How Children Interpret Screen Violence

This research undertaken by the British Broadcasting Corporation, British Board of Film Classification, Broadcasting Standards Commission, and the Independent Television Commission explored how children aged 9 to about 13 in the United Kingdom describe or deconstruct on-screen violence. It also sought to compare how this was similar or different to adults perceptions of violence, based on an earlier research project.

The research found that children demonstrate a specific view of the world, which is primarily child-centred. Violent images are then viewed from that perspective. Children are able to distinguish between fictional violence and violence that is ‘real’. They also make clear judgments about the justified use of violence and this in turn can affect how ‘violent’ an image is perceived to be. They see a variety of violent images either through film or television, and build a ‘library’ of such images over time. Their reactions to such images are influenced by their age, gender, maturity and personal circumstances. Peculiar to children is the importance of certain consequences of violent actions, described by them as ‘scary’. The word has a range of meanings and is further defined by the genre in which the ‘scary’ scene is set. The news may be ‘scary’ because the event depicted could happen ‘to me’; this scariness is based in fear and is frightening. The scariness of a horror film however, might be enjoyed and part of a visceral reaction to the violence depicted.

According to the research, participants say a number of factors serve to make a scene violent, foremost realism. By this, participants mean that the action should be recognisable as something that could occur, rather than fantastical. If the violent action is considered either unjust or unfair, then the scene is considered more violent. Important within this was consideration of the relationship between protagonist and victim. Children are very sensitive to cues provided by production techniques, responding to
changes in music, aural cues and visual images to build their expectation of how violent a scene might be.

The research also found that older children, reflecting their greater maturity, have a clearer understanding of the potential consequences of violence than their younger counterparts. They are also more likely to have seen a wider array of violent images, including images classified or scheduled to be outside their age range, often with their parents’ complicity. This finding reflects the tension that parents experience as their children gain independence as they progress through secondary school. Boys in this sample are far more likely than girls to have sought out, and seen, images of violence. They admit to peer pressure and to the excitement that such viewing can bring.

The report concludes that, "the way in which children talked about violence was in terms of how it related to them, something not found in the adult groups. Thus it was not so much that they had a definition of violence, of what violence was, but of how they personally responded to that seen. Important here was whether or not they found the violence threatening. At no point in the adult groups was ‘scary’ used in conjunction with violence, whereas in the children’s groups it was frequently drawn upon in a discussion of violence. Thus, the news was more violent for them than for adults because it was real and what was real might become real for them. This identification with violence as a threat to them was missing, on the whole, in the study of adults’ understanding of violence."