Volume 5, Issue 7, July – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

ISSN No:-2456-2165

Protecting Children from Violent TV

Programmes and Video Games in Tanzania
1 2
Mwinyimbegu, K.S Kubyula, N
Taro Nora Consulting, P.O. Box 85 PhD Candidate
Kaliua, Tanzania The Open University of Tanzania
Department of Social Work

Abstract:- Violent Television programmes and video Three major categories of studies have so far been
games have been consistently found to have negative undertaken and they range from laboratory experiments to
impact on children’s education and behaviour. Past and long-term fieldwork and ethnographic studies with children
current research on the attitudes of children watching at school and home (Singer & Singer, 1981). The first
violent television and video games show that children category is that of laboratory research in which a cohort
who watch violence in television and video games group of children is selected and exposed repeatedly to
imitate the violent behaviours of the actors they watch movies and video games that contain violent scenes. Then
in the television and video games. In Tanzania the the children are asked to play the roles of the main actors in
influence of violent movies and video games on the the movies and video games and how they would act in real
education of children is an issue of great concern to situation. The objective of such experiments is to observe
parents, pediatricians, educators, researchers, and the immediate changes that occur in the children’s attitudes
policymakers. However, very few studies have been and behaviour.
undertaken to assess the debilitating effects of violent
television programmes and video games on children’s The second category of studies has involved
education and attitudinal behaviour. This paper observational fieldwork studies in which aggressive
presents the findings of a study undertaken to assess the behavior and exposure to media violence are assessed in
effects of violence in television and video games on samples of children in their home and school environments.
children’s education and attitudinal behaviour. The These studies have demonstrated that children who behave
study’s setting was Isenge Primary School, Pasiansi more aggressively on the average watch and prefer to watch
Ward, in the city of Mwanza. A total of 1,183 pupils more violent TV shows and movies (Eron, 1963). The third
were involved where 133 were randomly interviewed. category of studies has been that of longitudinal field
The attitudes of the pupils were assessed by the Child studies in which children's exposure to media violence and
and Adolescent Social Perception Measure (CASP). their actual aggressive behavior are assessed at two or more
Results showed that the pupils’ attitudinal behaviours points in their lives.
were substantially influenced by violent Television
programmes and video games. The attitudinal and behavioural impact of violence in
the television and video games has been more evident in
Keywords:- Violent Television Programmes, Video Games, developed countries particularly in Europe and North
Influence, Child Education, Protection America (Krcmar and Vieira, 2005). Longitudinal studies
in the US show that children aged between 6 and 14 spend
I. INTRODUCTION a lot of time watching violent TV programmes and playing
video games for an average time of 13 hours per week for
Television and video games have strong influence on boys, on average, and 5 hours per week for girls (Gentile et
the attitudes and behaviours of the viewers particularly al 2004). There are numerous cases in the USA about
children (UNICEF 2000). Research on the impact of media school children shooting their classmates, friends, teachers
on society shows that in today’s society the electronic and even parents (Kracke and Hahn 2008). Killing another
media has become increasingly integrated into the lives of human being is action that children in the developed
children in particular the action television movies, video countries take it as something normal. The children who
and computer games (Schwartz and Proctor, 2000). Current have committed these murders said that they learned it from
global trends illustrate that children are particularly violent television and video games.
affected, either physically, cognitively, psychologically and
socially by such violent manifestations in the electronic A study conducted by UNESCO (1998) showed that
media (Fox, & Leavitt, 2000). The impact of the electronic 93% of the children in the world have access to a TV-set
media on children’s behaviour has been found to be and that in the North-Western hemisphere the rage was
exacerbated by risk factors that increase the incidence of 99% and 83% for Africa with Asia and Latin-America in
violence such as parental socio-economic status (SES), between. It was found out that at least 50% more time spent
unemployment, alcoholism, divorce and domestic violence with this medium than with any other out-of-school activity
(McIntosh, 2002). including home-work, being with family or friends, or
reading. The central thesis is that in most of these studies
has been that TV and video games have negative influence

