Tune out media violence

A joint statement from leading medical and psychiatric groups underscores the need for greater awareness of the problems caused by entertainment violence.

Editorial. Sept. 4, 2000.

The booster shot is a well-recognized approach in protecting the public's health. A special one was delivered to help build resistance to a plague rooted in popular culture rather than biology -- entertainment violence.

The dose of preventive medicine came in the form of the "Joint Statement on the Impact of Entertainment Violence on Children," signed by the AMA, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Assn. It was a reminder both of the pervasiveness of the violent media, and its lingering effects as documented in more than 1,000 clinical studies.

Entertainment violence comes in many forms -- television, movies, music, as well as computer and video games. Over and over, it sends the message to young people -- and it's a message that apparently sticks all too well -- that the world is a scary, violent place where aggression is the right way to solve problems.

It is now more than a year since the most recent event to trigger discussion and examination of this issue, and that warning came at a horrific price. The Columbine High School massacre in Littleton, Colo., was a stalk-and-kill video game come to life. As a Senate report written in the aftermath of Columbine noted, "the two juveniles responsible ... had obsessively played the ultraviolent video game 'Doom.' " In addition, the report noted that the 14-year-old who shot eight classmates two years earlier in Paducah, Ky., was also "an avid player of video games." Then and now, it is impossible not to wonder what part violent media contributed to the attacks.

As the consensus statement points out, youth violence is a complex problem, and it's naïve to suggest that entertainment media is the greatest factor to blame. However, it is also naïve to pretend that a steady diet of death and destruction -- the oft-quoted figure is 16,000 simulated murders witnessed by the average television viewer during childhood and adolescence -- doesn't in some way contribute to the problem of real-life violence, which is occurring on a startling scale. National crime figures from 1997 show that 2,500 juveniles were arrested that year for murder; 121,000 were arrested for other violent crimes.

The consensus statement is intended to promote awareness of the problem among parents and the public. Parents, especially, shouldn't have to look far to discover what's happening. Well over half the nation's homes with children or adolescents contain the triple threat of VCR, computer and video games, providing young people with virtually unlimited access to hard-core violent images. It is important that parents know what their kids are watching, for how many hours a week and how they are responding to what they see.

Physicians also have a role as clinicians, educators and concerned citizens, and, often, as parents themselves. The AMA's "Physician's Guide to Media Violence," published in 1996, notes that it is appropriate for physicians to ask younger patients about the time they spend in front of the television or computer screen. That information is relevant in clinical issues ranging from behavioral concerns, such as aggressiveness or hyperactivity, to childhood obesity, in which too many meals in front of a video screen may be a factor.

Fortunately, recent years have seen some progress. The television rating system is in place, as is the television V-chip -- strongly supported by the AMA and other advocacy groups -- which allows parents to use the ratings to block objectionable programs. Even many video games carry content warnings, although few parents realize it. A government report on the marketing of violent media to young children, ordered by President Clinton following Columbine, is expected to be released soon.

But all that's been done still pales in comparison to the magnitude of the problem. Many more booster shots will be needed in the coming years to help curb this public health culprit.