Does violence on TV affect us?
After the tragedy at Sandy Cook Elementary I keep wondering what will it take to stop things like these from happening again. Is the answer gun control? Making mental health services more accessible? Is there one solution? Or do we really need to look at our society as a whole and at what kids are exposed to today and make some serious changes.
I ran across this infographic about the alarming impact of media on children and really felt like I had to share it. It really paints a scary picture of how media influences our lives. I have two kids, 5 and 7 years old, and I although we do have some strict house rules for media and technology use it’s not easy when all the programs and games (even cartoons) are filled with violence.
I don’t believe in censorship but I do believe that as a society we need to “clean up” the programing and games that are market to children. It seems to me that we have all become numb because of the amount of violence we are bombarded with. When I was growing up you could not find a cartoons with graphic violence, nothing worst than the Coyote and the Road Runner or Tom & Jerry. Now it’s so common we don’t even think twice about it.
I think that the programs and games marketed for children should reflect the kind values we want to model in our society. But if this infographic is correct the first thing we all need to do is set clear media and technology rules for our children. What do you think? Do you have media consumption rules at your home?
5 comments
Skip to comment form ↓
Kelly R
January 24, 2013 at 1:45 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
This is a great post. I have our daughters tv set so she can only watch certain channels, all the x rated and certain other ratings are blocked from all the channels, I have it password protected.
Kelly R recently posted…Thursday Thoughtful Quotes – 1/24/13
Athena
January 24, 2013 at 2:32 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I was also alarmed at this infographic – but living near Newtown CT we are definitely paying attention to this. thestuffofsuccess.com
Athena recently posted…Preparing for a Baby Shower
Chelsea Klassen
January 24, 2013 at 3:28 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I am not shocked at those statistics. As parents, we need to be more involved in what are children are exposed to in all area. They are not mature enough for all the media throws at them, and we expect them to take it all in unaffected..
Chelsea Klassen recently posted…Thrifty Thursdays: Meat Balls
Crista Hebel
January 24, 2013 at 4:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I bookmarked this post to share with my husband later. Very informative, thank you!
Crista Hebel recently posted…"Baby on Board" Contest! [Ends 3.15.13]
Nickida
January 24, 2013 at 5:00 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
None of this is shocking to me at all. Every time some horrible happens we see lots of this stuff and then when some time passes it seems that we forget till the next horrific thing. We sensor all the things our kids watch, so much so that they stopped watching Nick Jr. when they introduced Nick Mom the kids saw something for adults and decided not to watch the whole station any more. We have to remind them they can watch just not when Nick Mom is on. I am surprised that so many people want to shield their kids but it seems to me like not as many of them actually do.
Nickida recently posted…Valentine’s Day Contest – AU & NZ Residents Only