favouritecartoon characters. Thus, it is considered that childrens

buying habits regarding the stationery items related to theirfavourite cartoon characters does not depend on gender.Finally, it was determined in the study that male and

female childrens durations of watching cartoons are almostidentical to each other. Therefore a signicant difference

was not found between the durations of watching cartoonsbased on gender. In the study a signicant difference wasdetermined among childrens favourite cartoon groups:male children liked more violence-oriented cartoons in

which power was exhibited, while female children likededucational, emotional and didactic cartoons much more.

According to the ndings of the study a signicant differ-

ence was observed in terms of the amount of inuencedperceived from the cartoons, based on gender: male chil-dren were inuenced by the behaviours and extraordinaryactions of cartoon characters, whereas female children wereinuenced by the speeches of characters, and the topic ofand music in the cartoons. A signicant difference wasdetermined in respect to childrens conditions of imitatingthe actions of cartoon characters according to gender, andit was discovered that male children imitated the actions ofcartoon characters much more. In the study no statisticallysignicant difference was found in childrens buying of thestationery items associated with their favourite cartoon

characters and gender. According to these results, childrenshould watch violence-oriented cartoons under the controlof teachers or families. Cartoons should be analysed andthe disadvantages and harmful effects of violence-orientedbehaviours in them should be emphasized.

Impii f ig piNursing is a profession which consists of science and

art. Although art and science generally are considered asopposed to each other, they combined the most creative wayin terms of nursing. As a science, nursing requires theoreticalknowledge and skills related to all aspects of child health.

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The aim of child health nursing is to ensure childrens andadolecscents physical, intellectual, emotional and social de-

velopment withing the familiy and society. Today, developingand maintaining the highest level of child and family healthas well as giving education, providing guidance, suppotingand defending rigts have become common in the mostimportant objectives of the nursing(19-20).

That nurses interacting with many parents in differentroles and environments, know the effects of cartoons onchild development, and provide training and consultancyservices to families will be able to reduce the negative affectsof cartoons on children. The fact that nurses know theeffects of watching cartoons on children is very importantin terms of giving guidance and education to parents.

conclusIon

It was determined in the study that male and female

childrens durations of watching cartoons are almost iden-tical to each other. Therefore a signicant difference wasnot found between the durations of watching cartoonsbased on gender. In the study a signicant difference was

determined among childrens favourite cartoon groups:male children liked more violence-oriented cartoons in

which power was exhibited, while female children likededucational, emotional and didactic cartoons much more.

According to the ndings of the study a signicant differ-ence was observed in terms of the amount of inuencedperceived from the cartoons, based on gender: male chil-

dren were inuenced by the behaviours and extraordinaryactions of cartoon characters, whereas female children wereinuenced by the speeches of characters, and the topic ofand music in the cartoons. A signicant difference wasdetermined in respect to childrens conditions of imitatingthe actions of cartoon characters according to gender, andit was discovered that male children imitated the actions ofcartoon characters much more. In the study no statisticallysignicant difference was found in childrens buying of thestationery items associated with their favourite cartooncharacters and gender. According to these results, childrenshould watch violence-oriented cartoons under the controlof teachers or families. Cartoons should be analysed andthe disadvantages and harmful effects of violence-orientedbehaviours in them should be emphasized.

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