A new study of middle school students in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs suggests that children exposed to R rated movies are significantly more likely to drink alcohol that those whose parents did not allow them to watch such movies.
This study joins others in the field that show that watching media with adult content can increase risk taking and thrill seeking behavior in children, along with smoking, violence and early sexual acting out.
I have been noticing the disturbing trend to make children's cartoons more "edgy" and "adult". This surreptitious media behavior often lures kids and their parents into watching a movie that seems child friendly and ends up exposing children to violence and/or sexual themes much earlier than is healthy. Also, many parents don't give this a second thought. "It's a cartoon" after all.
The trend toward "dark" superheros and PG kids movies is disturbing. Just because something is a "cartoon" doesn't mean it is appropriate for small children. Equally, just because something was originally marketed to children 30, 40, or 50 years ago, doesn't mean that current Hollywood types have stayed with that original goal.
A show as obviously adult in content as the Simpsons or South Park needs to be vigorously and persistently kept away from young children, who are, after all, naturally lured by the cartoon nature of such shows, something R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. discovered a long time ago!
Paying attention to the family's media diet is as important as paying attention to what they eat.
6 comments:
i agree. media content should not show things that can make kids do bad things. but hey, they are out to make a buck and they don't care what it does in the process!
Agree
I continue to be horrified at just the previews of some of the so-called kids movies out there now. TV is just as bad.
yup. iam glad my daughter is older. she doesn't watch alot of tv
I'm glad my son is older as well. There are times when i miss some programs on television, but when I see a bit of tv elsewhere, I am glad I don't have it.
This study's findings don't surprise me at all. What else is to be expected? As far as the mind goes, it's definitely "garbage in, garbage out." And children are so pliable. With them, it's "monkey see, monkey do."
Evan
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