Violentus Media et Phobos (Violent Media and Fears)

Overview

Objectives/Goals My project was to determine if watching violent movies or playing violent video games has an affect on sixth grade students' fears. I believe that watching violent movies and/or playing violent video games desensitizes children and makes them fear more for themselves than others. Additionally, I speculate that it dulls one's sense of empathy. Methods/Materials I created a three question anonymous survey asking sixth grade students to mark their gender, the amount of time they spend watching violent movies or playing violent video games, and then select their greatest fear from a list of four options. I surveyed a total of 106 sixth grade students at three schools. There were approximately an equal number of boys and girls who completed the survey. Results Students who spent less than three hours per day watching violent movies or playing violent video games most often feared the loss of family and friends. Less than 10% of students surveyed feared a life-changing illness, regardless of the amount of time spent with violent media. Students who spent four hours or more per day with violent media had equal fears of random acts of violence and loss of family and friends. Conclusions/Discussion My conclusion is that 6th grade students who are exposed to more than 4 hours of violent media fear more for themselves (combining the fear of accidental death or injury and random act of violence), than they fear for others as identified by the loss of family or friends. I found that only when students spent many hours with violent media did my results support my hypothesis.

Competition history

• CSEF 2008 Behavioral & Social Sciences · Entry J0313

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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