Influence of Televised Violence on the Behaviour of Selected Teenagers in Ilorin Metropolis

Abstract

Televised violence is believed to have gradually made its way into some Nigerian homes as violence among Nigerian teenagers is  perceived to be growing rapidly against the backdrop of the assumed influence exerted by their exposure to aggression and horrors on Nigerian TV channels. This study attempts to empirically test the cultivation hypotheses on the Nigerian teenagers. Cultivation analysis  has been used in communication scholarship to explain how the time the viewers spend on television as well as how their exposure to  televised violence influence their social reality beliefs of the real world. A survey carried out on Ilorin teenagers reveals that there is significant relationship between exposure to horror film and teenagers' tendency to bully others. The survey data analysed also reveals  that there is relationship between exposure to horror films and teenagers' tendency to abuse others while a third hypothesis tested reveals that there is no significant correlation between hours spent watching TV and teenagers' tendency to bully others.