NCJ Number
160975
Date Published
1995
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Articles focus on media violence and how to reduce its impact on children as well as a school program for preventing juvenile tobacco use.
Abstract
One article on media violence advises that years of research have established a link between childhood exposure to televised violence and later adult aggression. This happens through the portrayals of violence that is rewarded or unpunished, viewer imitation of realistically portrayed violence, viewer identification with a violent character, a justification for violence, and the blocking of sensitivity to human suffering through repetitive exposure to media portrayals of it. Guidelines for parents to use in shielding their children from media violence are provided. Another article reviews the laws designed to combat the influence of media violence on kids. Federal legislation includes the Children's Television Act, which requires broadcasters to air programs designed to meet the educational and informational need of child audiences, and the Television Programming Improvement Act, which encourages the development of programming standards to reduce violence on television. Some State legislative action is also described. Another article describes a Minnesota program designed to challenge violent media programming. It is a public awareness campaign that encourages people to "turn off" violent entertainment, which encompasses television, movies, music, videos, and video games. The remaining article profiles the media curriculum AdSmarts, which is used in Billerica, Mass., schools to, among other things, "unmask the claims and myths of tobacco and alcohol advertising."