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Volume 5, Issue 7, July – 2020 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
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in children. Enron (1963), Botha (1990), Comstock (1991),  Desensitization theory
and Comstock and Park (1991) contend that too much This theory posits that by watching TV and video
exposure to television and video games is harmful to the games more frequently the children become “desensitized”,
children educational performance. that is, get used to watching violence. The children get used
to watching violence in the Television so much that
 Theories of media violence violence no longer makes a strong emotional impact upon
Theories of media violence postulate that the violence them (Gentile, Lynch, Linder, & Walsh 2004). Research
in the media has a negative impact on the viewers has shown that by watching lots of violent movies, a child
(Christakis et al 2004). Potter and Warren (2006) as well as no longer gets upset while watching violent movies in TV
Rockler-Gladen (2008) contend that there is debate among and video games (Anderson, & Bushman, 2001).
media researchers and lawmakers what should be done to
protect children from the harmful effects of violence on In Africa the impact of violence in the television and
television. However, some researchers contend that the video games has been identified as one of the factors that
effects of media violence are mitigated by other factors and has resulted into unruly and aggressive behaviour among
that they are rarely direct but indirect. Researchers like children both at home and in schools (Kremar and Vieira,
Robinson et al (2001) believe that there is a strong 2005). Studies in South Africa have shown that violence in
correlation between children’s excessive exposure to media television and video games have been contributing to an
violence and real-life behavior. But other theorists argue increase in children’s aggressive behavior at schools and
that the issue of media violence researchers has been colleges, increase in children and adolescent mental health
grossly overstate. They argue that the violence in the illnesses, petty crimes, prostitution, alcohol and drug
television and video games does not impact individuals or addiction (Raviv et al 1999). Studies in Ghana (Osei-
society as much as many believe (Walsh & Gentile, 2001). Hwere, 2006) and Nigeria (Gbadeyan, 2010) have shown
that children exposed to violence in television and video
II. THEORIES OF MEDIA VIOLENCE games have been imitating violent and criminal acts. Such
behaviours have become chronic social problems so much
 The magic bullet theory that teachers at school are having difficulties in disciplining
The idea behind this theory is that messages in TV the children while parents in homes were having problem in
and video games impact people in direct, measurable, and handling their children (George and Larry 1996).
immediate ways the same way like the bullet does when it
enters the body (Rockler-Gladen 2008). The TV and video In Tanzania the impact of violence in television and
games aree considered to be like a magic bullet in terms of video games has become an issue of great concern to
their influence on children’s moral reasoning and pediatricians, educators, researchers, and policymakers
behaviour. The influence of TV and video games is thought (URT, 2009). Today there are over 20 TV stations and
to be very fast and lasting. For example, when someone thousands of video games that are easily accessible to
watches a commercial on a certain product such as Coca almost all the children in the country. Those concerned
Cola and then he/she is likely to order it or like to drink it argue that despite the fact the electronic media was
immediately. Similarly, music and music videos are introduced in the early 1990s mainly in urban areas, yet the
pushing into new and increasingly violent behaviour among influx of violent movies and video games which have
children. spread all over the country even in remote rural areas has
had negative impact on children (HakiElimu 2014). With
 Cultivation theory the freedom of the media being the country’s policy there is
Cultivation theory posits that TV and video games no censorship or control on what TV stations and video
cultivates a common culture among children. This is due to games should contain. The TV stations are free to show any
the fact that TV and video games are like the public’s program they like with no restrictions from the government.
storyteller and main source of influencing the audience Most of the programmes shown by almost all TV stations
(Paik and Comstock, 1994). Repeated viewing the TV and and video games range from entertaining and educative to
video games makes children used to the stories that are violent movies that are damaging to the children.
told. They eventually believe the stories as something that
presents broad, underlying, global assumptions about the Reports from Social Welfare Department (MoHSW,
“facts” of life rather than the specific attitudes and 2011) in the regions indicate that the past 10 years there has
opinions. The argument is that TV and video games been an increase in the occurrence of child aggressiveness
cultivate a “dominant” or mainstream set of cultural beliefs, and abuse. In recent years parents, the clergy, child
values and social practices (Eron & Huesmann, 1986). In specialists, NGOs and social workers have been raising
this way TV and video games cultivates common concern that violence in TV and video games is having
perspectives among viewers as it fosters similar views and negative impact on the psychological well being and
perspectives among those who, on the surface, should be behaviour of the children in Tanzania (Daily News, 15
very different (Honig, 1983). October 2011).

