World News and Trends: TV viewing and violence
Watching as little as one hour of television a day can lead teenagers and young adults to engage in violence such as fistfights and other assaults later in life, according to researchers who conducted a study that tracked more than 700 young people over 17 years.
Researchers also concluded that the more television participants viewed, the more likely they were to engage in violent behavior.
The study began in 1983 when researchers interviewed 707 teenagers, average age 14, about their viewing habits. They followed up eight years later, correlating the amount of television viewing with law-enforcement records and information gleaned through interviews with the participants. Of those who watched TV less than an hour a day, fewer than 6 percent had acted violently in a way that resulted in a serious injury. However, the rate of violence tripled, to 18.4 percent, among those who watched one to three hours of TV daily. Among those who watched more than three hours of TV, the rate of violence more than quadrupled to 25.3 percent.
Researchers also studied the group after another eight years had passed and most were well into adulthood. Again the differences were startling. Of those who watched less than an hour of TV daily as adults, only 1.2 percent had committed a violent act—compared to 10.8 percent of those who averaged three or more hours a day. This almost fivefold increase led researchers to conclude that adult behavior, too, is shaped by TV viewing.
The impact of media exposure on our thinking, values and behavior is the subject of several articles in this issue. We urge you to read all of them as well as the sources mentioned in the recommended-reading boxes at the end of each article. This study is further proof that what you allow into your mind has major consequences in your life. (Source: The Washington Post.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: May - June 2002
Course Content
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
Melvin Rhodes
Melvin Rhodes is a member of the United Church of God congregation in Lansing, Michigan.
Scott Ashley
Scott Ashley was managing editor of Beyond Today magazine, United Church of God booklets and its printed Bible Study Course until his retirement in 2023. He also pastored three congregations in Colorado for 10 years from 2011-2021. He and his wife, Connie, live near Denver, Colorado.
Mr. Ashley attended Ambassador College in Big Sandy, Texas, graduating in 1976 with a theology major and minors in journalism and speech. It was there that he first became interested in publishing, an industry in which he worked for 50 years.
During his career, he has worked for several publishing companies in various capacities. He was employed by the United Church of God from 1995-2023, overseeing the planning, writing, editing, reviewing and production of Beyond Today magazine, several dozen booklets/study guides and a Bible study course covering major biblical teachings. His special interests are the Bible, archaeology, biblical culture, history and the Middle East.
