Thesis (BA Communication Arts) -- University of the Philippines Mindanao, June 2015

Television viewing has become a part of everyone?s daily routine. The television offers a variety of programs, such as comedy shows, news programs, and many more, and most of these programs contain violence that may influence its audience?s views of the world. Violence on television has become a social concern around the world since it is seen to be one of the factors contributing to the accretion of fear of criminal victimization among its audience, especially the young viewers. This study analyzed the association among the high school students of Davao City Special National High School. The researcher identified the television viewing habits of high school students; looked at their perceived personal likelihood of criminal victimization; recognized the students? thoughts towards violence portrayed on the television; identified the socio-demographic characteristics of students that may affect their fear, and examined whether the students? prior experience to crime influences the buildup of their fear of criminalization. This study used an embedded type of mixed method wherein the researcher conducted a survey which was composed of close-ended questions, as well as open-ended items. Also, Albert Bandura?s Social Learning Theory was employed as the framework for this study. The high school students? exposure to television violence did not influence their fear of criminal victimization. The possible cause might be how students see or define violence portrayed on the television. They might see the violence as just a part of the entertainment aspect of the programs as they usually watch. However, the act of watching television, regardless of what kind of programs they watch, influences their fear of criminal c=victimization. Moreover, the students? socio-demographics, such as sex, age, and year level, as well as their prior experience to crime influence their fear.