May I ask why? I'm curious and not trying to be rude. I am generally skeptical about research (I teach research writing at the college level). People can often turn facts in their favor, have bias, etc. The issue here is that there are multiple quality studies that all say the same thing. Because of that, I think they are important to consider.
It's just a personal thing I suppose. I agree they are worth considering and I wouldn't feed my child a steady diet of media violence beginning at an early age, but I guess I just don't buy into the studies. I probably base a lot of that feeling on the reactions of my kids, their friends, my own peers, etc who have been exposed to media violence and of all of them I've never seen an increase in aggression.
Now, I do think that boys, in general, tend to be more aggressive than girls and I don't think that stems from anything other than nature. I believe boys are just wired that way and because of that I think they're more drawn to violence (not necessarily committing acts of violence). I don't think that by removing all access to aggressive behavior or violent images, we can remove that tendency in boys.
Also, where science and studies are concerned, there have been studies in the past that said one thing and years later science comes back and contradicts itself. So, I tend to take things with a grain of salt and go with my own instincts, KWIM?
I think that's a good point. I don't let my son watch the news either. I do share news with him, but there is a lot of violence on there that he does not need to deal with at nearly 7. However, I am not sure it's worse than video games and movies. First, I think some video games and movies are worse. They are more bloody and vicious. Secondly, while they might say that they know video games aren't real, developmentally kids blur that line until they are much older.
Most of the time I can't watch the news because it makes me too depressed.
The news depresses me as well. One thing that I've noticed with my sons over the years pertaining to violence in the media is that of movies, games, etc. and news, it has ALWAYS been the things they've seen on the news which has caused the most distress because they have always known that news is real.
Again, that's valid. But, how do you know if your kid is the one that has aggressive tendencies when they're 4-8? This seems a bit like a chicken-and-the egg issue. Isn't it easier and "safer" to avoid media with overly negative portrayals? Watching movies is entertainment and not a requirement.
