Opinion on TV violence Chris W. said "Do you assume here that censorship is a natural and desirable thing to do to children?" "You are entitled to do this, but you should be aware that you question contains the assumption." I think children should be kept from watching certain shows. Violence on TV directly causes violent behavior. An example of this is the show that used to come on called The Incredible Hulk. My younger bother James, used to watch it. When the main character would turn into the Hulk, of course he would throw items such as cars. My brother picked up on these things. My brother would get mad and have a temper tantrum. After watching this show he would throw his toys. One day he happened to throw a match box car through our glass door. Once mom figured out he was imitating the Hulk, she wouldn't let him watch the show anymore and he stopped throwing things when he'd get mad. Younger children pick up on little things like this. Some shows that have cursing in them they pick up on this as well. I certainly do not want my children watching shows like that. I understand children are exposed to a certain amount of bad language and violence in real life without having to watch tv. We should take into consideration the type of words used and how often. If a child sees someone on the tv cursing out another person then that child could turn and curse some stranger or even his/her parents. Most young children are easily influenced between the ages of 4 - 15. It may be hard to say whether you would or wouldn t let your children watch the violent shows if you don t have any children. Just watching my younger brother and even my younger cousins makes me stop and think about this violence and even most of the language that is involved in these shows. When they see violence on tv they think it s neat and want to try it out on their friends. Someone usually ends up getting hurt. Bryan S. responded to my question "Do you believe the program editor would be better than the V-chip?" He replied, "I think they both have potential capabilities, but nothing takes the place of the good old fashioned "Family Bond!" I partially agree with that statement. If parents sit down with their children and talk about what is going on in their lives they would be closer as a family. They could play games, fun and educational. This could keep them from wanting to watch so much tv. I don't think many families actually have a family conversation nor do many even have a family dinner in evenings together. The majority of families nowadays have one/two full time working parents and it may be hard for the family bonding to happen. Maybe on the weekends they could make quality time for their families. I know when I was younger when my family would sit down for dinner and usually the first thing was asked was "how was your day" or " what did you do today." I felt that my parents not only were interested but cared. This made it a lot easier for me to go to one of them when I had a problem with something, because I knew they would listen to me. I treasured the quality time my family spent together. My father is a farmer so in the spring and summer we usually were lucky if we saw him at the dinner table. The time he spent with us was special and we made the best of it considering he stayed pretty tired most of the time. I don t think nowadays enough family bonding occurs in the household because of the simple fact that one or both parents work full time. It is certainly a great thought, only if more people who have the time will take advantage of it. I am sure they wouldn t regret it. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.sa.ua.edu/screensite