Survey Says: Parents Concerned About Media Violence
More cite access to violent media than access to guns as contributing factor
By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/10/2013 12:20:51 AM
On the eve of a scheduled meeting between major media trade group heads and Vice President Joe Biden, Common Sense Media and the Center for American Progress released a study in which 77% of parents said kids' access to media violence -- TV shows, movies, video games -- contributes to a culture of violence in the U.S. That is even more than said their access to guns (75%) was a contributing factor.The study was conducted Jan. 4 and 5 among 1,050 parents of children under 18. The margin of error is plus or minus 1.7%.
The study also found that 88% of parents don't want ads for violent games, TV shows and movies to air during programs watched by large numbers of children. Common Sense has been pushing the networks not to air such ads in sports broadcasts, for example.
"Parents are clearly concerned about how violence in media may be impacting their children," said Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer. "Our culture of violence seems to have made it the new normal that parents who take their kids to a movie theater or gather to watch a football game are at risk of exposing them to inappropriate content that is marketing video games or films rated for more mature audiences."
Among the many contributing factors to real world violence identified by the parents polled were bullying (92%) and access to guns (75%).
Among the other findings were that a majority of the parents said addressing violence will require action on both media violence and kids access to weapons and that a majority say the media industry "has the power to help change "the culture of violence" in the country.
Talkback
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Flank the problem instead of dealing with it head on. Point the finger and shift the blame. Seriously. Never mind that at the core of the issue here is the breakdown of family values and the absence of accountable parenting. Then there is our country's complete abandonment of properly dealing with mental health issues and the reliance on our penal system to be the filter. I know it gets tired but apparently the truth eludes many - television, video games, guns don't kill people - people kill people.
Quigley Spargus - 1/11/2013 8:56:43 AM EST -
Don't Censor Violent Media - Tax It!
Balance | Consistency
For those in Hollywood who are proponents of redistributed wealth for the betterment of society, how about a different type of VAT or Violence-Added Tax on both the purveyors and consumers of violent media to help fund the mental health care system?
We put heavy tax on tobacco to discourage use; we can do the same for gratuitous violence.
Just this past November in Cook County, Ill -- the county that includes Chicago -- the Board of Commissioners passed a "violence tax" on gun sales to defray uninsured hospital costs.
And let's cut through the stall tactic of pitting one scientific study against another with a simple question: Would advertisers pour billions into popular media if it had no impact on behavior?
If the costs to society of obesity, diabetes, etc., is the premise of those who want to control what is fed to bodies, then, for the exact same reason, what is fed to minds -- particularly the young who are the most vulnerable -- is on the table.
Hollywood's Unabated Golden Age of Gratuitous Violence
We get how in the name of "art" it is part of the free market of ideas to appeal to prurient interests as the path of least resistance to big box office.
However, as far as owning the personal responsibility that goes with it, it's interesting to watch how Hollywood's elite are now desperately trying to twist, turn and distract their way out of the hypocritical trap they have placed themselves in.
Any national debate over violence in America that does not join at the hip Hollywood's cash cow of glorified, romanticized human slaughter will be just another slick political exercise in hypocritical nothingness.
"Marketing Murder"
The weekend after the Dec. 14 shootings in Newtown, Conn. -- which left 26 people dead, including 20 children -- Obama aide David Axelrod tweeted, "In NFL post-game: an ad for shoot 'em up video game. All for curbing weapons of war. But shouldn’t we also quit marketing murder as a game?”
When it comes to selling murder as entertainment, human beings are fair game? Imagine, if the target of Hollywood's on-screen violence were animals, would it be tolerated?
Up to this point, all appeals for decency and self-restraint on the part of the violence peddlers have been gunned down by naked greed.
So, if greed is the driver of a problem that is poisoning our culture every second of every day, let's get real about a solution that deals directly with greed on its own terms.
On a compounding basis at all levels, federal, state and local governments -- TAX Violent Media!
Check out the Los Angeles Times article from 1999 entitled "Violence Tax Can Stem the Killing" by Peter Navarro.
Michael E. Douroux
Corona del Mar, CA
Michael E. Douroux - 1/10/2013 1:54:34 PM EST
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