Terminator, the sci-fi killer robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in a series of hit films, is the most popular media character among the world's children, a new survey says.

The survey by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) said 88% of children around the world knew of Terminator.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is used to slaying the opposition

More than half the children brought up in violent environments marked by war or crime wanted to be like the robot.

Billed as the first ever worldwide study of violence in the media, the survey said Terminator had become "a global icon".

The character, though still remaining violent, turned good in a sequel to the original movie and helped to save the world.

The survey said television was the strongest single factor creating a global culture and claimed that the omnipresence of on-screen violence was contributing to making the world more violent.

TV has made life more colourful - for good or bad

The report's author, Professor Jo Groebel of the Dutch University of Utrecht, said media characters were being used by children to escape their problems.

Around 93% of 5,000 12-year-olds surveyed had access to a TV. On average, they watched for three hours each day.

Action heroes were most popular among boys while girls looked more to pop stars and musicians as examples.

Media generation kids remember the Terminator, not the days in the old school yard

Asia had the highest ranking for action heroes - 34% - while Africa had the lowest - 18% - with Europe and America coming in the middle range with 25%.

Professor Groebel said the impact of media violence on children was largely explained by the fact that aggressive behaviour on the screen was at worst rewarded, at best unpunished in most cases.

He said the use of violence as an attention-grabber for children was as old as fairy tales, but it had now become omnipresent in the media.

Federico Mayor, Director-General of UNESCO said the best way to fight violence on television was for the public to speak out against it.

"We are telling citizens: 'Exercise your role as citizens'," he said.

He also criticised television for broadcasting sanitised pictures of war, such as films of Gulf War air strikes, which did not show the human suffering caused by bombs.

"We are hiding death. The horrible aspects of war should be shown, like dying children. If this was being shown, viewers would not be prepared to watch a war show," he said.

However, Professor Groebel said censorship would be ineffective in curbing violent programmes.

Signalling violent films by logos on television screens could be counter-productive as it could attract young viewers.

He favoured public debate among parents, politicians, teachers and producers, and developing training and codes of conduct among media professionals.

Consumers also required educating to become more critical media users.
 

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