Posted on 10/17/2011 5:45:27 AM PDT by decimon
While it's been long established that watching violent scenes increases aggression levels, a new study in the medical journal Pediatrics suggests that profanity in the media may have a similar effect. Pediatrics is the top-ranked journal in its field and among the top 2 percent most-cited scientific and medical journals in the world.
The study appears to be the first to examine the impact of profanity in the media, which sounds surprising considering how central language is to movie and TV ratings.
To explore this overlooked issue, scholars at Brigham Young University gathered information from 223 middle school students in the Midwest. The data is not longitudinal, but BYU family life professor Sarah Coyne explains that the statistical techniques applied give more clues than would simple correlation tests.
Specifically, the statistical modeling points to a chain reaction: Exposure to profanity is associated with acceptance and use of profanity, which in turn influence both physical and relational aggression.
"On the whole, it's a moderate effect" said Coyne, the lead author of the Pediatrics study. "We even ran the statistical model the opposite way to test if the violent kids used more profanity and then sought it out in the media, but the first path we took was a much better statistical fit even when we tried other explanations."
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
Ping
Is this a health topic? I’m not sure.
Piss Poor Parenting does more to cause aggression than anything else.
Kids are not taught to respect anyone or anything. They are not taught self discipline. They are treated like pets. And as such, act like animals.
No damned TV for you guys tonight.
Some of the most ‘nastiness mouths’ I have overheard come from teen girls with the barely legal midriff shirt, shorts that are three sizes too small and the obligatory tramp stamp in full view.
The little dears hear way more profanity at school then they ever get off the TV. I can remember when they took bugs bunny cartoons off the air because THEY caused violence in children. Indifference and lazy parents cause violence in children, not TVs and video games.
SCOTUS has ruled, and here is the big surprise IT’S UP TO THE PARENTS TO CONTROL THEIR CHILDREN. (sorry for yelling) What a novel Idea.
I don't recall wanting to bop anyone on the head because of cartoons. Or wanting to shoot anyone for seeing the bloodless falling down of so many shot 'cowboys.'
I do recall being boggled by a production error on a cowboy show. A guy got shot dead off his horse and after a few seconds got up and began dusting himself off.
everybodyknowstelevisiondoesntaffectpeoplesbehavior.
Sounds like meecrob to me.
The point is that you mimic what you see and what you hear. When what you see is a lot of television, and what is on television is a lot of profanity, you will start to use more profanity, particularly if there are no negative reinforcements against it.
Of course, everyone knows what the words mean, and everyone knows that they have very aggressive meanings. So when we have fewer scruples about using aggressive language casually around others, we will naturally start to more cursorily think aggressive thoughts.
The solution? PARENTS: clean up your own language, turn off the TV, spend more time with your kids and seek out like-minded families to make friends with and reinforce each other.
However, I do not think that the creators of TV shows can be so easily exonerated from accountability for the role they play in lowering our standards of propriety and of culture and taste in general. Screenwriters who write provocative dialogue and directors who shoot provocative images usually do so for the sake of being provocative, and there is something pornographic about that.
I agree; profanity serves no useful purpose. Free Republic can get along just fine without four-letter words. This site has always held itself to a higher standard than a lot of sites, and I'd like for it to remain that way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.