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MUMBAI, DELHI, INDIA, April 14, 2002: Children are becoming increasingly hooked on soap operas, adult family dramas, in particular. They are also keen on horror and crime shows and this fascination has intensified since September 11. So says a recent study on “Media Violence and Its Impact on Children,” conducted by the Center for Advocacy and Research (CFAR) in Delhi with the support of Unicef, Unesco and the Ford Foundation. The survey covered 1,350 children ages 6 to 14 from various socio-economic groups in five cities. Parents might consider family serials safe for their kids, however, such programs are injurious to the psychological health of children, warns the study. CFAR conducted a content analysis of 22 episodes on prime-time television, comprising 11 family dramas, and found that more than 55 percent of their substance was violence. “Conflict, emotional upheaval, violence, death and uncertainty come packaged as a family drama,” says the study, adding that this can only “impair impressionable minds.” Though domestic discord, adultery and bigamy are common themes, the serials end up being watched by vast numbers of children. And given that the kids lack the emotional and intellectual maturity to understand what is really going on, they turn precocious and start acquiring prejudices and preconditioned ideas about relationships, says CFAR senior researcher Shailaja Bajpai. The researchers were also alarmed by the children’s passion for crime and horror shows. Children confessed that they were fascinated by visuals of the WTC collapse and now the Gujarat carnage, and that they had become more addicted to gruesome serials since then.

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