Citation

Perez-Olmos I, Pinzon AM, Gonzalez-Reyes R, Sanchez-Molano J. Rev. Salud Publica 2005; 7(1): 70-88.

Vernacular Title

Influencia de la television violenta en ninos de una escuela publica de Bogota,

Affiliation

Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Rosario, Bogota, Colombia. iperez@urosario.edu.co

Copyright

(Copyright © 2005, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Instituto de Salud en el Tropico)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

15906504

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact that a violent and a non-violent movie may cause on scholars. METHODS: In Bogota, 125 public primary school students were surveyed, applying a questionnaire to learn both about their daily life violence and their attitude towards it. Two weeks later, they were shown one violent movie, and two weeks later a non-violent one. Children were asked to draw their families, express their opinions and answer a questionnaire after each movie. RESULTS: The initial survey showed that 23.6% of the children reported violent responses when they were offended, 39.8% reported some kind of familiar violence and 19.5% identified themselves with a violent figure. Boys were more prone to respond violently when offended and to identify themselves with a violent figure than girls (p=0.004). Compared with the non-violent movie, a greater percentage of children excluded themselves from the family drawing after watching the violent movie (Odds Ratio (OR): 2.55; 95% Interval Confidence (95% CI) 1.22-5.43, p=0.01). The family drawing after the violent movie also showed more emotional signs (OR: 3.13; 95% CI: 1.35-7.52; p=0.0053) and more aggressive signs (OR: 2.55; 95% CI: 1.22-5.43; p=0.01) than the family drawing after the non-violent movie. CONCLUSIONS: The family drawing test showed the immediate impact of television. Television violence negatively influences kids and should be avoided.