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In response to this and other impacts on children authorities included the ward councilors and head teachers
educational development, the government of Tanzania from Pasiansi ward in Ilemela district. It was agreed that
passed in 2002 the Child Act which among other things Isenge Primary School will be an ideal setting for the study
restricted children’s exposure to violence both in and due to its nearness to the city centre.
outside the home (URT, 2002). The Act sought to protect
children from all sources of violence and abuse. But with After having secured the go-ahead from the city and
no censure of what type of movies should be cast by school authorities’ letters of introduction and consent forms
television stations, children continue to be exposed to were sent to the head teacher and parents of the children
violent movies and scenes. The availability of video games were selected to attend a meeting at the school to be
in the market implies that children continue to be the target informed about the study and their roles as participants.
of the electronic media. The parents attended in larger number and objectives and
significance of the study were explained to how they will
But despite taking such measures yet the exposure to participate. About 100 parents from those who had
violence in TV has continued especially in urban areas television sets and video games as well as those who did
where children can view violent movies cast by the not own televisions and video games volunteered agreed to
television stations during prime hours and also in halls that participate in the study. The parents were assured that their
show videos which contain violent acts. The videos are also identity and information they will provide will not be
sold in public places with no controls and restrictions. revealed.
Young children can such videos without being questioned
or she/he can watch them in entertainment halls where After that I collaborated with the head teacher and
children are allowed to attend without any restrictions. teachers of classes that were involved to select randomly
the pupils who would participate in the study. The pupils
 Problem statement and delimitations were selected according to age, gender and whether or not
Children in Tanzania are too much exposed to at home there was television or video game sets.
violence in the television and video games. The impact of
this woeful culture is being experienced by the way  Setting
children imitate the violent behaviours from the television  Isenge Primary School
and video games that they are exposed without restrictions. This study was carried out at public primary school
There are complaints over abnormal children behaviours that is known as Isenge primary school. This primary
from teachers, parents, religious leaders, pediatricians, school is found in Pasiansi ward in Mwanza city which is
educators, researchers, policymakers and social workers. located on the southern shores of Lake Victoria in North-
Some parents and teachers argue that TV and video games west Tanzania. The primary school was established in 1963
literally ruins children’s educational potential, creativity, to serve pupils from the surrounding areas both as a nursery
imagination and school achievement. However, such claims and primary school. It started as a small primary school that
are vehemently disputed by parents who argue that it is not was built to be a nursery and primary school but has been
true that violence and criminal acts in TV and video games growing over the years to become very famous. Up to the
influence children to become aggressive, criminals and time this study was being carried out the school had a total
bullies at school. They contended that television and video of 1,183 pupils, out of which 596 are girls and are 587
games have nothing but positive effects on children. They boys. The total number is particularly large that outstrips
argue that actually the television and video games keep the the school’s intake capacity. According to the head teacher
children “off the streets”. Research on this issue has not yet the school’s intake capacity is overwhelmed in the sense
been carried to substantiate the nature of the influence TV that they are so many children.
and video games children’s attitudinal behaviour. It is in
view of this gap that this study was undertaken. Isenge primary school is among a total of 155 primary
schools out of which 139 primary schools are government
 Objective owned and 16 are private owned. There are 1,552 primary
The objective of this study was to assess the impact of teachers of whom 1,310 are teaching government primary
violent TV programmes and video games on the education schools and 242 are teaching private primary schools
and attitudes of the children in primary schools. (Mwanza City Council, 2011). There are 94,530 pupils of
whom 90,355 are studying at government primary schools
III. METHODS and 4,175 are studying at private primary schools. Mwanza
City has got 203 nursery schools of which 79 are registered
 Research Design and 124 are not yet registered. Private institutions own 40
The study was cross-sectional using semi-structured nursery schools and the government owns 39 nurseries.
interviews with the children, parents and teachers. A formal
letter of introduction with the details of the research  Study population
proposal was submitted to the city council of Mwanza in The population for this study was 1,183 pupils, out of
order to allow me to carry out the study. Discussions were which 596 are girls and 587 were boys. The pupils come
held with city officials in the departments of education and from neighboring areas and some come as far as areas like
community development and social welfare about primary Kirumba, Ilemela and Nyamagana. Most of the children in
schools where the study should be carried out. The this area like schooling and according to the head teacher

