Will exposure to animal violence in the media harm my child?

Factual Questions
1

As a parent, I’ve read all about the dangers of exposing my children to media violence. Whether it is through television, movies or video games, violence is supposed to be bad . “According to studies” it can cause aggressive behavior, desensitization of feelings, lead to psychological disturbances, etc. Makes sense to me. Watching people stab, strangle, and torture each other can’t be good for kids.

But what if that violence is perpetrated by animals? Will there still be bad effects on children’s brains and behavior? I ask because my kids both love Animal Planet, and every time I sit and watch a program with them, I am astounded at the violence in the animal kingdom. Lions lie in wait, then pounce and murder baby gazelles as their helpless mothers look on in horror. Tigers stalk an innocent little deer with a limp, then rip him to shreds like bloodthirsty savages. And orcas are the worst because they torture those cute baby seals before killing them, prolonging their terror and agony. Nature is a fucking horror show.

So what’s the straight dope? Will exposure to animal violence cause the same problems as exposure to human violence? Why or why not?

2

Clearly. Children who grew up on farms and in the countryside, and who helped hunt and butcher animals became serial killers 90% of the time; it is only in cities where we are safe from random violence.

And those kids who were permitted to watch hangings and beheadings? Clearly maladjusted and incapable of functioning in society.

Let’s not even talk about those kids who read stories about wolves eating grandmothers, kids pushing witches into fires and the like. Totally inappropriate.

Sorry… I know that’s not a GQ answer, but I can’t help myself. Kids have always been exposed to violence.

3

I don’t think that many studies have been done on that particular part as opposed to other violence.

Generally speaking, I think it’s better for a child to get a real view of the natural world - lions eat gazelles - instead of the Disneyfied one - nobody eats anything/ all are one happy family.

However, I don’t know animal planet. How detailed do they show the violence? Is it one shot of the lion killing the gazelle, and then some shots from the distance of the lions sitting at the carcass, or does the camera linger on the death pain of the gazelle and show closeup of the gory entrails?

Have you talked with your kid about that?

One difference between “violence” that animals do and violence that humans do is intent: Animals aren’t really using violence in the human sense, they are following their instinct and they need to get something to eat. So the orcas aren’t torturing the seals because they don’t follow an ethical code and don’t know other options like a quick kill. They also can’t think about other options.

Humans do have ethical codes, they are able to think about options (quick bullet to the head vs. stomach shot), and they are able to emphatize with other beings (would I want that to happen to me?). Showing violence where the hero kills mooks by the dozens without remorse therefore does indeed desensitize kids, because it shows that some people are not human beings with families, thoughts and emotions to show empathy to, but just mooks that can be killed without remorse, consideration or even stopping. Too much of that does have measurable effects.

The best advice in general about the TV watching habits is to talk with the kid (not lecture) about it: what is shown? How do you feel about it? What do you watch? How do you select good from bad shows? Do you understand what you’re watching? If not, do you want me to explain, or do you know where else you can look up information? (e.g. 8 out of 10 attempts by lions on gazelles fail and the prey gets away - but that would be boring in a documentary, so it looks as if lions are killers).

That only works if you select what shows you watch, too, of course.

It also depends on the kid - each kid is different, so what affects one very badly is less of a problem to another.

To some kids at a certain age, violent fisticuffs (like the spaghetti westerns) are so unreal that they are funny, not threatening. But the main evening news at 8 PM, showing real war and hate crimes were very disturbing when I was 10, 11 years old. So showing a lion mauling a deer might scare a kid because it’s real and not pretend, or might be shrugged off as “that’s how nature is, humans can be different”.

4

Is this a serious post or a whoosh?

5

rachelellogram, I was kind of wondering the same thing.

6

It was tongue in cheek (which obviously didn’t come thru-sorry), but the general question was sincere. What prompted the post, was that I had just received a blast email from our principal telling parents about various studies that proved that exposure to violence in the media was harmful to our kids for the reasons sited above. He went on to say that IF we allow our kids to watch tv, then we should have them watch educational channels, like PBS and Animal Planet.

We do watch a lot of Animal Planet, which is incredibly violent (or at least it can be). I do not think watching such programs is harmful at all…which then made me question whether violence in general is definitely harmful or if the studies are somehow skewed.

