100,000 Acts of Violence

[Dr. Shane]

According to Sky Angel, the average child will see more than 100,000 acts of violence on TV before they finish the 6th grade.

[cricket]

Of which percentage will they experience this first-hand?

[Michelle]

Wow--good reason to closely monitor or restrict TV watching!

M

[Planey]

Many of these acts of violence would be cartoon violence - Tom & Jerry, Coyote & Roadrunner, etc.

Does this make any difference?

Graeme

[Dr. Shane]

Cartoons are just as bad as other programming - that is for sure. I don't even care for some of the violence in "Kimba The White Lion" but at least those programs all have a moral lesson in them. Whenever we go out to pizza the places have the Cartoon Network on and we have started sitting in the area where the kids can't watch them.

I am so glad that we live in the day when Chrisitian media is really producing good stuff to compete with the worldly programs. Our kids are young, 3 & 5, and watch either PBS or KTV. The videos they have are Veggie Tales, Hermie, Story Keepers, Quigley's Village, etc. The only secular ones we buy them are Bob the Builder, Thomas the Train and Dora.

[Dottie]

About 3 weeks ago, our TV suddenly stopped working. Only I know why. it has been so quiet, so peaceful since. They only time I get a yen is when the radio stations run advertisements for tv programs. Never could quite figure that out.

[Guest]

I rather like bugs, taz, and the roadrunner.... enjoyed them when I was a kid...like them better now.... did they make me a violent person? nope... Did they make my kids violent... nope.... I guess its all in the perspective of things.....

[Dr. Shane]

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS

• Media violence can lead to aggressive behavior in children. Over 1,000 studies confirm this link.
• By age 18, the average American child will have viewed about 200,000 acts of violence on television alone.
• The level of violence during Saturday morning cartoons is higher than the level of violence during prime time. There are 3 to 5 violent acts per hour in prime time, versus 20 to 25 acts per hour on Saturday morning.
• Media violence is especially damaging to young children (under age 8) because they cannot easily tell the difference between real life and fantasy. Violent images on television and in movies may seem real to young children. They can be traumatized by viewing these images.