Opinion on TV violence From Jennifer Evans Chris W. said in response to one of my statements : "Well, I disagree with you on this one. I think NYPD Blue is one of the rare shows that shows violence in a fairly true light, often depicting consequences that are disturbing. The sex in the show is often loving sex, even if it is there for the ratings. When the story line revolves around sex and crime or sex and violence, there is rarely any glorification of either. I would rather my children saw NYPD Blue than Woman in Red for sex, and that any action/adventure film for violence." Well my response and question to you Chris is: Do you have kids and if not have you ever been around them to observe their behavior after watching a show with violence or sex or even language? 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. 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. 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. 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. This next question and response is directed to Rachel Miriam Bobrow. Rachel you said, "I m not sure I would use cartoons as any moral guidepost--as many are more violent than live action shows. I sometimes think that cartoons may be the root of many violent acts occurring in society today. If it s okay for a cartoon character to slam run someone over in a car, bop them on the head, etc. what stops children from believing that that is the way to solve things in their own lives, after all, they saw it on television? Many parents ignore the violence in cartoons because they thing-oh, it s a cartoon, how bad could it be?" Rachel, I think you misunderstood what I was trying to say. When I was little cartoons that were being shown were the Smurfs, Scooby Doo, Gummi Bears, and many others. These cartoons that are being viewed today by children are much more violent than they were some 15 to 18 years ago. Take for instance the cartoon Mortal Kombat, or even the new Johnny Quest cartoon which has got more violence than it used to. I take care of a lot of kids and I am able to observe their reactions to these different kinds of cartoons and from what I see it really scares me. I am still a big Scooby Doo fan and still watch it, and compared to some of the other cartoons I have seen this does not even compare. ______________________________________________________ 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]