Kids' TV More Violent Than Prime-Time, Study Finds
(CNSNews.com) - Television entertainment programs for young children contain much more violence than prime-time shows aimed at adults, according to a report released Thursday by a TV watchdog group.
In the study, entitled "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing: A Content Analysis of Children's Television," the Parents Television Council (PTC) examined 443.5 hours of entertainment for youngsters 5 to 10 years of age.
The results of the PTC's first examination of children's shows were "frankly staggering," according to the Center's founder and president, L. Brent Bozell.
"Parents often take it for granted that children's programs are by definition child-friendly," said Bozell, who is also president of the Media Research Center and founder of Cybercast News Service. "Young children are especially impressionable, and they learn social norms and behaviors as readily from television as from their peers or parents."
The new report "documents that 'children's television' is no safe haven for children, and parents must be extremely vigilant as to what their children are watching, perhaps more so in this arena than in any other," he added.
The PTC focused its analysis on after-school and Saturday morning shows during a three-week period in the summer of 2005 on four broadcast networks -- ABC, Fox, NBC and the WB -- and four cable channels -- ABC Family, Cartoon Network, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon.
The study, which did not include children's educational programming, found a total of 3,488 incidents of violence, for an average of 7.86 instances per hour, Bozell said.
Even when the innocent "cartoony" violence -- such as an anvil falling on Wile E. Coyote's head -- was removed, there were still 2,794 instances of violence, an average of 6.30 instances per hour, he stated.
Read the rest here.
posted by Steve | 3/03/2006 06:59:00 AM
2 Comments:
This is precisely why we as parents need to be careful of what shows our children watch instead of allowing the kids to decide. I dont limit the TV time as much as I limit the shows they can watch. My kids can watch Veggie Tales until they get bored, but you will never see my kids watching Power Rangers or Digimon, because children have enough difficutly handling emotions without adding anger and violence that are seen on many shows today. I wish things could be like they were when I was little. If we did watch a cartoon it was on Saturday morning and there was no question as to the content. But the majority of the time, my sister and I just played outside and used our imaginations to make up games - today there is too little imagination and too much thoughtless activity. I miss the good old days!
I too miss the old days.
I'm not one to plug things very often on my blog, but I have to admit that the Cartoon Network spin-off Boomerang is showing many of the old shows we used to watch as kids. My daughter always wants to watch it.
We also send the kids outside for "fresh air".
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