Media violence among our children is something that is widely seen today. According to the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, it is said that the typical American child will view more than 200,000 acts of violence in their lifetime on television. They will also view 16,000 murders on television before their 18th birthday.
Television programs display up to 812 violent acts hourly. Children's cartoons display up to 20 violent acts hourly. These acts of violence seem to escalate into a teen's life. AACAP states that 15% of music videos seen on MTV contain acts of violence.
Television is not the only medium that exhibits violent acts. The internet and video games have been known to as well. Does anyone remember the Columbine shootings in Colorado? It is said that the killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were fascinated with a violent video game.
Following the Columbine massacre, a free PC video game appeared online entitled "Super Columbine Massacre". The game is a roleplaying game in which the player roams through Columbine High School killing innocent bystanders and students.
What spawned to my mind when reading this article is, "How many kids have televisions in their room?" AACAP states that over half of all children have a television in their room. Therefore, parental supervision of what they watch is probabbly limited.
I agree with the article when it states ways we can help our kids veer from media violence. However, the number one way I think we can veer them is through parental involvement and parental monitoring.
Whatever happened to happy television? Cops and robbers used to be such an innocent game....
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
The most intriguing part of this problem, and maybe the most integral part of its solution, is the relationship between the child and the parents.
ReplyDeleteClearly television networks are slowly dismantling or compromising any ethical standards for what may be shown and said on television. So yes, that does leave "parental involvement" or "parent monitoring" as the last line of defense, but that puts A LOT of pressure on the parents.
As noted, most kids today have a television in the bedroom that can be watched with no supervision. One idea might be for a parent to not let kids have a television in their own room, but then that will be as easy to get around as the issue of the kids who had to use the family computer in the kitchen. They could still watch less-than-wholesome television any time they go over to a friends house just as the kids in the video we watched in class could get on myspace or whatever on friends' computers.
No matter what rules or boundaries a parent sets up to limit exposure to negative or violent media kids will, with little effort, find a way around the rules.
I don't think parents primary goal is to be the TV and Internet police because that job would only set them up for failure and create dissension between the parent and child.
I'm not a parent or in any way qualified to help someone with parenting, but it is my honest opinion that the parents' best bet is to in stow a sense of ethics and morals in their own children so that the children themselves will decide what media is worthwhile. Parents need to raise their children before our culture has a chance to raise our children on violence.
Well, first off, the Columbine Massacre was the first and largest high school shooting. I think 12 students died, 1 teacher, and the 2 perpetrators killed themselves, so that comes to 15 lives lost, and several others left with injuries. That was real. It happened. Why re-live it in a video game? If there was just an overwhelming demand for such a video game, why did it have to be directly echoing Columbine? It could have just been modeled after it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I was a child who was never allowed to have a television in my room, and my parents did supervise just about everything I watched on TV and the kinds of movies I viewed. I agree with Stacy in that the parents do have a responsibility to monitor their child(ren)'s television viewing and time spent played video games and what kinds of games they're playing.
Children need to be encouraged to play outside and interact with other children, but they're not. They're inside playing and watching television. Cops and Robbers used to be such an innocent game, but now things seem to be completely tainted by violence and violence in the media.
i think this is a pretty good article i mean i remember when i was a kid and i would just go play outside as soon as i got home or had free time. Now today kids dont want to go outside, they want to stay inside and watch movies and play video games
ReplyDeletePhysically they are no where neer as healthy and emotionally and socially they are warped or hypnotized into thinking tis totally normal. Well its not. Some of those stats about violence on tv in unreal to me. i mean the violent acts in cartoon.s When you talk to older people they always say its that "damn television" well they are right that is exactly where the kids today get it from.
All they do is sit in front of the tv and see negative violent things and i think it is 98% the parents fault for not monitoring what needs to happen.