In this brief ABC News 20/20 segment, hosted by Barbara Walter and Tom Jariel, two opposing camps square off on the issue of the relationship between exposure to media violence and the propensity to commit violence in real life. On one side of the fence stand the University of Michigan's Leonard Eron and L. Rowell Heusmann, whose 25-year study of 875 third-graders in upstate New York became the centerpiece of a blizzard of studies that linked watching TV violence to an increase in violent behavior. On the other side, psychologist Jonathan Freedman and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Rhodes (Why They Kill) point out (correctly) that Eron and Heusmann's findings are statistically irrelevant (their conclusive "link" is based on a total of three test subjects out of the original 875), and suggest that given the fact that violent crime rates have actually declined as media violence has increased, the precipitating socio-cultural factors perhaps lie elsewhere. While a subject this wide and complex cannot possibly be addressed in a mere 13 minutes, this admittedly soundbite-carried debate does a good job of at least summarizing the issue (and is far more accurate and to the point than bloated, wrongheaded efforts such as the Frontline episode Does TV Kill? [VL-1/95] or the covertly religious Think About It: Understanding the Impact of TV/Movie Violence [VL-1/01]), and should be a good discussion-starter for both classrooms and community groups. Recommended. Aud: J, H, C, P. (R. Pitman)
Should You Let Them Watch? Assessing Media Violence
(2001) 13 min. $89.95. Films for the Humanities & Sciences. PPR. Color cover. ISBN: 0-7365-3192-0. Volume 17, Issue 1
Should You Let Them Watch? Assessing Media Violence
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.