Should You Let Them Watch? Assessing Media Violence, DVD

The American Medical Association and several other groups have long contended that violence in the media promotes violent behavior in children. But is their evidence really as conclusive as they say it is? No, say noted psychology professor Jonathan Freedman and Pulitzer Prize-winning science author Richard Rhodes. In this ABC News program, Freedman and Rhodes square off against the University of Michigan's Leonard Eron and L. Rowell Heusmann, the powerful team whose decades of data helped lay the foundation of the case against media violence-a case that has traveled all the way to Capitol Hill and might alter the future of the media industry. (13 minutes)

Length: 13 minutes

ORDER CODE: BVL11358

Copyright date: ©2000

Closed Captioned


Contents

Questioning Studies (03:05)
According to some scientists, watching violence will lead children to become violent. Others say there is no evidence to support this claim.

Case Against Media Violence (01:57)
Richard Rhodes says there is no good evidence that watching violence in the media makes people more violent. Two psychology professors explain their research.

Questioning Significance of Study (04:17)
Violent societies existed before mass media. Rates of violent crime are plummeting. During the v-chip debate in Congress, a psychology professor claimed he was able to predict violence.

Controversial Study (01:32)
A study funded by the Motion Picture Association of America found that exposure to media violence does not cause aggression.

Credits: Should You Let Them Watch? Assessing Media Violence (00:40)