Violence response Stephen Brophy wrote: Since we re fighting anecdote-based universal censorship decisions with more anecdotes, here s mine: My son and his friends used to watch 1-2 slasher movies (they prefered the genre name slice-and-dice ) every afternoon after school, when they weren t making up extremely violent Dungeons & Dragons adventures. On of my son s friends is now teaching in Namibia for the Peace Corps, and another is getting a masters degree in philosophy. But the most horrible outcome is my son s - he has become a Buddhist, and torments me every time I swat a mosquito! I wish I had totally prohibited violent videos during his adolescence - I could now kill as many bugs as I want to with impunity. I believe anecdote - based examples are as perfect examples of the direct effect violence on tv has on children as any. Studies have been done with children watching two completely different types of shows. One set of children would watch Sesame Street and the other would watch the road runner and the coyote for about a half an hour. They were observed. Studies showed that the ones that watched Sesame Street were a lot more cooperative towards others and were not as rough with other children. The ones that watch the other show were "rough housing" with each other and were not as cooperative with others. Some one responded to me and said that I was being universal with my attitude and response I was referring to SOME children not ALL children. Everyone is different when it comes to watching violent shows. Stephen has one fine example. Unless someone can prove other wise or give proven facts about the direct effect of violence on children then nothing is wrong with anecdote - based examples because after all they are personal experiences with this subject. Donald Larsson said: Anecdotally, someone may be able to prove almost anything, but proof has to be limited to the particular instance (if that).If John Hinkley really was inpired by TAXI DRIVER, why haven t millions of people stalked Jody Foster and tried to kill a politician? Someone may be able to prove almost anything anecdotally, but don t you think giving personal examples of the direct effect of violence on children is just as good as having actual evidence such as a study done by professionals? My point is children will act out these violent events but I m NOT judging them as if they are bad people. I m not saying they will grow up with some mental disorder not become some violent person or a murderer for that matter. I just wouldn t want my children to watch shows with that sort of content in them. My children do not need to be extra rough with other children, someone always ends up being hurt. For starters we are referring to children not adults. Just because one person is inspired by something doesn t mean everyone will be. That example has nothing to do with the subject we are referring to. ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]