>
>Well my response and question to you Chris is:  Do you have kids
 
I have five children.
 
 and if
>not have you ever been around them to observe their behavior after
>watching a show with violence or sex or even language?
 
I have been constantly in their company as we watched a multitude of shows
together.  All five are still OK.
 
 And I do confess
>that I have not seen Woman in Red in a long time and do not really
>remember what it is exactly about.
 
It is about the Hollywood stereotype of the prostitute with a heart of gold
who can be "cured" by that other Hollywood stereotype, a wealthy and "good" man.
 
  But to say that you would let your
>children watch NYPD Blue; well that just blows my mind.   I am not
>saying that the show is bad because I myself like the show and watch it
>all the time.   But all I am saying is that I would not let my children
>watch it. In fact they would be in bed by 8:30 p.m. anyhow, so it would
>not really matter.
 
I believe I said that I preferred NYPD Blue as place for my kids to
encounter sex and violence over other sources such as Woman in Red or
"Action Movies".
 
 The second part of the question is have you ever
>observed  a childs behavior after watching such shows. If not, well I
>have.  I have been taking care of kids for a long time, whether it be
>baby-sitting, or when I did daycare.  And a childs behavior after
>watching  something with violence is totally different from a child who
>has been watching Sesame Street.
 
I have been a teacher for the past 36 years, and a teacher of media since
the mid 1960s. I've watched a lot of kids' reactions to a ton of media, and
discussed it with them too. Never saw one flip out, though.
 
The child who watches something with
>violence is more likely to act out that violence and reenact the scenes
>than a child who has been watching a show such a Sesame Street. That
>child is more calm and more collected and loving than the other.  There
>has been a study done on children who watch the separate shows.
 
It is true:  some people will sometimes re-enact the shows they watch. I
used to do it with cowboy movies. But I have never become a cowboy.
 
 
 
 
Chris M. Worsnop
Consultant, speaker, workshop leader, writer
media education, assessment, writing
 
Homepage: <http://www.screen.com/mnet/eng/speakers/cw/worsnop.htm>
 
2400 Dundas Street West            Email:  <[log in to unmask]>
Unit 6, Suite 107                  Phone:  (905) 823-0875
Mississauga
Ontario, Canada
L5K 2R8
 
 
"The reward if a thing well done is to have done it." R.W. Emerson
 
----
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