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the rate of drop out is relatively low compared to other  Sample size
areas. The parents of these children include civil servants, This cross-sectional study involved 133 pupils from
small and medium business people, peasants and those who two primary schools and 100 parents from Pasiansi in
are self employed in micro and small businesses. Most of Ilemela district, Mwanza city. The pupils and parents were
the parents have television sets at home while a relatively sampled in two different ways namely, the study group and
average number have video game sets as well. control group. Random sampling was used to get a sample
of 200 pupils and parents for this study. Out of this sample
General demographic information was collected for 50 pupils and 50 parents were recruited as a study group
all participants. The age of pupils ranged from 9 to 18 years whose homes have television sets and video games while
with a mean age of 8 years. All participants were from 50 pupils and 50 parents were recruited as a control group
areas around the school with almost all the parents being whose homes did not have television sets and video games.
either employed or unemployed. The majority of parents The pupils were recruited from standards three, four, five,
had an average of four children. six and seven as shown in Table 1 below.

Standards/Classes Boys % Girls % Total %

Three 17 55 14 45 31 23

Four 18 45 22 55 40 30

Five 12 48 13 52 25 19

Six 8 50 8 50 16 12

Seven 11 52 10 48 21 16

Total 66 67 100
133
Table 1:- Pupils selected for the study
Source: Fieldwork notes

 Data Collection Methods  Emotion Score (ES)

 Child and Adolescent Social Perception (CASP) The children’s answers were written down and later
This instrument was used to collect the views of the compared to an answer key which was then used to assign
children about violence in the television and video games points depending on how accurate the children got the
(Magill-Evans, Koning, Carneron-Sadava, & Manyk 1995). answer. Completion of this exercise was expected to
The CASP instrument consisted of children viewing 10 provide two scores. First, the focus was on the total
unrelated violent video games for three minutes. Collection emotion score (ES) which referred to a child’s to generate
of the views of the children included providing contextual answers questions about how the people in the video games
information and presenting multiple cues simultaneously. acted.
The scenes in the video games were auto-filtered so that the
meaning must be derived from nonverbal and situational  Nonverbal cue score (NCS)
cues. The children participating in the study were required The second focus was on the total nonverbal cue score
to provide answers to questions about how the people in the (NCS) which was meant to reflect the child to identify the
scenes were behaving in terms of identifying the different different cues in terms of facial expressions and gestures.
cues such as facial expressions and gestures. The aim of The overall objective was to assess school adjustment and
using this instrument was to determine the manner that social competence. To achieve the objective of collecting
would stimulate the type of social interactions the children data in a systematic way the relationship between social
would interpret in real life after viewing the video games. perception and what the children viewed in the video games
I constructed the matrix shown in Table 2 below. In this
matrix it was hypothesized that there would be high (H),
moderate (M) and low (L) correlations.