Constanze made an interesting point that the difference in exposure to animal vs human violence could be intent. But dracoi made another interesting point, in that once upon a time kids were exposed to public executions and they certainly didn’t all turn into serial killers.

I was tempted to send a reply email to the superintendent asking why the violence on animal planet is considered educational, yet the violence on other channels was considered harmful…but decided against it.

And to answer your question constanze, the violence is graphic. Interestingly, when I watch some of those shows, I cringe, but my kids seem totally unfazed by it (aka “desensitized”).

7

I don’t know about Animal Planet - is it commercially produced? If your kid is interested in learning about animals, you could show (during the discussion part I mentioned as part of learning to critically evaluate media) the prized documentaries from the BBC, the ORF Universum and ARD/ZDF (often co-productions) which show not only the gory parts in a sensational manner, but try to show the whole cycle of animal life.

There’s a funny Monthy Phython sketch about nature documentaries, where John Cleese starts off in educational- scientific monologue about slugs, but when the viewers (two shrewball women) want to switch channels, he quickly starts talking about the deviant sex life of slugs. (Can’t look at youtube right now to find it).

8

The things is, while animals hunt for food, there are animals that kill for the sake of doing it.

Chimpanzees have been known to kill others and engage in “wars.” Elephants won’t tolerate lions and have been known to charge and kill them, just because they don’t like them. Adolescent elephants have killed giraffes and rhinos, though it’s thought this aggressiveness is due to lack of male adults. When an adult male elephant is brought back into the herd, the adolescent ones calm down.

Orca also kill animals without eating them. And a large number of males, when they take over a group from another lead male, will kill the babies, thus to bring the females back into a mating state, so they can mate with them.

All this I’ve seen on Animal Planet.

But nature, like life is violent and cruel. We also see the lions so fat they can’t move, when they have an abundant prey to eat. Then we see the starving lions when the prey dies off for lack of rain.

I remember when I was little spending summers on my uncle’s farm. I ran out and named all the lambs. Then I found out we’re eating them? Or to see my aunt calmly walk out to the back yard and wring a chicken’s neck.

I remember thinking how could she do that. But I ate the chicken anyway.

I doubt this kind of nature violence will hurt a child, especially since it gives you the opportunity to discuss it with children.

And lets face it, it could be worse, what about the animal’s sex life. I remember taking my kids to Brookfield Zoo, outside Chicago. The dolphin show had to be cancelled, because the male dolphin kept trying to mate with the females.

9

Again, the “sex is much worse than killing” idea?

10

Obviously, a child watching nature documentaries to learn about death, or seeing death live = eh, whatever

a child watching nature to see two animals mating = OMG, it will be harmed for live!

I’m also surprised at the glib assertion that in previous centuries, when children watched public executions, they didn’t all turn out serial killers - first, we don’t know, because there aren’t a lot of records, and secondly, nobody is seriously saying that children will become serial killers; the worry is about desensitation which leads to more readiness to hurt other people and less empathy. And previous centuries the rights of other people and empathy with them was less widespread than now.

11

OP, were you exposed to any violence? Any cartoon violence? How did you turn out? Are you a sociopath? If not, there’s your answer.

12

I’m a country redneck, and raised my children that way. Deer were for eating, chickens were for eating (and eggs). Children need a balanced view of life - the weak die/are killed, the strong survive. It’s good for the species and for the environment. The over-sheltered children are the ones that have breakdowns when they get a taste of real life.

13

A bit off-topic, but my favorite anecdote is something I read in Reader’s Digest years ago. A mother was horrified when she saw her preschooler watching some gory show on TV in which two dragons were pulling apart a knight by the arms.

The little girl was also horrified. “Mommy, those dragons aren’t sharing that man!”

14

I don’t know about him, but I saw Bugs Bunny pound Elmer Fudd with a comically-oversized mallet a few hundred times.

15

Quoted for truth, and also because it’s a good general warning. Look, for an animal - any animal - to survive to see another day, some other being must be damaged or destroyed. Understanding THAT teaches empathy as well: don’t waste food by throwing away those uneaten chicken nuggets because a chicken died to provide them and some other child will die of starvation today.

16

Really? THAT is the view you teach your children? :eek:

So they aren’t sociopaths because … they don’t go around murdering people? They just become fund managers or Health insurance bosses giving rewards for denying coverage?