PEDIATRICS Vol. 119 No. 6 June 2007, pp. e1398-e1399 (doi:10.1542/peds.2007-0083)
COMMENTARY |
Go Ahead Punk, Make My Day: It's Time for Pediatricians to Take Action Against Media Violence
Department of Pediatrics, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque, New Mexico
News flash! Researchers have just found that element "X" contributes between 10% and 30% to the occurrence of heart disease. What happens next? Well, of course, the manufacturers of element X claim that there is no link and that the research is spotty anyway; Hollywood writers and producers deny that element X ever appears in any of their films, and if it does, it is never "gratuitous," nor can anyone interfere with their right to show it, which is guaranteed in the First Amendment; and pediatricians continue to counsel parents about whether car seats should face forward or backward but apparently could not care less about element X.
Who would have thought that >50 years after the first congressional hearings on media violence that we would still be debating whether it contributes to real-life violence? As one leading group of researchers has stated, there should no longer be any controversy that a cause-and-effect relationship exists.1 More than 3500 reports, including 1000 research studies, have been made; <30 studies have found no relation.2 In fact, the connection between media violence and real-life aggression is nearly as strong as the connection between smoking and lung cancer.3 Given the complexities of performing social-science research, this finding is quite striking.4 Not everyone who smokes will get lung cancer, and not everyone who views media violence will become aggressive. In addition, as the authors of a study published in this month's Pediatrics Electronic Pages4 and the National Television Violence Study5 pointed out, context is extremely important, as are mediating factors such as personality differences and parenting. Overall, an estimated 10% to 30% of violence in society can be attributed to the impact of media violence.6 Clearly, media violence is not the leading cause of violence in society, but it is a significant one, and one that could be altered more easily than other root causes.7
Hollywood needs to understand that the science is convincing and that an intelligent response is needed. No one is suggesting censorship. However, violence in movies has steadily been increasing during the past decade, and not only have the ratings not kept pace, but they have underrated the increasing violence—so-called ratings creep.8 Movies that were R-rated a decade ago are now PG-13.8 Webb et al4 found remarkable levels of violence in recent PG-13 films (87% overall), with 7 films containing >100 acts of violence and firearms used in nearly one third of all films. Most often, the violence is portrayed as being "justified," which is the single strongest positive reinforcer known.5,7 The notion of justifiable violence leads nations into wars, in case anyone was wondering about the significance of all of this. So Hollywood writers and producers have to be much more careful about how they portray violence, in what context, and to whom. The Motion Picture Association of America needs to open its board to the light of public scrutiny (its members’ identities are a closely guarded secret) and add a pediatrician and a child psychologist or communications expert.
Parents need ratings that they can understand and use, and a universal ratings system for all media would go far toward helping them.9 However, parents also have to stop thinking that sex is "worse" than violence in movies. It is not.10 The United States is the only country in the world that rates movies more harshly for sex than for violence.10 Parents also need to be cautious when allowing their young children to view PG-13 movies; when I go to R-rated movies, invariably there are a few 7-year-olds sitting in the audience. We need a scientific study of why parents take young children to movies that are inappropriate for them, and pediatricians need to counsel parents that such films may be frightening and harmful.11
Finally, pediatricians need to be more sensitive to the effects of all media on children and adolescents. While pediatricians are spending their precious few minutes of office counseling on car seats and bicycle helmets, the media may represent a far greater threat to the health of young people. Virtually every concern that pediatricians and parents have about children has some root in the media (eg, violence, sex, drugs, academic performance, obesity, suicide, eating disorders).12 Pediatricians can no longer afford to dodge the bullet of media influence!
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FOOTNOTES |
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Accepted Jan 25, 2006.
Address correspondence to Victor C. Strasburger, MD, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, MSC10 5590, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131. E-mail: vstrasburger{at}salud.unm.edu
The author has indicated he has no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.
Opinions expressed in these commentaries are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the American Academy of Pediatrics or its Committees.
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REFERENCES |
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- Anderson C, Berkowitz L, Donnerstein E, et al. The influence of media violence on youth. Psychol Sci Public Interest. 2003;4 :81 –110[CrossRef]
- Wartella E, Olivarez A, Jennings N. Children and television in the United States. In: Carlsson U, von Feilitzen C, eds. UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen. Goteborg, Sweden: UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen; 1998:55–62
- Bushman BJ, Huesmann LR. Effects of televised violence on aggression. In: Singer DG, Singer JL, eds. Handbook of Children and the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 2001:223–254
- Webb T, Jenkins L, Browne N, Afifi AA, Kraus J. Violent entertainment pitched to adolescents: an analysis of PG-13 films. Pediatrics. 2007;119(6). Available at: www.pediatrics.org/cgi/content/full/119/6/e1219
- Strasburger VC, Wilson BJ, Jordan A. Children, Adolescents, and the Media. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage; 2007: In press
- Comstock GA, Strasburger VC. Media violence. Adolesc Med. 1993;4 :495 –509[Medline]
- Hogan MJ. Adolescents and media violence: six crucial issues for practitioners. Adolesc Med Clin. 2005;16 :249 –268, vii[CrossRef][Medline]
- Thompson K, Yakota F. Violence, sex, and profanity in films: correlation of movie ratings with content. Available at: www.medscape.com/viewarticle/480900. Accessed February 22, 2007
- Walsh DA, Gentile DA. A validity test of movie, television, and video-game ratings.
Pediatrics. 2001;107
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[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Strasburger VC. Risky business: what primary care practitioners need to know about the influence of the media on adolescents. Prim Care. 2006;33 :317 –348[Web of Science][Medline]
- Cantor J. "Mommy, I’m Scared": How TV and Movies Frighten Children and What We Can Do to Protect Them. San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace; 1998
- Strasburger V. "Clueless": why do pediatricians underestimate the media's influence on children and adolescents.
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[Free Full Text]
PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2007 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
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