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Variables CASP CASP T-PB P-PB S-AB AC
ES NCS
CASP ES - - - - - -
(Emotion Scores)
CASP NCS H M M M M L
(Nonverbal Cue Score)
T-PB M M L L L L
(Teacher-P referred Social Behaviour)
P-PB M M M L L L
(Peer-Preferred Social Behaviour)
S-AB M M H H M L
(School Adjusted Behaviour)
AC M M M M H L
(Academic Competence
Table 2:- Hypothesized Correlation Matrix of Variables Related to CASP
Source: Adapted from Guttner, V.D (2000) Validation of the Child and Adolescent Social Perception Measure, Master of
Education thesis, University of Alberta, Canada

 Retrospective Interview IV. DATA ANALYSIS AND RESULTS

Retrospective interview was used whereby the pupils
were asked to look backward and recall violent TV movies A. Data Analysis
and video games which they watched a few months ago or The data was analyzed by using Statistical Package
in the years that have passed (Harrison and Cantor 1999). for the Social Sciences (SPSS). A MANOVA was used to
The efficacy of retrospective interview was also confirmed analyze whether or not there was a significant difference
in a study carried out by Brewin, Andrews and Gotlib based on gender for sub-test scores. In order to be precise
(1993) who found that when adults are asked to recall used a t-test to analyze the differences in the means of boys
salient factual details of their own childhoods are generally and girls in their perceptions of the effects of exposure to
more or less accurate especially in terms of events that have violence in television violence and video games on their
been unique, consequential, frightening, influential, behavior. The t-test was used to assess whether the means
traumatic or fulfilling. Thus, in this study the pupils were of two groups will be statistically different from each
asked to remember specific TV programmes and video other.
games and explain how those programmes influenced their
lives. B. Results
 Mean and Standard Deviations for Subtest Scores
 Focused Group Discussion It was hypothesized that if there was a gender effect
Focused group discussion (FGD) was used to assess on television and video games then the remainder of the
the pupils their views about violence in televisions and statistical analysis would be computed for boys and girls
video games. The discussions devoted much of the time on separately. We found out that there were no significant
the extent to which the pupils believed that the actions they differences and therefore pooled the data for further
saw in the television and video games were actual or analysis. Then we computed and compared the data to the
fiction. Also the discussion focused on the extent to which hypothesized matrix in Table 2 above. The Mean and
most of the children copied the actions and behaviours of Standard Deviations for Subtest Scores are shown below in
the people in the video games. Table 3.

MEAN (SD)
Variables Males Females Total
N=72 N=61 N=133
Emotion Scores 33.13 (8.37) 36.28 (7.95) 35.05 (8.22)
Nonverbal Cue Score 43.44 (9.96) 45.57 (10.84) 44.74 (10.51)
Teacher-Preferred Behavior 56.56 (13.89) 63.66 (15.11) 60.91 (14.98
Peer-Preferred Behavior 63.00 (14.44) 69.54 (1 5.21) 66.99 (15.18)
School Adjustment Behavior 3 5.49 (10.44) 41.15 (9.69) 38.94 (10.32)
Academic Competence 30.13 (9.85 33.61 (9.09) 32.25 (9.50)
Table 3:- Mean and Standard Deviations for Subtest Scores
Source: Analysis of participants’ demographics, April-June 2012

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 Pupils’ CASP scores
Table 4 describes the pupils CASP scores in terms of how they imitate the violence in TV and video games. Pearson
correlations were used to examine the relationship among test scores and to compare to the hypothesized matrix. This means that
most pupils see themselves in the actions and behaviours of the actors in the movies and video games. This is similar to the study
of Magil-Evans et al (1995) who recorded similar CASP scores for children aged 10 and 11 in a normative sample (n=44).

