Factors That Might Contribute to Children Learning Aggression

Children have to be taught aggression and violence. Some learn it by being raised in violent homes and others from the media. Other children have mental disorders that make them more prone to picking up on aggression and running with it. Understanding where children learn aggression may be the first step to starting to teach more peaceful behavior.

Media

• Barbara J. Wilson, in her book "Media and Children's Aggression, Fear, and Altruism," points out that there is evidence to show that watching violence on television leads to aggression in children. Watching violence on television and in movies or playing violent video games can have the effect of desensitizing a child to violence, allowing them to become more aggressive. Monitoring the level of violence children are exposed to in the media may help keep a child from learning aggressive behaviors or curtail already present aggression over time.

Parents

• Children who are exposed to harsh or abusive discipline from their parents often learn to become aggressive themselves over time. Aggression can be hereditary, in that children with aggressive parents are more likely to learn aggression themselves. Children who receive inconsistent discipline or who are not adequately monitored by a parent may also learn to be aggressive to get what they want or need. This is especially true for children who are only noticed for aggression, and whose attempts at peaceful resolution of problems is not acknowledged.

Peers

• Children who find camaraderie with other children who exhibit aggression are more likely to learn to be aggressive as well. Children have a strong drive to fit in and be accepted by their peers, to the point that they will sometimes adopt behaviors they might not otherwise in order to find that acceptance. The more a child practices aggression, the more desensitized they become to it, increasing the problem. Some children learn to be aggressive by being on the receiving end of aggression from other children, through bullying.

Oppositional Defiant Disorder

• Children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder are more likely to learn to be aggressive than those who who do not have this problem. It is estimated that between 2 to 16 percent of children between the ages of 8 and 18 suffer from ODD. These children are prone to being argumentative, angry and losing their tempers. Their behavior often brings negative reinforcement with very little positive to counterbalance it, leading to even more aggression as these children attempt to get the attention they need from peers and adults in their lives.