Do you think that violence on T.V. can affect young babies?

Question

Please help me settle a recurring debate between my fiance and I.

He likes to watch T.V., particularly action/drama movies, horror flicks, and gang-violence shows such as Gangland and Sopranos. He will sometimes hold our 7-month old on his lap while watching these shows. For the record, he won't watch them if my 6-year old is present. He argues that baby is too young and oblivious, and the language and actions he sees on these shows won't register with him, or affect him.

I say who cares how old he is? He doesn't need to see stuff like that. Even if he doesn't comprehend what's going on, I'm sure the sounds of women screaming, gunfire and curse words aren't doing him any good.

There is no right or wrong answer here. I am not looking for someone to agree with me, for if someone can give solid evidence that this won't harm my baby, I will kiss my fiance's butt for a week. Your opinions and thoughts on the matter, please?

Answer 1

I completley agree with you. I have banned swearing in our house because I dont want my little man to start dropping f shots at random! I am really sensitive to the violence in movies and on tv myself and get really bad nightmares for weeks from just 1 scene of something. So, I definatley dont allow my 8 month old to watch this kind of thing. I understand that he doesnt have any associations with most things but, screaming he does. He knows when Mom or Dad are upset or crying or talking meanly. He also knows (chemically) how I felt seeing those things while he was in my womb. He may not understand things on the same level we do, but he knows it doesnt feel good.

Good Luck

Answer 2

I'm the same way you are, I don't particularly want my 6 month old son seeing someone get scalped or burnt to death! again I'm not sure if it can hurt him... but I'm sure like you said screaming and gunfire could be frightening to a baby... I've read about night terrors in babies and learned that some are caused my negative things babys encounter in their life... I'm assuming that those negative things could be parents fighting, or movies or things like that that could frighten them... so although some people may not believe it I think it could cause nightmares. I dont know I figure I'm an adult and i dont like to see some scary movies so I dont want my son watching them either, until he understands its not real.

Answer 3

I think that there is a possibility that it can affect babies.Things can be scary even at a young age.The baby may not be able to comprehend it but they can still get freaked out if they witness a monster tear apart someone with blood flowing everywhere lol.

I don't think it can harm the kid to where it has severe issues but it might be a bothersome.

Answer 4

I read an article in American Baby or Parenting Magazine a few months ago about babies and nightmares and it said that watching people on TV/movie who are frightened or being hurt can stick in a babies memory and can give them nightmares. It said basically they don't understand that the people on the TV are not in the room so it's like it's happening right there even if they can only hear and not see it. Just passing on the info but it does seem logical to me, I mean I still get nightmares sometimes when I see scary movie.

Answer 5

I can't quote any specfic studies but my inclination is that it does affect them. Heck it affects me!  My husband and I argue about this all the time. Sure when we first brought her home from the hospital she was oblivious but now she's 3 months old and I think we need to be careful about what we watch.  When i was pregnant and before I was addicted to TV.  Now though having a baby made me realize that it was affecting me too because it is now so refreshing to just have silence.  Its nice not to have all of that chattering going on in the background or explosions, gunfire, etc. LOL.  Not only is it good for the baby in my opinion, but it can also give you some peace for yourself to turn it off every once in awhile.  

Answer 6

I was wondering about it myself and did some researched. I do not recall where I read, but it said that babies can be harmed by that. They do not see what is going on but they hear sounds and they do sense fair in voices or screams etc. And since babies do not know it is a movie it can frighten them. From then on we watch only comedy while she is napping on the lap. By the way, like a month ago we watched drama and she was awake with us but I tried to turn her away from tv and turn it dawn, but the same night she was talking all night through her sleep, tossing and turning - so no more drama for us. We are 5 months now.

Answer 7

Hi. I really tried to look for links and researches on the subject matter, but I actually found none. Seems like no one even thought of testing the subject. I do not think violence would affect a baby at such a young age -- I bet he's not even looking at the tv... But that's just my opinion.  

Answer 8

yes it dose my 2 year old has nightmare. we have to be very careful what she see because she will get scared.  

Answer 9

When my daughter was very young, I took her to the cinema with me a few times and she slept through the movies. When she was 7 months old, I took her when I went to see the latest Harry Potter film. She watched all the previews and the first half hour, 'chatting' a bit to the screen. I was surprised by her interest and would have left the cinema if she hadn't fallen asleep then.

It's really difficult to determine exactly how much babies understand but, as others have said, they understand (and are frightened by) anger, shouting and violence from before birth. It is difficult for children under 6 (or even older) to recognise the difference between reality and fantasy so, to a baby, the events on television are actually happening in the room.

If there is any chance of your baby being harmed by watching inappropriate television - and there is - surely it is better to keep the television on G-rated programs while your baby is in the room.

Answer 10

i think the same way we can see things and remember them they can also. but they cannot comprehend that it is bad, well i dont think they can yet. but now that my daughter is 8 months old and she see's me wave bye bye to her before i go to work. she does it. they copy what we do that is how they learn. i think they can have nightmares. you would have to ask your doctor or someone who knows everything there is to know about a baby what they can remember.  screaming isnt good for a baby to hear though.

Answer 11

Alright...I know I am going to get attacked for this. But...

"Infants (children up to 18 months old) can pay attention to an operating television set for short periods of time, but the attention demands a great effort and infants are usually more interested in their own activities. Even when they do pay attention to the television, infants likely miss most of what adults consider to be program content. They experience it primarily as fragmented displays of light and sound, which they are only intermittently able to group into meaningful combinations such as recognizable human or animal characters.

No research has focused specifically on how violent content affects infants, but there is some evidence that infants can imitate behaviour from television when that behaviour is presented in a simple, uncluttered and instructional manner."

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/re...

That being said...I can't imagine that watching or being exposed to any television is really beneficial to a 7 month old....but he probably won't become a serial killer because of it.

(Trust me...we are having this battle in our house as well. You are not the only one).

Answer 12

I used to nurse my baby to sleep while sitting on the couch watching TV.  I stopped doing it after I realized that she woke up crying every time the chef starting screaming on h**l's Kitchen.  I think it is hard for me to sleep if I'm hearing loud noises or lots of tension.  Babies are sensitive to this too.