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Crash! Boom! Bang!
Does TV Violence Affect Our Children?
By Mark Stackpole
TV has come a long way since The Ed Sullivan Show refused to show Elvis Presley below the waist due to those madly swiveling hips. But for as much as the television landscape has changed, the central concerns about its effects on a child's psyche and behavior have not changed at all. And neither have the questions about what responsible parents can do to keep their children from being exposed to inappropriate programs.
Dr. Joseph P. Viteritti is a research professor of public policy at New York University and co-editor of Kid Stuff: Marketing Sex and Violence to America's Children (John Hopkins University Press, 2003), a book that explores how a democratic society can protect its children from the extremes of popular media. "Large corporations have tapped into the market of delivering sex and violence to kids, and it's amazing how passive parents have become due to busy schedules or just ignorance," Dr. Viteritti says. "When I was a kid, I remember Tom and Jerry bopping each other over the head with a mallet, and I laughed. Today's shows are much more overtly violent and profane."
Despite this increase in violence levels on television, it is important to resist the temptation to simply blame violent programs for violent behavior. "Research does not suggest that watching violence increases violent behavior, but it does suggest that some kids are at risk of translating what they see into behavior," Dr. Viteritti says. "Most kids can distinguish between media and reality, but it is important to make kids think. What is the lesser of two evils? Sometimes letting the kids watch something and working it through with them is better than not letting them watch at all."
