[Sca-cooks] violence/protecting kids in bubbles...soap alert :)

[Solstice Studios]

>
>     Good! Kids NEED to have the shit scared out of 'em every now and then .
> . . builds character. This notion of 'protecting' the kids from the fact
> that there are really bad, evil things in the world is the moral equivalent
> of raising them in an epistemological plastic bubble.

I have often thought, and some studies support this but I can't quote them
because its been a while, that the trouble with violence on televsion isn't the
violence itself, its VIOLENCE WITHOUT CONSEQUENCES.

We show guns, fist fights, car crashes, knifes, etc all with out showing people
getting hurt, emotional upheaval, actual justice, the actual grossness.  This
removes consequences from the minds of those that see the violence, and this
"sanitized' violence is everywhere.

WHen I lived in florida they showed a japanimation series on tv afterschool. I
remember it caught a bunch of flack because it was violent. IT was about a
war.... what happened is that a main character gets killed (crash or weaponry
don't recall) and then all of the main characters friends and family have to
deal with his death. They edited it-- so that he still died, but they didn't
deal with the trauma of his death. This was inane and stupid, in my opinion.

It is true that it is hard to measure causality-- do people with violent
tendencies watch violent programing, or does programming CAUSE it?

But they HAVE found that putting violent programming in front of kids in
controled studies will lead to an increase in the aggressive behaviors. And I
personally have think that not showing true consequences WILL desenstize kids.

I mean, how can we show gun fights with automatic weapons and chase seens in a
public place not show people getting broken bones, fly by bullets, killed, etc?
we don't show the pain, just the act. And we don't really watch tv with the
kids, for the most part. We kinda let 'em just watch away and play the games and
maybe not even really talk with htem about it.

I used to work in broadcasting, and I think sex and violence DOES have a place
in our viewing, but I think it needs to be realistic and in context. When we try
to sheild our kids from what we think they need to avoid-- nudity, violence,
whatever we are not allowing them a chance to learn about it and make an
informed CHOICE about it. As a kid gets older, they need to have some controlled
exposure to the subjects so they can learn what exactly it is about it that is
not appropriate, and how they need to make their choices appropriately. This
gives them the ammunition to make good choices, and removes the forbidden fruit
aspect-- or even just the ignorance!

-Aleska
Oops! Hey where did this soap box come from?