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SALT LAKE CITY — Since the early days of television, there have been disputes about how TV viewing affects children’s behavior.
Current rating systems for entertainment media violence are largely based on whether content is offensive to adults, rather than whether content is harmful to children. But new research highlights the urgent need to update the systems.
One sobering finding from a Case Western study was the sheer magnitude of violence that children are exposed to in their everyday living. Whether the violence is fictional or real, portrayed realistically or animated, exposure to violence affects the mental health of children.
With society’s relaxed view toward portraying violence, combined with ever-increasing technology in virtual reality realism, the trend toward increased exposure to violence is almost a given. The system of rating public media violence should be updated to incorporate these new insights into how children are harmed by exposure to violence.
Darrell K. Brown is the president of Bonneville International
