Doesn’t anyone care about effect of violent TV, movies on children?

 
Wikipedia Commons Photo by Georges Biard

Recently I ran across the movie "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" on TV. Since it was the movie in which Angelia Jolie and Brad Pitt fell in love, I thought I'd watch it.

It was a terrible movie. When each one finds out that the other is a hired killer, they proceed to shot up their home, with huge guns that leave enormous holes in the walls, trying to kill each other. Then they get romantic. Afterwards, they discuss whether killing people bothers them. Both say no, they can go to sleep right away after killing.

What garbage. I only watched part of the movie.

On the music front, singer Rihanna, a victim of domestic violence, has recorded a song with rapper Eminem, "Love the Way You Lie." Now also a video, it graphically depicts a physically abusive relationship.

So a debate has begun: Is the song against domestic violence, or is it a glorification of it?

Tipper Gore spoke out against violence in popular music during the 1980s.

In her 1985 book, "Raising PG Kids in an X-Rated Society," Gore wrote about rock music as part of an escalating trend toward the use of more explicit sex and graphic violence in entertainment industry offerings, from movies and videos to jeans and perfume ads.

She also said:

In virtually every medium, the communications industry offers increasingly explicit images of sex and violence to younger and younger children. In the course of my work, I've encountered a degree of callousness toward children that I never imagined existed. No one asks what is in the product or its effect on kids, only how well it will sell.

Gore founded the Parents Music Resource Center, and record companies agreed, on a voluntary basis, to put warning stickers for parents on records with offensive lyrics. She also wanted a rating system for TV programs.

Gore was ridiculed by the music industry and many recording artists.

Since the 1980s, violence in music lyrics, on television, and in movies has continued to esculate. It concerns me. I've written: "Season Finale of Greys Anatomy Was Horrible, Senseless Violence," "Why Are Movies and TV Programs So Violent," "Academy Award Nominated Movies Often Violent and With Old, Tired Themes — Again," and others.

Does this issue concern you? Do you know of any organizations that are working to curb violence in music, on TV, and in movies?

For suggestions on how to limit the effects of violence in the media on your children, see About Kids Health.com's "Violent Movies: Protecting Your Child."