CASP Lower range Upper range M(SD) Total Score

Emotion Score 13 54 35.05(8.22) 86
Nonverbal Cues Score 23 77 44.74(10.5 1) 135
Table 4:- Pupils CASP Scores for Total Sample (N=100)
Source: Interviews and discussion with pupils

The results showed there is correlation between CASP school and during the holidays and weekends. The study
and Emotion Scores as well as Nonverbal Cue Score were also found that there is a compulsive fascination with the
as high. This means that the children showed more supernatural and violence programmes. Children in our
inclination to watching movies that contained violence, homes have no restrictions on watching TV and video
pornography and music than educative programmes. games since they are free to watch TV and video games
with their friends and less with parents. About 55% watch
 Time Spent Watching TV or Video Games movies and video games at pubs and halls. Also most of the
Table 5 shows that our children spend more time children watch TV and video games almost every day
watching and television and video games. Our study shows (85%) and when they come from school. This means they
that 90% of the pupils agreed that many children in the use their time to do homework to watch TV and video
study area spend most of their time watching movies and games.
video games. This happens when they come back from

Amount of TV viewing and video games Agree

1. Many children spend time watching TV and video games 75%
2. Everyday 85%
3. Weekends and holidays only 35%
4. When comes from school 65%
5. Alone in the room 25%
6. Together with brother/sister/friends 90%
7. Together with parents 45%
8 At friends’ homes 95%
9. At pubs and halls 55%
Table 5:- Participants views children spending more time watching TV and video games
Source: Interviews and discussion with pupils

 Preferred movies and video games

Most the pupils said it is usually “cute” and “entertaining” to watch such actions taking place in the TV and video games.
They said they liked violent and aggressive movies because such movies encouraged them to be “strong” and able to defend
themselves when bullied by other children at school or in the streets. Some of the pupils said they liked watching love movies
because love movies were much more entertaining than violent movies. Other pupils said the liked watching sports programme
especially major European football leagues like the Premiere League, La Liga and Italian Serie A League.

Movie or video game Preference Score

1. War games Most preferred by boys 75%
2. Murders Most preferred by boys 65%
3. Revenge Most preferred by boys and girls 65%
4. Nakedness Most preferred by boys 85%
5. Pornography Most preferred by boys 90%
6. Love story Most preferred by girls 90%
7. Music Most preferred by boys and girls 95%
Table 6:- Preferred films and video games by pupils
Source: Interviews and discussion with

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V. CONCLUSION  Parental control on time children spend watching
television and video games
This study has provided just tip of the iceberg about Parents should be reminded of their responsibilities to
the impact of violent TV programmes and video games on make sure that their children do not spend too much time
children’s educational and attitudinal behavior. The study watching television and video games. Some parents have
has generally stated the case for further studies on how the the tendency of allowing children to have access to
violent TV programmes and video games influence the television and video games. Parents should be education
children’s mental and physiological state of agressionhave about the psychological and physiological effects of too
negative influence on the education of the children. The much television and video games on the well being of their
findings of this study have shown that children in the area children. Parents should make sure that children watch TV
where the research was carried out have been strongly and play video games at specific times of the day or week.
influenced to watch action television movies and video Children should not be allowed to watch TV and video
games. What this study has done is to pioneer in this games alone or with their friends.
complex but important area of child psychology and well-
being. Television and video games have become the most  Provide counseling to affected children and parents
common tools for children to relax other than playing Guidance and counseling should be provided to
games outside home or doing their home works. As the children and parents who are affected by the violence in TV
research has shown the children in the area prefer movies and video games. This service is extremely important
which contain violent and immoral actions. These findings because there is information that there are today many
are similar to what was found in studies carried out in the children who have been “addicted’ by TV and video games
USA, Canada Europe, and India where many children were so much that they are uncontrollable. Many children are
found to like more the movies and video games that portray said to have absolute freedom to watch whatever they like
violence scenes like war games, mass killings and immoral and parents seem to have given up or failed completely to
acts like nudity and pornography. restrict or control their children. Social workers will have to
be sent into such homes to deal with those problems. But
This study has set out the pace for more studies to be the general society should also be sensitized to address this
carried in urban and rural areas in Tanzania to determine problem.
the extent of the psychological effects of violence in
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